Closing in fast on Roger Maris’ single season home run record of 61, New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge has been destroying baseballs recently.
Judge is having an MVP caliber year, leading the Yankees offense to first place in the American League East. He has helped the Yankees cling to a six game lead, staying hot at the plate through the Yanks recent offensive struggles. According to mlb.com, Judge currently has an MLB leading 59 home runs, 2 away from the single season record with 18 games left to play. If Judge reaches the record, it will be interesting to see if fans consider 62 home runs an MLB record, rather than Barry Bonds’ record of 73 in 2001. Baseball fans at Harvard-Westlake (HW) have much to say.
“I will consider it the record as Judge hasn’t used steroids and succeeded in an era where strikeouts are at an all time high,” Emil Palmer ’26 said. “It’s really amazing to watch.”
Others disagree.
“No, Barry Bonds is the greatest of all time, the things he did in the single season were crazy,” David Rothbart ’26 said “He didn’t confess, so we don’t know if it is necessarily true. Even if he did take steroids, he is still the greatest to ever play the game.”
In addition, with Judge’s contract expiring after the 2022 season, many teams have interest in signing him this offseason. The Yankees will try their best to sign the face of their franchise, but might be outbid by teams desperate to put together a world series campaign immediately. Since Judge is now 30 years old, many teams might propose shorter deals but more money a year. Currently, Judge is looking to raise his draft stock even more by breaking Roger Maris’ single season home run record.