Aaron Judge Approaches the Home Run Record
By Kevin Cahill ('23)
Aaron Judge, a 30-year-old baseball player on the New York Yankees, is nearing an astounding record in MLB history. That record is, of course, the home run record– more specifically, the highest number of home runs hit by a single player in a single season. Before we get to Judge’s stats and his journey towards the record this season, let’s first recap the record’s history. The record was first set in 1927 by the famous Babe Ruth, who scored 60 home runs for the Yankees through one season (which is 162 games). That record seemed untouchable then, as most MLB teams were averaging around 50 home runs each season across all of their players. However, it was eventually beaten by Roger Maris on the 1961 Yankees, who had 61 home runs: just one more than Ruth.
Babe Ruth
Photo courtesy of History.com
Roger Maris
Photo courtesy of History.com
Another 35 years later or so, it was beaten again by Sammy Sosa, who knocked out 66 home runs on the 1998 Chicago Cubs. That achievement was short-lived though because, in the same year, Mark McGwire blasted a seemingly impossible 70 home runs in a single season for the St. Louis Cardinals. But even that record was beaten quickly. Three years later, Barry Bonds shocked the baseball community, whacking 73 home runs for the 2001 San Francisco Giants. Bonds is still the current home run record holder... for now.
Now, there’s a new contender for the home run record. Aaron Judge, a 6’7”, heavy hitter for the Yankees, is making quite the run for the title this season. This isn’t the first time he’s made such a break for the record. In his rookie season in 2017, Judge bombed an insane 52 home runs, a new Rookie Home Run Record, and only 19 away from the all-player record. He also made a solid run for the record in 2019, nevertheless, his number of games was significantly cut short because of a wrist injury, and thus he missed out on the title yet again.
Aaron Judge
Photo courtesy of CBS Sports
But this season, Judge seems committed to taking the top spot on the list of home run hitters. He got a quick start with 9 home runs through his first 23 games, and he hasn’t let up since. He has consistently held a batting average of around .305 and averaged a home run in 40% of all of his games. And now, as of September 24th, he has launched 60 home runs through 149 games. That clears everyone else in the league by at least 15 home runs, which is quite the achievement. However, for Judge to reach the all-time home run record, he must hit 13 home runs through the last 11 games… yikes.
Sammy Sosa
Photo courtesy of ESPN
Mark McGwire
Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated
Barry Bonds
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
While the official MLB home run record may be out of reach for Judge, there are other things to consider. First off, many people don’t validate Sosa’s, McGwire’s, and Bonds’ records because they were achieved during the so-called “steroid era” of baseball, consequently giving them an unfair advantage over Judge. In fact, McGwire and Bonds have directly admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs during their record-breaking seasons, and even Sosa has heavily hinted at it. Therefore, if we did ignore their records, then Judge would only have to beat Roger Maris’ record of 61 home runs, which is possible.
Another possible loophole could be ignoring the MLB home run record altogether and pinpointing a new record: the American League home run record. Doing that would also require him to beat only Maris’ record. Either of these alternatives would allow Judge to take this record once and for all.
But no matter which way you look at it, there is no doubt that Aaron Judge is one of the best and most capable baseball players of our time, especially when it comes to hitting home runs. “Aaron is cut out for this. If we're two weeks from now, and he's knocking on the door of those kinds of things, we will totally understand the attention that's going to come with that. I can't think of someone more equipped to handle it,” says Yankees Manager Aaron Boone.
Judge himself shares the same optimism and expresses, “It’s always been a thought in the back of my mind all season, although I was never sure if such a thing could happen,” he further expands on this, “but now it seems real, and I’m gonna go after it with all I’ve got.”
Aaron Boone on the left and Aaron Judge on the right
Photo courtesy of NJ.com
So, all in all, be sure to watch the end of the MLB season closely, because Aaron Judge might break a Major League Baseball record for the first time in over 20 years, and you won’t want to miss it!
Cover photo courtesy of the New York Times
Banner photo courtesy of the New York Post