Rob Maaddi, FISM News
Aaron Judge is closing in on Roger Maris’ single-season home run record for the American League.
The New York Yankees’ All-Star outfielder hit his 56th and 57th home runs of the season in a 7-6 win over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night.
Maris hit 61 homers for the Yankees in 1961, breaking former Yankees superstar Babe Ruth’s record of 60 set in 1927. Maris’ mark held until 1998 when Mark McGwire slammed 70 homers for the St. Louis Cardinals and Sammy Sosa clubbed 66 for the Chicago Cubs. McGwire followed up with 65 homers in 1999, and Sosa connected 63 times that season. Barry Bonds surpassed them all with 73 homers in 2001 with the San Francisco Giants. Sosa had 64 that year.
Judge isn’t focusing on any records as the Yankees continue their chase of the AL East division title.
“You really just don’t look at it. If you’re checking the numbers, you’re gonna get caught,” Judge said after Tuesday’s win. “I just keep trying to do what I can do, and the numbers will take care of themselves. If I have a good plan and have a good approach, do what I need to do in the box, all that other stuff will show up.”
Judge’s second homer of the game made for a rare sight in Boston as the Red Sox cheered for a player on their biggest rival.
Fans stood and applauded Judge after he connected for a solo homer to tie the game in the eighth inning.
“They were wearing me out on deck,” Judge said of the Red Sox fans. “I don’t know if they were cheering or not. They were wearing me out. But nah, it’s all of baseball fans. Just fans all over. Red Sox, Yankees — it doesn’t matter. They came here to see a good game and to see a show. Both teams I think put on a good show for them.”
Judge hadn’t hit a home run in five games before he drove a solo shot off Nick Pivetta in the sixth inning.
“I’m out of adjectives,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Just really impressive what he did.”
With 20 games remaining in the season, Judge also has 10 multi-homer games this season, one shy of the American League record Hank Greenberg set in 1938. Judge has 26 in his career.
Judge is making a strong case for AL Most Valuable Player. He is currently batting .310 and he leads the major leagues with 123 RBIs. He also boasts a 1.105 OPS this season and has 32 RBIs in his last 38 games.
Judge is 20 homers ahead of Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber, who is second in the major leagues with 37. No player finished a day with a 20-homer lead since the last day of the 1928 season, when Ruth was 23 ahead of Jim Bottomley and Hack Wilson, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“However many home runs he ends up hitting, I don’t think it’s that important to him,” Boone said. “He knows where we are. It’s about going out and winning the ballgame. I think when you have that genuinely simple mindset and approach to it, it makes playing the game a lot easier.”
The 30-year-old Judge burst on the baseball scene in 2017 when he smacked 52 homers, won the American League Rookie of the Year award, and finished second in MVP voting. He battled various injuries over the next three seasons and didn’t hit more than 27 homers. Last year, he went deep 39 times.
This season, Judge has played in 138 of New York’s 142 games.
He’s having his best year as he gets set to become an unrestricted free agent in the offseason after avoiding arbitration earlier in 2022 with a one-year, $19 million deal.
Asked if he would ever consider playing for the Red Sox, Judge told reporters: “Ooh, we’ll talk about that at the end of the year.”
He followed with praise for the Red Sox fans.
“They’re some of the best in baseball. They’re going to boo you, they’re going to say some things, they’re going to make you laugh,” Judge said. “It’s all part of it. A lot of great history here, and this is one of the best places to play, so it’s always fun going out there and trying to put on a show for them.”