Update: why Aaron Judge surpassing Roger Maris would be great for baseball
Aaron Judge is not only back on track to reach Roger Maris, after his monster weekend in Baltimore, the New York Yankees slugger is now ahead of him. Judge clubbed his 35th and 36th home runs of the year on Friday night at Camden Yards and added his 37th earlier today.
That puts Aaron Judge on pace to finish the season with 63 home runs, two more Maris’ total in 1961, which is the single-season record for the most storied of franchises. #AllRise indeed.
Wagering on baseball prop bets is like playing roulette online, it’s all extremely variable, and you just don’t know how the ball is going to bounce- with or against you. Aaron Judge winning the American League, or even the Major League home crown is a very safe bet.
Passing Maris to take the top spot in Yankees lore? Well, that has longer odds, but #99 now has seven home runs in his last nine games and he currently leads the majors with 81 RBIs
Maris’ 61 in ’61 is still considered the gold standard for single season home run hitting. Yes, it was surpassed by Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire in 1998, who both got surpassed by Barry Bonds in 2001, but those seasons all have asterisks. All were using performance enhancing drugs that gave them an unfair advantage, so those records aren’t truly legit.
One sure fire bet- Aaron Judge won’t be taking about the Maris record/the pace he’s on too much. But he did discuss how his batting average is now up to.294, which puts .300 now in striking distance.
That’s a big goal for him.
“I saw a lot of the greats – Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera – they always hit above .300 and the power just came with it,” Judge said.
“That’s always been a goal of mine to hit above .300 and we’ll keep working towards it.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone discussed taking two out of three in Charm City, which put the Yanks back up by 12.5 over the Toronto Blue Jays in the division.
“It’s always big to win a series,” the Yankee skipper said.
“You don’t take that for granted whether you’re in a hot streak like we’ve been at times this year or you’re struggling a little bit. Series wins are not to be taken lightly.”
Judge now has nine homers in his last 12 games against AL East basement dwelling Baltimore, with 36 in his career against the O’s, the most against any one opponent.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.
