By Jeremy Torres
Aaron Judge has been one of the most electric MLB players this season. Not only that but he has also had one of the best seasons an MLB player has ever had, especially with his record breaking 62nd Home Run in the American League.
Judge hit his 61st Home Run relatively quickly after hitting his 60th. However his 62nd left fans wondering if he would break Roger Maris’s record and hold the title of most home runs for himself. That moment finally happened when he took the leadoff spot against the Rangers and hit the 62nd Home Run on October 4.
While his home run gave Judge the chance to take home the title of the Triple Crown (batting average, RBI’s, and home runs), he was beaten out by Louis Arraez for the batting average title. The Triple Crown has not been claimed by anyone since Miguel Cabrera in 2012.
However, Judge had no competition for home runs as the second place went to Pete Alonso, far behind only 40 home runs. The margin between top scoring home runs has not been that large since Babe Ruth had his record setting 60 Home Runs all the way back in 1961. A record that Ruth and Maris held for over 60 years.
Not achieving the Triple Crown should not take away from Judge’s MVP season as he still had a batting average of .310, 62 Home Runs, and 131 RBI’s. No one has put up those types of numbers since Barry Bonds in 2001 when he hit a National League record 73 home runs. The last person to come close to that number of homeruns is Judge’s teammate Giancarlo Stanton who hit 59 in 2017 while a part of the Miami Marlins.
Judge also did this while being steroid free unlike Bonds who was able to set that record but while using PEDs which allowed him to excel in every category and break a ton of records, though not legally.
Judge was by far the best producing Yankee during the entire season. Some might even say that he carried the team to the playoffs as he would always come in clutch in their big moments. Now Judge has hope to carry home a World Series trophy and bring home the Yankees 28th championship in Franchise history.
Judge will be a free agent season since he declined an extension of his contract for $213 million dollars over seven years. Judge is coming into his seventh season at the age of 30. This means that he’s looking for a big contract over time. The only question to ask is if age will catch up with him. So far he has shown that age is just a number and he can compete with all the young rookies and pitchers.
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