New York Yankees star Aaron Judge hit his 62nd home run of the season Tuesday night on the road against the Texas Rangers, breaking the American League record he shared with Roger Maris.
After depositing a Tim Mayze sinker into the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen to tie Maris’ mark last Wednesday, Judge did not find his home run stroke during the Yankees’ final regular-season homestand, a three-game series versus the Baltimore Orioles. Back on the road, Judge, who had gone just 2-for-9 with a pair of singles in two games against the Rangers through Game 1 of Tuesday’s doubleheader, took Texas Rangers pitcher Jesus Tinoco deep in the opening inning of the night cap to obtain No. 62.
The Yankees gathered to greet and congratulate Judge at home plate after the long ball, and he took off his helmet as he jogged back to the dugout to salute the crowd. When he came back on the field in the bottom of the inning, he was given his second standing ovation.
“It would have been nice to hit it at home in front of the home fans, but at the end of the day, I’ve got a job to do,” Judge said Sunday.
The record-setting homer came 72 hours after the 61st anniversary of the day Maris passed the iconic Babe Ruth with his 61st home run.
“[It is an] honor to be given a chance to be associated with Maris,” Judge said Wednesday after he became forever linked to the Yankees legend as the only players in franchise history to hit 61 home runs. “I can’t even describe it. It’s such an honor to know what Maris did in this game. To get a chance to tie Roger Maris, that’s stuff you dream about.”
There are only three players, Barry Bonds (73), Mark McGwire (70, 65) and Sammy Sosa (66, 64, 63) that are ahead of Judge on MLB’s single-season home run list. But while Judge holds the AL record, Maris’ son, Roger Maris Jr., said this week that he believes Judge should be recognized as the true “home run king.”
Maris’ mark stood as the all-time MLB record up until McGwire passed it by hitting 70 in 1998. Bonds surpassed McGwire in 2001, with baseball’s official single-season record of 73 home runs. But Maris Jr. diminished the accomplishments of the two sluggers, who reached their feats during the so-called steroid era.
“He plays the game the right way,” Maris Jr. said of Judge earlier this week. “And I think it gives people the chance to look at somebody who should be revered for hitting 62 home runs, and not just a guy who hit it in the American League, but for being the actual single-season home run champion. That’s who he is. It’s 62, and I think that’s what needs to happen.”
Judge, who grew up about 30 minutes east of San Francisco as a Giants fan, has stated he believes that Bond’s 73 homers is the rightful single-season mark.
Yankees skipper Aaron Boone said he feels privileged to have had an up close and personal view of baseball history.
“The history of this game is one of its calling cards,” Boone said. “The number 61. I’ve known about that number for my entire life. I think one thing that makes our sport a little more special than the others, is the history of it all. We do history really well. And this has been a year and a season where we’re in the middle of one of those magical historical moments, and that’s tied to a number. And that’s pretty neat.”
Also, in the same game, pitcher Gerrit Cole smashed a Yankees franchise record, as he is now New York’s all-time single-season strikeout record-holder. He broke his tie with Ron Guidry, who recorded 248 punchouts in 1978. Cole accomplished this feat in the same inning as Judge hit his historic home run.
The Yankees will go into the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the American League. They will end the regular season Wednesday in Texas.
