By: Van Cathcart III
PICTURE CREDITS: FOX Sports
Many said that it might never be done, and some say that it still hasn’t been done. The Major League Baseball home run record is something that is nothing short of controversial, but no matter your opinion on the subject what Aaron Judge has done this year for the New York Yankees (NYY) deserves a round of applause.
If you don’t know, Aaron Judge is a 6’7 280 lb. outfielder for the Yankees. Drafted in the 31st round of the 2010 MLB draft, it took Judge seven years to establish himself in the major leagues, once he did the rest had been history. Bursting onto the scene during the 2017 season, Judge hammered 52 home runs in his official rookie season which was a league-leading statistic. In his rookie year, Judge also led the MLB in runs and walks. An MLB rookie can’t ask for much of a better rookie season for any franchise.
So far in the 2022 season, at age 30, Judge managed to break Roger Maris’ home run record of 61 by hitting his 62nd home run on Oct. 4th. This record has been held by Maris since the 1961 season. Coincidentally, Maris was also a part of the New York Yankees when breaking the record. The ball hit by Judge, caught by a fan has been priced at over $2 million.
There are people in the baseball fandom who still believe that the home run record is still held by Barry Bonds in the 2001 season with 73 home runs. In the same year, Sammy Sosa also managed to hit 64 homers which are higher than Judge’s record as well. These two did this at a time when the MLB did not test for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) as frequently as the league does today. Once tested, resulting in positive evidence for PEDs Bonds was stripped of his title and had to forgo the home runs that he smashed during that season. If there is one thing about the MLB, it’s that as a league they are unforgiving. Many all-time great players have been held out of the MLB Hall of Fame because of their past discretions that happened while in the league. Pete Rose, one of the greatest hitters of all time, was snubbed from the Hall of Fame for a betting scandal that he was involved in during the 1989 season. Rose holds the record for the most hits of all time, singles, and is the only player in MLB history to play at least 500 games at five separate positions.
Whether or not you believe that Judge holds the all-time home run record, what he has done this season has been nothing short of amazing and should be celebrated as such. To lead the MLB in home runs in a time where there is a player with unreal power on every single team is something that should be held in very high regard.