Aaron Judge Makes History — and Ignites Debate

In hitting his 62nd home run in the dwindling days of the 2022 regular season, Yankee slugger Aaron Judge launched a debate over the home run record that will likely long outlast his days on the diamond.The blast at Globe Life Field at Arlington, Texas, came off the right-hander Jesús Tinoco at the outset of the first frame of the second game of an unusual Tuesday doubleheader. It was the penultimate contest of a campaign that has seen Mr. Judge carve out a suite of statistics that would have made George Herman “Babe” Ruth proud. On Yom Kippur — the Jewish Day of Judgment — Yankee slugger Aaron Judge delivered a resounding verdict. In surpassing Roger Maris’s mark, which in turn relegated the Babe to second place, he also set the American League record. The Junior Circuit has been in operation since 1901. The record books, however, show that Mr. Judge, as far as he has climbed, is not quite at the home run summit. He looks up at six seasons more prolific than his own, led by Barry Bonds’s 73 long balls in 2001 and Mark McGwire’s mark of 70 three years earlier. An outfielder for the Chicago Cubs, Samuel “Sammy” Sosa, notched three of the top six highest home run totals in 1998, 1999, and 2000. Mr. McGwire added 65 in 1999, for good measure. To this day, Mr. Bonds holds the career record, with 762.While you will find Messrs. Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa all over the Baseball Encyclopedia, you will find none of them enshrined in the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown. That is because their achievements have been affixed with the scarlet letter of performance enhancing drugs. Not just theirs, but the whole era in which they played. Other stars, like Alex Rodriguez and Rafael Palmeiro, whose numbers would otherwise merit iron busts, have likewise found the doors to Cooperstown barred by the sports scribes who vote on admission. Now, players are tested regularly for steroids. While Mr. Judge has deferred to Mr. Bonds, saying he believed the older player holds the record, others have intimated that with number 62, Mr. Judge — who has never aroused a hint of suspicion despite, or because of, his exceptional frame — will have some claim to the record. Among the most prominent of those who crown Mr. Judge as king is Roger Maris Jr. After Mr. Judge surpassed his father, the younger Maris tweeted “Congratulations to Aaron Judge” and added that for the “MAJORITY of the fans, we can now celebrate a new CLEAN HOME RUN KING!!”Mr. Judge’s teammate, first baseman Anthony Rizzo, concurred, noting last month that “this is something that hasn’t been done in this era: someone chasing 61, clean like this with no question marks.” Others disagree. For example, the pundit Matthew Yglesias tweeted the question “what’s cooler than 62 home runs?” His answer: “Seventy three home runs.” After a brief celebration, the The Yankees lost the game 3-2, but their postseason berth has already been secured. With Mr. Judge’s blast they can now fully attend to the playoff push ahead. In addition to Mr. Judge himself, Tuesday’s other winner was the fan sitting at section 31, row 1, seat 3. His name is Corey Youmans, and he caught the historic ball which has been valued as high as two million dollars. Asked about his plans as he was whisked away by security to negotiate over the heirloom’s fate, Mr. Youmans said only “that’s a good question! I haven’t thought about it!”For his part, Mr. Judge said late Tuesday night that “It’d be great to get it back but that’s a souvenir for the fan. They made a great catch out there and they got every right to it.”

Aaron Judge Makes History — and Ignites Debate

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