October 2025, ALDS Game 3 against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees were down in the series. The season was on the brink. And Aaron Judge did what Judge does -- he hit a three-run home run off the foul pole that changed the game, changed the series (temporarily), and was later named the top MLB moment of 2025 by The Athletic. The ball hooked, caught the pole, and the 9-6 Yankees victory that followed was one of those October nights that burns itself into your memory. One day later, Toronto closed the series. But the foul-pole shot lives forever.
The Setup
The ALDS hadn't gone well. The Blue Jays were the top seed in the American League, having won the AL East via head-to-head tiebreaker over the Yankees. They were the better team on paper, and through the first two games of the series, they'd backed it up. The Yankees needed Game 3 badly -- not just for the math, but for the psychology. A loss would end the season. A win would keep them alive and swing momentum.
Judge came to the plate in a pressure-packed situation with runners on base and the game hanging in the balance. The count worked its way to a hitter's count. The pitch came in, and Judge turned on it with that violent, uppercut swing that's generated more home runs than any active player in baseball.
The Ball and the Pole
The ball left the bat at an extreme angle -- pulled hard, hooking toward the foul pole. For a fraction of a second, every person in the stadium held their breath. Fair or foul? The ball caught the pole -- fair -- and the explosion of noise that followed was physical. You didn't just hear it. You felt it in your chest.
Three-run homer. Tie game, 6-6. The stadium was in pandemonium. Judge rounded the bases with the controlled celebration of a man who'd been in big moments before but who understood this one was different. This wasn't a regular season homer. This was October survival, the franchise's heartbeat on full display.
The Yankees won 9-6. The series was alive. Judge had done what Jeter used to do, what Rodriguez rarely could, what Rivera always did -- he delivered when the moment demanded greatness.
The Athletic Names It #1
The Athletic subsequently named Judge's foul-pole homer the top MLB moment of 2025. Not the top Yankees moment. Not the top postseason moment. The top moment in all of baseball that year. When you consider that the 2025 season included nine-homer games, no-hit bids broken, and the Blue Jays' own championship run, the recognition tells you everything about the magnitude of the swing.
(The best part? Judge hit it off the foul pole. Not a towering blast to center field. Not a moonshot to the upper deck. A hooking drive that caught the thinnest piece of fair territory possible. Baseball's most dramatic home runs are always the ones that almost aren't home runs at all.)
The Cruelty of the Day After
Here's where the story gets cruel. The Yankees won Game 3. The foul-pole homer was transcendent. The series was alive. Momentum was ours. Then came Game 4, and the Blue Jays ended it. Just like that. The greatest individual moment of the 2025 season was followed -- one day later -- by elimination.
Baseball doesn't care about moments. It cares about series results. Judge hit one of the most iconic home runs in recent October history, and the Yankees still lost the ALDS in four games. The juxtaposition is the cruelest thing about postseason baseball: individual brilliance can coexist with team failure, and the standings only remember the team.
| Game | ALDS Game 3 vs Toronto Blue Jays |
| Result | Yankees 9, Blue Jays 6 |
| Judge's Homer | 3-run HR off the foul pole |
| Recognition | Named top MLB moment of 2025 (The Athletic) |
| Series Context | Kept Yankees alive (down 2-0, won Game 3) |
| Series Result | Blue Jays won in 4 games |
Judge in October
Judge's postseason legacy is still being written, and the foul-pole homer added an indelible chapter. He's the franchise's biggest star, the captain, the face of the organization. When the moment is biggest, the spotlight finds him. And in Game 3 of the 2025 ALDS, he met it with the kind of swing that defines careers.
The fact that the Yankees lost the series the next day doesn't diminish the homer. It contextualizes it. This is who Judge is -- a player capable of producing moments that stop time, on a team that hasn't been able to convert those moments into championships since 2009. The gap between "Judge is incredible" and "the Yankees haven't won it all" is the franchise's defining tension.
Cam Schlittler's Wild Card gem showed the franchise's future on the mound. Judge's foul-pole shot showed its present in the batter's box. The combination of the two -- youth and stardom, pitching and power -- is the blueprint for what the next championship team should look like. They just need the rest of the roster to match.
ALDS Opens Against Toronto
The Yankees face the top-seeded Blue Jays in the ALDS, having earned the top AL Wild Card spot (the No. 4 seed) after losing the AL East via tiebreaker.
Games 1-2
The Blue Jays take a 2-0 series lead. The Yankees' season hangs by a thread heading into Game 3.
The Foul-Pole Homer
Aaron Judge hits a three-run homer off the foul pole against the Blue Jays, powering a 9-6 Yankees victory. The Athletic names it the top MLB moment of 2025.
Game 4 -- Season Ends
One day after Judge's iconic moment, the Blue Jays close out the ALDS. The Yankees are eliminated despite Judge's heroics.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the top MLB moment of 2025?
Aaron Judge's three-run home run off the foul pole in ALDS Game 3 against the Toronto Blue Jays was named the top MLB moment of 2025 by The Athletic. The homer powered a 9-6 Yankees victory that kept their season alive -- though the Blue Jays won the series the following day.
Did the Yankees win the 2025 ALDS?
No. The Yankees lost the ALDS to the Toronto Blue Jays in four games. Despite Aaron Judge's iconic foul-pole homer in Game 3 (a 9-6 win), the Blue Jays closed out the series in Game 4, ending the Yankees' season.
How did Aaron Judge perform in the 2025 playoffs?
Judge delivered one of the most iconic moments of the 2025 postseason with his three-run, foul-pole home run in ALDS Game 3 against Toronto. The homer, named the top MLB moment of the year by The Athletic, powered a 9-6 victory. However, the Blue Jays eliminated the Yankees the following day.