A 61-year American League record was finally broken when 30-year old Aaron Judge hit his 62nd home run against the Texas Rangers. Aaron Judge just completed his seventh regular season for the New York Yankees baseball club and did so in astounding fashion.
When interviewed after the game, Judge said, “It’s a big relief…it’s been a fun ride so far.” Fans celebrated and teammates rejoiced feeling a sense of relief and excitement when he hit the final run.
In hitting his 62nd home run, Judge broke Yankees legend Roger Maris’ record of 61 home runs which he hit in the year 1961. What this means for the history books proves an interesting discussion. In the late 1990s and in 2001, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds all hit over 61 home runs, breaking Maris’ 61 run season. During this time, however, the MLB was not drug testing the players for performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids. Though McGwire was the only one of the three who admitted to taking the steroids during the time, it is widely believed that both Sosa and Bonds also took them. Unfortunately, this causes a bit of a gray area for many fans as the real record becomes in question. Many say Maris’ is the only record that should count, but neither Bonds or Sosa have publicly admitted to taking PEDs, granting them first and second in the history books.
“Though I understand the effects steroids have on the person’s strength, hitting a baseball requires precision, accuracy, and timing that not many people can perfect.” said Senior baseball player Marcello Lanzi. Lanzi claims precision and accuracy are just as important, essentially granting Bonds the record.
“At the end of the day, Bonds’ record is
Art by Jos Mendez
still a record” said baseball coach Mr. Levin.
Agreeing with Lanzi, Levin says that regardless of the juicing, it’s still incredibly difficult to rack up 73 home runs which is exactly what Bonds did.
Regardless of who owns the league record, Judge’s performance this season was simply spectacular. With 62 homers, and an American League best 131 runs batted in, his season will be talked about for years.