Aaron Judge hits 60th home run of season, putting him in elite MLB club

Aaron Judge became the sixth person in MLB history to hit 60 home runs in a single season on Tuesday night.

Judge’s 60th blast of the year was a leadoff solo shot in the ninth inning off of Pittsburgh Pirates’ Wil Crowe. 

Judge is also the third Yankee to hit 60 in a season, joining Roger Maris (61 in 1961) and Babe Ruth (60 in 1927). He’s the first person to reach the mark since both Barry Bonds (73) and Sammy Sosa (64) did so in 2001.

Judge’s next two home runs will also be huge milestones, as he will tie and break Maris’ American League record.

Bonds, Sosa, and Mark McGwire have since surpassed Maris, but their links to performance-enhancing drugs have tarnished their legacies to many baseball fans who think Judge’s 62nd home run will be the true all-time single season record.

Judge has said himself that “73 is the record,” but some think that 62 could be worth up to $10 million.

Ticket prices for the chance to watch and/or catch 61 and 62 have also skyrocketed, so Judge can stay as humble as he wants, but 62 is historic no matter what.

AARON JUDGE’S HOME RUN CHASE CAUSING TICKET PRICES TO SKYROCKET

On Sunday, Judge set the single-season record for the most home runs hit by a right-handed hitter with his 59th dinger of the year.

Judge is going to be a free agent this year after declining the Yankees’ offer of $230.5 million in an eight-year span, and no bet on one’s self has ever worked out so well. 

The 30-year-old not only leads baseball in homers, but he also leads the majors in RBI (128), on-base percentage (.419), slugging percentage (.703), total bases (372), and runs scored (123). Entering Tuesday, his .316 batting average was .001 behind AL leader Luis Arraez of the Minnesota Twins. He also leads the AL with 93 walks.

Judge has 15 more games to break the record. Since July 15, he’s averaging just over a home run in every other game.

The Yanks were down 8-4 when Judge hit the blast, but it kickstarted a huge comeback for the Yanks who won on a walk-off Giancarlo Stanton grand slam to beat the Pirates, 9-8.