NYP:
When Aaron Judge hit his 60th homer of the season on Sept. 20 to tie Babe Ruth’s magic number, it seemed Judge would match Roger Maris’ No. 61 at any minute.
Instead, it took eight more games, and two countries, along with Judge enduring his second-longest home run drought of the year- before the slugger finally tied the American League and franchise record on Wednesday night.
Judge’s historic smash in Toronto came against the Blue Jays’ Tim Mayza on a 3-2 pitch in the top of the seventh inning.
The two-run shot put the Yankees in front, 5-3.
Next up will be topping Maris’ record, which many consider to be the legitimate single-season home run record due to Barry Bonds’ PED ties. more
Against Toronto? That makes it especially nice.
Corked bat discovered in 3..2..
RadioMattM,
Why?
The Jays are class team.
Only T.O. team I respect.
Babe Ruth hit 60 homers in 154 games. Roger Maris hit 61 homers in 162 games which was always the ‘asterix’ attached to the Maris record…..Judge just hit 61 in 155 games….Now, where does the asterix go if he hits 62 by game #162 ?…..The steroid fellas shouldn’t even be mentioned any more and their records erased….
Tim Mayza will be a trivia question answer for the rest of eternity just like Al Downing and Hank Aaron’s trivia question and answer….
Roger Maris? Never heard of him.
Kcir, I dated a Canadian chick in Houston (She had a killer bod) that was a Blue-jay fan.
Her only flaw since I was a Red Sox die-hard.
I hit 217 goals with Cornpop when I was in the negro leagues at Sandhurst.
Kcir: Maybe because I lived on the West Coast of Canada. If a Mariner pitcher threw a no hitter and a Jay’s bat boy got a splinter, I can tell you which story would get all of the coverage on BC sportscasts. It isn’t just the Jay’s, it is how “important” the Toronto teams are treated like they are the most important things in the country. I remember one time when regular programming was pre-empted to carry a Toronto MLS game.
And the Jay’s announcers grate on my nerves. To hear them tell it, the Jay’s rarely make a mistake, all the teams they play are terrible and the only reason the Jay’s don’t win 162 games a season is because of a conspiracy involving all of Major League Baseball.
And, speaking of Toronto teams, you do realize that if Toronto is playing a Saturday game in Vancouver, that game starts at 4:30 so the Leafs get their required spot on Maple Leafs Night in Canada, er, Hockey Night in Canada. And you know that if the Leafs are not playing in the first game it is because they are not playing that day.
Ontario brought the country the third term of Fidel Trudeau. The west coast is sick of the attitude of “What’s good for Toronto is good for the country.”
That HR record doesn’t really matter since Babe’s reputation, style, and persona will never fucking be topped!
That plus the Red Sox curse is simply over the top.
Mount Rushmore of legends!
BTW, Jimmy Buffett broke “the curse” during a concert he gave at Fenway in the Summer of 2004.
True story!
What is this Baseball that the article refers to?
The balls now are made to hit more homers. Started after the league bought out the ball company.
I invented the home run.
RadioMattM,
I respect your opinion.
I completely HATE the Toronto Maple Leafs as an organization. They are the most OVERRATED & UNDER PERFORMING pro sports team. I met a lot of the old players at charities and off record they feel the same.
And regarding Fidel Turdeau, that is why, despite living among the ASSHOLES I often add “Embarrassed to be from Toronto”
Cheers!
Leafs Suck.
Argos Suck.
Toronto FC Suck.
Tod Bertuzzi Sucks (you’ll get that one)
Asterisk:
Modern Balls
Modern Bats (more consistent)
Modern Sports Medicine & nutrition
Modern Training
Modern HGH/Roids
Modern Stadiums (partially wind & rain sheltered in many cases)
Modern Travel & Hotels (comfort & recovery)
Also:
Roger Maris apparently would smoke up to 3 pack of death sticks a day at the Peak of His stress as per BLEACHER REPORT Oct 1/2008.
But it is still a HELL OF AN ACCOMPLISHMENT
^^^ longer season.
Judge’s home run total is a major accomplishment in 2022. Judge has 61 – Mike Trout of the Angels is second with 38 – a significant difference. It’s not like Judge is competing with anyone else for home run totals.
One really cannot compare players of yester year from modern players. Yes, the season is longer now, but major league baseball is now a year long job for the players, most players are more health conscious and in better physical shape, and the training/coaching/game strategy is more advanced. Also, today’s batters may be stronger and faster, but today’s pitchers and pitching staffs are also much better overall; for example 50 years ago relief pitchers were an afterthought, and now every team has dedicated relief pitchers who are used in specific spots.
Babe Ruth was an anomaly who routinely hit more home runs in a season than entire teams did. Players of all eras (including Maris) have been compared to Ruth, and rightfully so, and the fact that Judge took 155 games to reach Maris’ total should take nothing away from his accomplishment.
refuse/resist: That may be true, but back in Ruth’s day a pitcher was expected to finish what he started. These days it is not unusual to have 3-4 pitchers in one game. I have seen a pitcher come in to face one batter. Rules have changed to eliminate that, but it does show that things have been done for both defense and offense.
Kcir: Funny thing about Bertuzzi. When he left the Canucks, he was again accepted into polite society even though he is the one who did what he did. On the other hand, the Canucks were still considered evil for having someone who did what Bertuzzi did on their team.
Sports would be a lot more entertaining if:
NBA Basketball was played by dwarfs
NHL Hockey was played by chimpanzees
NFL Football was played by trained lions
MLB Baseball was played by little kids aged 6-15
Soccer was played by one-legged men