SIXTY-TWO! BASEBALL HISTORY! @TheJudge44 is the American League home run King! pic.twitter.com/QKrcuOvZMU
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 5, 2022
It took a while, but the magical regular season for Aaron Judge has continued. While tying Roger Maris with his 61st home run on Wednesday in Toronto was incredibly special, it means a little more when you’re all alone at the top of a leaderboard.
With each dinger he collects, Judge continues to further cement his case to win the American League MVP Award. That’s especially the case as he chases the offensive triple crown.
I think I hear a cash register go off every time he circles the bases, too.
Now that he’s surpassed Maris, only three hitters have enjoyed more powerful campaigns than him: Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa.
Since these three each got a little extra credit on their way to those numbers, some will say Judge is the true record holder because he’s the first player to do it legitimately. Either way, these numbers are still in the record books, so Judge is still behind them.
MLB single-season home run leaders:
- Barry Bonds, 2001: 73
- Mark McGwire, 1998: 70
- Sammy Sosa, 1998: 66
- Mark McGwire, 1999: 65
- Sammy Sosa, 2001: 64
- Sammy Sosa, 1999: 63
- Aaron Judge, 2022: 62
Could this just be the continuation of a career full of home-run milestones? We’ll see, but after this and also becoming the first rookie to post a 50-homer season in 2017, he’s building quite the resume.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
