October in baseball isn’t just a calendar shift. It is the final stretch. The air gets crisp. The stakes get higher. Every game feels like a playoff warmup. For casual fans, it is the time to glance at the standings. For everyone else, it is when the legends are made.
This year, the spotlight has been burning hot on New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge. He wasn’t just playing baseball. He was hunting history.
On October 5, inside Globe Life Field against the Texas Rangers, Judge did what many thought was impossible. He hit his 62nd home run of the season.
It is official. Judge has shattered the American League single-season home run record. That record was 61. It had stood since 1961. It belonged to Roger Maris.
The gap is wider than you think
The distance between Judge and the rest of the pack is staggering. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, something hasn’t happened in nearly a century.
After his 57th homer on September 13, Judge was 20 home runs ahead of the next closest player. The last time a leader held such a massive advantage was the 1928 season. Back then, Babe Ruth led the field by 23 homers over Jim Bottomley and Hack Wilson.
Today, Judge’s nearest rival is Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Kyle Schwarber. Schwarber has 46 home runs. That is a 16-home-run deficit. In modern baseball, gaps shrink fast. This one is a canyon.
The pace was unsustainable
Judge’s numbers were absurd from the start.
- April: 6 homers in 20 games
- May: 12 homers in 27 games
- June: 11 homers in 28 games
- July: 13 homers in 25 games
- August: 9 homers in 27 games
By mid-September, he was on a tear. He was hitting a home run every 2.5 team games. The regular season ended on October 5. The math says he won’t reach 65. It is unlikely. But the context matters.
If Judge had finished with 65, it would be the highest total since Barry Bonds hit 73 in 2001. It would be only the fifth time in MLB history someone cleared the 65-home-run plateau.
The asterisk shadow
Records in baseball are rarely just numbers. They are debates.
Fans and historians often look at the 60-home-run club with suspicion. Why? Because of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). The modern era’s heavy hitters are tangled in controversy.
- Barry Bonds: 73 homers (2001)
- Mark McGwire: 70 (1998), 65 (1999)
- Sammy Sosa: 66 (1998), 64 (2001)
Every non-Yankee player who reached that 60-home-run mark was either accused of or confessed to using banned substances. Judge’s record sits clean of those stains. Yet, the comparison lingers. The shadow of the steroid era makes the number 62 feel heavier. It is prestigious. It is also complicated.
Chasing the Triple Crown
The home run record is only half the story. Judge is also in the hunt for the Triple Crown.
This is the holy grail for hitters. It requires leading the league in three categories in the same season:
1. Home runs
2. Batting average
3. Runs batted in (RBI)
Judge is currently leading both the American League and Major League Baseball in home runs (62) and RBIs (133). His batting average sits at a respectable .311.
That average puts him fourth in the AL. He is close. But “close” in baseball is a dangerous place to be. A few slumps. A few off nights. The crown slips away.
On October 1, 1961, Roger Maris hit his 61st home run to break Babe Ruth’s record. He was also voted the American League MVP.
Judge is walking Maris’s path. The crowd noise is louder now. The pressure is thicker. He has the power. He has the plate discipline. He has the stage.
The season is over. The playoffs begin. But the record book doesn’t close until the last out is recorded. Judge has already made his mark. The
