Hey, here we go, time for my first opinion piece since joining Black Press and I鈥檓 excited about it.

For anyone that knows me, or if you鈥檙e just getting to know me through here, I鈥檓 a massive baseball fan and we鈥檙e here to talk about home runs.

As a Blue Jays fan, it pains me to say this, but as a baseball fan, it鈥檚 cool to say this, congratulations to New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge for breaking the American League home run record! Judge broke the record by hitting his 62nd home run of the season down in Texas on Tuesday night (Oct. 4), beating Roger Maris鈥� record of 61 that he accomplished in 1961, 61 years ago (numbers in baseball are wild aren鈥檛 they?).

Remember where you were when made history. 6锔忊儯2锔忊儯

鈥� MLB (@MLB)

This is so damn cool for baseball. While hockey remains king in Canada, the NFL, some college football, and the NBA usually get more views than a typical MLB game but when someone is hitting home runs at this pace, it absolutely helps grow the game and popularize it.

Judge is the first player to reach the 60 home run in a season mark since 2001 when Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa did it (which we鈥檒l get to in a minute). Some players in recent history came close: Giancarlo Stanton in 2017 (59), Ryan Howard in 2006 (58) and many other but no one reached the big 6-0 in 21 years.

It鈥檚 amazing for baseball to see what Judge has done this season, basically leading in every offensive category. He鈥檚 had one of the greatest seasons offensively in the recent history. And like previous mentioned, yes Judge did break a record, the American League home run record. His name is etched in history forever but the people trying to say he鈥檚 the all-time single season home run record are just plain wrong.

Steroids or not, Barry Bonds is the all-time single season home run champion when he hit 73 of them back in 2001. This isn鈥檛 an argument.

Is it a fact that Bonds (as well as Sosa and Mark McGuire) used steroids? Yes. It鈥檚 also a fact he hit 73 home runs and that can never be erased, just like how McGuire hit 70 in a season and Sosa hit 66. It can鈥檛 be erased and it would be stupid to have two separate home run categories, that just can鈥檛 exist.

I do agree that you can make the argument that baseball is much harder now with pitchers consistently throw 98 mph fastballs while the average fastball was around 90 mph back in 2001 but 73 is still the most to ever be hit in a regular season.

I鈥檝e also seen people online argue that the last two weeks have been unfair to Judge in his pursue for 62 because 鈥榩itchers weren鈥檛 pitching to him鈥�. Judge has been intentionally walked 19 times this season. Bonds, in not even the 2001 season, in the 2004 season was intentionally walked a league record 120! times.

The way Judge was going, I honestly thought he was going to at least challenge Bonds record. After a ridiculous run out of the all-star break, Judge hit home run number 43 on the season on August 1 and still had 58 games to go. He was on pace for 67 home runs, which would鈥檝e been the third most all-time in a regular season.

While he didn鈥檛 challenge for the single-season home run record, 62 in a season is still a ridiculous achievement and the American League and no one can take that away from him. I鈥檓 so glad that the majority of baseball fans are celebrating it and realizing it鈥檚 good for the game because it is! It鈥檚 great for the game and it shouldn鈥檛 matter what team you cheer for, if you鈥檙e a real baseball fan, you want to see records be broken and celebrate this outstanding feat.

Now Judge, Ohtani, and American League MVP argument this season, well that鈥檚 for another day鈥�

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jordy.cunningham@kelownacapnews.com
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