Can Aaron Judge Catch Roger Maris, Barry Bonds?
The “legitimate” single-season home run record is within reach, but what about Barry Bonds’ record?
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is within striking distance of one of baseball’s most coveted records - the single season home run record.
While Barry Bonds currently holds the record of 73, followed by Mark McGuire with 70 and Sammy Sosa at 66, many consider the “legitimate” record still Roger Maris’ 61 home runs set in 1961, performed on hot dogs and beer instead of steroids and human growth hormone.
As of this writing, Judge has 44 total home runs with eight weeks remaining in the season. Continuing on his current pace, Judge would finish the season with about 65 home runs, shattering Maris’ record, while still coming up short of the Balco era totals of Sosa, McGuire and Bonds.
However, the big boy record is still not out of the realm of possibility. On August 10, 2001, Bonds found himself at 49 home runs, five ahead of where Judge currently sits. Although Bonds stayed hot (and got hotter) late in the season, that’s not unusual for power hitters in the final stretch. With starting and relief pitching often fatigued during the August and September months, hitters have a greater opportunity to tee off.
Moreover, based on the typical wind direction and unusual dimensions of Yankee Stadium, Judge plays in arguably the second friendliest ballpark in the majors for hitters (with the thin, high-altitude air of Denver’s Coors Field being No. 1). And unlike most power hitters, he doesn’t rely solely on pulling the ball to jack it out of the park.
While I wouldn’t bet on it (quite yet), Judge can play catch up to Bonds by taking advantage of his home ballpark, continuing to hit for power anywhere in the strike zone, and stacking up more multi-home run games. In fact, Judge currently has nine multi-homer games, while Bonds only had six at this point in the 2001 season.
As a Red Sox fan, it hurts to say I’m rooting for Judge to break the record. But thinking back to 2001 (unlike 1998), we all knew then Barry Bonds’ home runs were dirty. Wouldn’t it be great to see someone legitimate actually break it.