Road to MVP: Aaron Judge Breaks AL Homerun Record
Aaron Judge of the NY Yankees up to bat
photo creds:Photo by Apardavila via Flickr
Aaron Judge hit his 62nd homer this season on Oct. 4 against the Texas Rangers, officially breaking the American League record for most homeruns in a single season. The New York Yankees booked a doubleheader in Arlington on this historical Tuesday, and it was in the first inning of the second game that Judge claimed the anticipated title — surpassing Roger Maris’ impressive record of 61. With a 1-1 count at the plate, Judge barrelled one 391 ft into left center field at 88.4 mph.
This brought on crazy reactions from fans, especially those seated where Judge’s $2 million baseball landed. It was reported that a fan in the first row of Section 31 caught the valuable ball, and according to People magazine, Cory Youmans — the lucky fan in question — has already received offers for purchase.
“It would be something special that me and my family would cherish, but it’s a souvenir for a fan,” Judge said when asked about the significance of this ball by sports reporter Jon Morosi. “That ball belongs to them, it’s up to them what they want to do with it.”
Videos of the homerun showcased one fan going so far to vault out of their seat in hopes to catch it themselves. Not only did this dedicated fan fail at getting the ball, but became an online meme in the process.
Being that Judge only had roughly eight more at-bats to hit the record breaking homerun, the pressure was on during game three of the four game series against the Rangers. It was obvious that the stress was building up, but Judge credited his relaxed stance at the plate to knowing his intense pregame work would pay off — and it sure did.
“The games started to go a bit faster,” said Judge. “The past couple of games I’d look up and it’s the seventh inning and go, ‘Dang, I only got one more at-bat. We’ve got to figure this out.’”
Judge himself wasn’t the only one who felt major relief while rounding the bases. The heartwarming reaction from his mother was enough to evoke some serious emotion, as she had been traveling to each game with Roger Maris Jr. awaiting her son’s making of history. Other goosebump-worthy reactions came from Judge’s teammates, as they all ran onto the field to congratulate him at home plate.
Both Yankees manager Aaron Boone and third-baseman Josh Donaldson felt nostalgic while witnessing that magical moment — as their excitement prompted them to act like they would when they were much younger. “You never know how you’re going to react in a moment and it was just so, so, very cool,” said Boone. “I felt like a little kid again.”
Many important people, like former Yankees captain Derek Jeter and even President Joe Biden congratulated the Yankees right-fielder. The president wrote in a tweet, “History made, more history to make.”
Despite the overwhelming influx of support from MLB fans and others, some watchers were annoyed by the amount of media coverage the record-breaking chase was getting. College football fans had lots to say about the ESPN cut-ins every time Judge was at bat for two Saturdays in a row. Media personality Brandon Pope said on Twitter in response to the decision to continue with the split screens, “I get why they are doing it. But if I wanted to watch baseball I would flip to it,” he said. It’s safe to say that many people agreed with him.
Not only was there controversy with the coverage, but many people still think the record belongs to Barry Bonds, a National League player who hit 73 homeruns back in 2001 while taking steroids. Because he was using performance-enhancing substances and both Maris and Judge were dry when hitting copious homeruns, Bonds’ personal best is not counted.
Others claim Judge unfairly hit so many homeruns because of the right field “short porch” at Yankee Stadium — which is only 314 ft. This is ultimately a myth as most of Judge’s homeruns are hit to left center, which measures in at 408 ft in the Bronx. That being said, his record winning blast wasn’t even hit at his home stadium but at Globe Life Field.
Judge wasn’t the only player to make history that night, though, as right-hand pitcher Gerrit Cole now leads the Yankees franchise with most strikeouts in a single season (249).
The New York Yankees are to play the Cleveland Guardians in the first round of the ALDs the weekend of Oct. 14.