Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
MLB: New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays
61 years ago Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in 1961. Fast forward almost a lifetime and his all-time American League record has been tied by a fellow NY Yankee slugger. New York Yankees front runner for both the AL MVP and Triple Crown, Aaron Judge, hit a two run blast tonight against the Toronto Blue Jays to tie Yankee legend Roger Maris’s single season American League home run record. The only two men to hit 61 in a season in the franchise’s illustrious history.
On a 3-2 full count in the top of the seventh inning with one man on base, Judge sent a bullet into the left field stands off of Blue Jays reliever Tim Mayza to put the Yankees up 6-3. Judge’s 61st home run came in the Yankees’ 155th game of the season, with seven more games still to play in the regular season. Judge moved past the 60 home runs Babe Ruth hit in 1927, which had stood as the major league mark until Maris broke it in 1961 on the final day of the ’61 season. All three players reached these achievements while playing for the Yankees.
Judge is the first player to hit 60 home runs since 2001, when Barry Bonds (73) and Sammy Sosa (64) each accomplished the feat; however, all three players have asterisks on the records thanks to reported steroid use. McGwire admitted using banned steroids, while Bonds and Sosa denied ‘knowingly’ using performing-enhancing drugs.
Judge now looks to break Maris’s American League record on Friday in front of the pinstripe faithful in the Bronx when the Yankees take on the Baltimore Orioles at 7:05 p.m.
