Yankees' Aaron Judge Breaks AL's Single-Season HR Record
Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees claimed the single-season American League record with his 62nd home run on Tuesday against the Texas Rangers.
The home run came in Game 2 of the doubleheader as Judge drilled a shot to left field off Rangers starter Jesus Tinoco to lead off the game.
Judge previously tied the AL record, held by former Yankees outfielder Roger Maris, last Wednesday in Toronto. Maris set the previous record of 61 in 1961. Babe Ruth held the record before Maris with 60 in 1927.
Judge hit his 60th on Sept. 20, which made him just the sixth player in Major League history to hit at least 60 home runs in a season.
Maris held the single-season record until the St. Louis Cardinals’ Mark McGwire broke it when he hit 70 in 1998. San Francisco’s Barry Bonds holds the MLB record with 73 in 2001.
Now, the only power hitters ahead of Judge on the single-season list are ones that produced their record-breaking seasons in the National League.
The New York Yankees will wrap up their regular season in Texas on Wednesday. That includes the day-night doubleheader on Tuesday and an afternoon finale on Wednesday.
Judge is challenging for the AL triple crown, too. He leads the league in both home runs and RBI. If Judge holds onto the lead in those categories and ends dthe season with the lead in batting average, he would be the first player to win the triple crown in the AL since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera did it in 2012.
The other seasons that featured players with 60 or more home runs includes the Chicago Cubs’ Sammy Sosa, who played for the Rangers two different times and hit 66 home runs in 1998. McGwire hit 65 home runs in 1999, while Sosa had 64 in 2001 and 63 in 1999.
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