Baseball has a new home run king. Congratulations Aaron Judge and Linden, California.
This is a judge from the town. The only sad part about the great Yankee hitting his 62nd home run is the traffic Roger Maris and Gainesville for 2nd on the non-MLB approved home run list.
But take heart, Gainesville. We can all be glad the new home run king isn’t from Steroid City, California.
It was Barry Bonds’ address when he hit 73 home runs in 2001. The fans know it, the players know it, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred knows it, and the Maris family certainly knows it.
That’s why Roger Maris Jr. used Judge’s home run chase as a platform to correct a lingering error.
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“Aaron Judge is the new KING OF THE PURE HOMURANS!!,” he tweeted Tuesday night. “All the young kids who watched Aaron Judge set the single-season home run record…you finally have someone to look up to! No more trying to explain to you how someone could hit 73 home runs.”
They can’t, at least not without the help of pharmaceuticals. Addressing that circle has been a perennial conundrum for Major League Baseball.
You can’t deny that Bonds hit 73 dingers, just like you can’t deny that Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa also surpassed Maris’ 61 homers in 1961.
But you can damn well deny that what the three steroid puppets did was legal. You can announce that Judge didn’t just set the American League record, he’s now MLB’s single-season home run king. And you can make the distinction between home runs and PED home runs in the record books.
That’s what Maris is asking MLB to do. Manfred’s response was to plug his ears.
MLB is still living through the steroid era
The steroid era is like a long string of toilet paper taped to an MLB shoe. Just happy Manfred. The judge’s assignment ended Tuesday night in Arlington, Texas. Now Maris can safely return to Gainesville, where his father retired in 1968.
Roger Sr. died in 1985 and is buried in his hometown of Fargo, North Carolina. But Maris’ roots run deep in Alachua County.
Roger and his wife Pat raised six children here. Randy Maris was the coach at St. Francis Catholic Academy. Coach Oak Hall Kevin Maris won his 300th game this spring. He did it at Roger Morris Field, on the turf his father helped lay.
The family was rooting for Judge to break the record. Because he is Yanka. But even if he had played for the Red Sox, the Marissas would have appreciated Judge for refocusing their attention on their father.
That 1961 season is baseball history. Maris reached Babe Ruth’s mythological mark of 60 home runs. The crowd was in awe of teammate Mickey Mantle.
Maris’s hair was falling apart from the tension. The extension gave Maris eight more games than Ruth, so commissioner Ford Frick ruled that a “distinctive mark” should accompany Maris’ accomplishment.
Call Bonds, McGwire, Sosa … Barry McBonds
Yes, the family that mourned under the star for 30 years now wants to hang the star next to McGwire, Bonds and Sosa. These names are so synonymous on steroids that it’s easier to just call them Barry McBonds.
The irony of the asterisk was not lost on baseball pundits. Some called the Morrises hypocrites for cheering the home run derby that McGwire and Sosa put on in 1998. The family embraced McGwire and declared him the new home run king.
McBonds’ apologists rationalize that baseball has always had drunks, drug addicts and cheaters. How can we be sure the judge isn’t taking some super advanced undetectable PED. How Bonds, in particular, would have been the first in the Hall of Fame even if he had never received a platinum membership in the BALCO lab.
It’s true, Mr. Potato Head would still hit a ton of home runs in his career. But everyone knows that Bonds was as sharp as the Russian sprinter in 2001.
That’s what McGwire and Sosa were in 1998, though it wasn’t as obvious. That August, a small brown bottle of androstenedione was seen in McGwire’s locker. It was quickly swallowed up by the home run hype that animated baseball.
In retrospect, the Maris family felt cheated. And you know who else thought the family had been duped?
McGwire.
He later called to apologize to Pat Maris for pulling off the home run charade. Let’s hope she isn’t waiting by the phone to hear from Bonds or Sosa. Or even Manfred.
When it comes to the judge, the commissioner says, “Those groups that matter will make their own judgments about how his achievements should be weighed.”
police Exit.
It is risky to start dwelling on past sins, but it is quite simple. This is a single-season record. Anyone who has hit more than 62 home runs has been cheated.
Like Maris, Judge did not.
However, Manfred is right about one thing. Everyone will have their own opinion about the record.
The judge publicly said it was 73. I doubt he feels that privately, but that’s okay. If you’re okay with the steroid scam, so be it. You’ll be glad to know that MLB will continue to tacitly support your position.
But Roger Morris Jr. gave voice to millions of fans. They know who the real home run king is.
Even before the judge took the throne, he was never Barry McBonds.
David Whitley is a sports columnist for The Gainesville Sun. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidEWhitley.
