Sixty-one years after Roger Maris wowed the baseball world by breaking the revered home run record of Babe Ruth, Aaron Judge is now the king of the american league as far as home runs in a season are concerned.
Judge hit his 62nd homer of the season Tuesday at Globe Life Field, hitting the fence to open the game in the first inning against Jesus Tinoco in Game 2 of a doubleheader.
That hit broke a tie with Maris, who hit 61 homers for the 1961 Yankees.
After hitting his 60th home run on Sept. 20 against the Pirates, it took Judge 35 plate appearances to match Maris’ mark, which he did on Sept. 28 against the Blue Jays in Toronto. Ruth’s record of 60 homers, set in 1927, stood until Maris’ performance nearly three decades later.
The Major League and National League record for home runs in a season is 73, set by Barry Bonds in 2001.
Judge has hit the seventh-most home runs in a season in the history of the American and National leagues, behind the performances of Bonds, Mark McGwire (70 in 1998; 65 in 1999) and Sammy Sosa (66 in 1998; 64 in in 2001; 63 in 1999).
