Fresno State announced on Thursday that it will retire the No. 29 jersey of former Bulldogs star and current Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.
Judge will join former head coach Mike Batesole and his No. 44 jersey in a retirement acknowledgment that will take place during halftime of Fresno State’s Nov. 18 football game against New Mexico. A formal retirement ceremony for Judge and Batesole at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium is on Sunday, Nov. 18.
“Aaron Judge epitomizes all that Fresno State athletics stands for, not only with respect to his remarkably high levels of athletic success, but more importantly in who he is as a person and the impact he makes on his communities, director of athletics Terry Tumey said. “We are blessed to have Aaron Judge representing Fresno State and the Diamond ‘Dogs and we look forward to enshrining his name in its rightful place among the all-time greats to come through our baseball program.”
Judge issued a statement of appreciation of his own.
“It is an incredible and humbling honor having my number retired at Fresno State,” Judge began. “I’m excited to come back and enjoy the moment with so many coaches, teammates, and alumni that made this possible.”
Judge was named a freshman All-American at Fresno State in 2011 and was named to the all-WAC team in each of his three seasons with the Bulldogs. He hit 18 home runs and drove in 93 RBI with a .345 batting average in his 169 career games at Fresno State.
