ARLINGTON, TX – Aaron Judge hit his 62nd home run of the season on Tuesday night, breaking Roger Morris’ American League record and setting what some fans consider baseball’s “pure” standard.
The 30-year-old Yankees slugger drove a 1-1 slider off Texas right-hander Jesus Tinoco into the first pair of seats in left field as he led off the second game of New York’s day-night doubleheader.
Morris’ 61 for the Yankees in 1961 had been surpassed six times before, but all were tainted by the stench of steroids. Mark McGwire hit 70 for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1998 and 65 the following year. Barry Bonds hit an MLB record 73 for the San Francisco Giants in 2001, and Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs had 66, 65 and 63 in four seasons starting in 1998.
McGwire admitted to using banned steroids, while Bonds and Sosa denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs. Major League Baseball began testing with PED penalties in 2004, and some fans — perhaps many — still considered Maris to be the legitimate record holder.
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A Ruthian figure with a smile as big as his body, the 6-foot-7 umpire rocked the major leagues with a series of deep drives that hearken back to the sepia-toned cinematography of his legendary streaky predecessors.
“He has to be respected for being a true single-season home run champion,” Roger Maris Jr. said Wednesday night after the umpire compared his father’s mark. “I think baseball needs to look at the records, and I think baseball needs to do something.”
Judge has only scored once in his last 13 games, and that was when he hit No. 61 last Wednesday at Toronto. The doubleheader at Texas was his 55th straight since Aug. 5.
After a single in five at-bats in Tuesday’s first game, Judge went 3-for-17 with five walks and a hit in an inning after surpassing Babe Ruth’s 60 home run hit in 1927, a major league record that stood for 34 years. On October 1, 1961, Maris hit his 61st home run against Boston’s Tracy Stallard at the old Yankee Stadium.
Judge has a chance to become the first AL Triple Crown winner since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012. He leads the AL with 131 RBI and started the day behind Minnesota’s Luis Aras, who is hitting .315.
The home run in his first at-bat returned him to the .311 mark he started with the day before he lost the leadoff hit.
The achievement of the judge will cause endless arguments.
“To me, the record holder for home runs in a season is Roger Maris,” writer George Will said earlier this month. “There’s no question we’re seeing better baseball than better chemistry with Judge. He is clean. He doesn’t do something that makes other players put their health at risk.”
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