Even before Aaron Judge hit his 50th homer in 2022 exactly two years ago, there was a buzz around the Yankees slugger in the midst of a historic season.
Reaching the milestone in Anaheim provided an even bigger stage, coming in a game against Shohei Ohtani – then his only real competition for the American League MVP award.
And once he crossed the 50-homer threshold, the real show began. Judge hit No. 51 the next night in Anaheim, and on Sept. 3 at Tampa Bay began a four-game homering streak. The scrutiny increased as the size of the media gathering and the number of questions increased.
Finally – judge broke the record with No. 62 on the penultimate day of the regular season at Texas, with Judge’s parents and Roger Maris Jr. who was watching and the entire baseball world focused on — the pursuit had clearly taken a toll on Judge.