In case you haven’t had access to a phone or the internet until just now, we have some big news for you. Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is officially the new American League home run king!
He did in during the second game of a doubleheader in Texas against the Rangers. Once he finally made history — he last homered on September 28th — Judge was promptly taken out of the game. It’s only right. I mean, that man has played a lot of baseball and needs to rest up for the start of the postseason.
One of the best things about baseball is how much symmetry there is with some huge moments. Judge hitting 62 for the Yankees is just another example of this.
We all know Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in 1961. Now, 61 years later, Judge matched and then passed him on the Yankees’ single-season list and the AL leaderboard. That’s cool enough in my book, but it gets better.
Just check this out:
The Yankees are 99-61. Number 99 just broke 61. Baseball is something else… pic.twitter.com/OMUcURhqJO
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) October 5, 2022
You literally can’t make this stuff up. It’s just so perfect that nobody would even think about trying to set this up on purpose, let alone accidentally.
Judge was on fire throughout the first part of September and he surged all the way to 60. But the time between 60 and 61 (and then 62) had to have felt like 20 years for him, so he’s probably feeling a bit of relief now that he’s finally done it.
The triple crown is probably out of reach after going 2-for-7 on Tuesday, but hey, I think it’s OK that he wasn’t able to also lead the league in batting average. He’s done enough and should be celebrating his first AL MVP Award once the offseason finally gets here.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
