Judge hits 61st HR and ties Roger Maris record

The stellar outfielder is now one home run away from breaking the mark set in 1961, which also stood as the Major League mark for 37 years.

With his 61st home run, the 6-foot-7 Judge now moved into seventh place on the list of home runs in a season, breaking the tie he held with Babe Ruth (1927) for eighth place.

There have been nine 60-homer seasons in MLB history by six different players. Judge is now part of the club that already has immortal Hall of Famers Ruth and Maris, as well as Barry Bonds (2001), Mark McGwire (1999, 1998) and Sammy Sosa (2001, 1999, 1998) as members.

Judge’s 60 home runs were already the most by a right-handed hitter in American League history. Judge had already joined Ruth (four) and Mickey Mantle (two) as the third member of the storied Yankees franchise to have multiple 50 HR seasons in a pinstripe uniform.

“It was great. I wasn’t expecting it,” Judge said postgame on the field. “Seeing the love from my teammates, I do what I do for them. And to do it in a win, it’s hard to describe at this point.” Senior Ampayer Brian O’Nora, after the game, congratulated Judge outside the Yankees dugout and handed him the official lineup card for the night.

“I’m playing a kid’s game and I love this. I love these moments,” Judge said. “It was a 3-3 game, and I just wanted to go out there and do my job.”

The seven-game home run-free drought was a rare case for the select few who have reached such home run heights. Of the seven previous instances in which a player connected for 61 home runs, four reached that mark in the next game after connecting for 60 and none took more than three games to reach the milestone.

Judge finally got there in the series finale, with Roger Maris Jr. and Judge’s mother sitting in the front row at the top of the Yankees’ dugout.

And now, the only players in MLB history with more home runs in a season are Barry Bonds (73), Mark McGwire (70, 65) and Sammy Sosa (66, 64, 63), who hit theirs during the steroid era (1998 to 2001).

Judge’s 2022 achievement came without evidence of performance-enhancing drugs used by the Yankees slugger, which manager Aaron Boone believes puts the All-Star outfielder’s numbers beyond those recorded by others.

“I think it puts him a step above,” Boone said last week. “I have to believe he’s right up there with some of the best seasons of all time. I go back to the context of the season, and the more I look at it, the more I understand it was a great season.”

Maris’ home run record isn’t the only all-time mark Judge is chasing.

Judge’s batting average before Wednesday was .316, one point ahead of Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts and two above Minnesota Twins first baseman Luis Arráez. Judge, who is all but assured of leading the league in home runs and RBIs (127), has a chance to become the 11th player to win the Triple Crown since RBIs became official in 1920.