In game 161, in the first inning, Aaron Judge hit his 62nd home run of the year, eclipsing Roger Maris’ AL record of 61 set in 1961.
I’ve heard some say this would be the new “real” single season home run record. It’s not. The major league mark is still 73 by Barry Bonds in 2001, followed by Mark McGwire’s 70 in 1998. As much as some have an emotional distaste for that being the record, it’s a fact. It happened, and that’s it.
However, that does not detract at all for Aaron Judge’s accomplishment. 62 is a whole lot of home runs, and it broke an AL record that has stood for (checks math) 61 years.
Being the weird kind of guy who likes numerical oddities, it was fun for me to point out it was in ‘61 that Maris hit 61. Now I can add that the record also stood for 61 years.
Fan Interference 
And 61 years before Maris’ record season, the AL didn’t exist. If MLB was still using the previous “juicier” ball, Judge may have set the MLB mark this season. Pretty amazing what he’s done with the current ball. Now for the tough question, if you are the Yankees do you sign him to a long term deal or let him walk as a free agent.
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My guess is he re-signs with the Yankees for over $300M and with at least one opt-out. I can’t see them letting another team beat them in a bidding war.
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