New York power hitter Aaron Judge currently have 60 home runs. He needs just one to tie and two to surpass Roger Maris, who holds the AL and team records for maximum homers in a single season for the last six decades. Fans have begun comparing and contrasting historic seasons of both Yankee sluggers. A look at the historic 1961 season reveals conditions were markedly different for Roger Maris and Aaron Judge is lucky to make it a more normal season in 2022.
In fact, a lot has changed in the 61 years. Aaron Judge is not under the same kind of pressure that Roger Maris was. The slugger doesn’t have to deal with annoying reporters before every game. Maris was so stressed during his record chase that he suffered hair fall and physical stress. But Judge has no hair fall and he has largely held off stress, pressure, and the weight of expectations.
Aaron Judge acts like nothing out of the ordinary is happening. Except for many from Linden, Judge’s hometown in California, were at Yankee Stadium watching and waiting like the rest of us, there’s no evidence the Yankees’ slugger has given the home run record a second thought.
There are also no signs of stress unless you count the fact that he hasn’t hit a home run in five games in a row since hitting No. 60 and tying Babe Ruth. Taking everything into account, Judge’s job is even tougher and more amazing.
He is doing a fantastic job of concealing the genuine stress or anxiety that he is experiencing. But he might not be completely normal.
The attitude at the dugout is also helping Aaron Judge.
Even though his teammates are aware of AL history is going to be rewritten, they are not treating him as though he is about to create a record.
Before the Yankees win 7-5 against Boston, Josh Donaldson hinted how the team tries to keep things under wrap. He told:
“We keep it as normal as possible in an abnormal time.”
They believe Aaron Judge is capable of handling it and the slugger has demonstrated this by managing everything.
It’s hard to believe that he was able to chase a 61-year-old record and still shows no pressure. Aaron Judge has destroyed the competition for MVP or Player of the Year by surging ahead of the rest. His competition is over, but Roger Maris is still the best today.
Roger Maris has one of the best records in all of the sports. In the highly competitive MLB, records matter the most and make a player a cult figure. He is a part of the baseball lore as much as Joe DiMaggio, who carried the 1941 season with a 56-game hitting streak, the massive 511 games won by Cy Young’s 511, and Hank “Hammer” Aaron’s 30-plus homers every season for 15 years that helped him accumulate steroid-free 755 home runs.
Roger Maris had different worries than Aaron Judge because reporters from the 10 newspapers in New York City at the time stayed in his face. While he was constantly in the glare of reporters, Aaron Judge has found more polite behavior from the press with only brief appearances at the Yankees’ clubhouse.
Back in 1961, every real Yankees fan hoped that the native hero, Mickey Mantle, would be the one to shatter the record of more iconic Babe Ruth. Mick was a fun-loving all-time great Yankee with movie-star looks and a terrific baseball name who’d already guided the team to five World Series titles when he and Roger Maris engaged in the first decent home-run chase 61 years ago.
The life of Aaron Judge is not any easier. After turning down the $213.5 million extension offer from the Yankees, he is in his “walk year.” He was already risking a lot of money before he started on this crazy journey, though. Even though he didn’t have to compete with a more popular teammate, he also didn’t have Mantle batting next to him. Roger Maris was taken care of by the best player in the American League.
Aaron Judge is not only the best player in the league, but he has also sometimes looked like the only one in a Yankees lineup that has been hurt a lot.
It’s great that Anthony Rizzo is back. Even though he isn’t Mickey Mantle, he is left-handed and poses a big threat to pitchers every time he goes to bat, particularly at Yankee Stadium. But right before Rizzo, Aaron Judge needed Giancarlo Stanton to help protect him, but Stanton was hurt and could only go half as fast. Roger Maris had a historic season, but he was never intentionally walked.
Aaron Judge, on the other hand, has more intentional walks (17) than anyone else in the American League. As he has done more damage—his OPS was .983 in the first half and a ridiculous 1.342 in the second—he has also been pitched around more.
Aaron Judge also had to carry a team that once had a 15 ½-game lead but was about to have the worst collapse in their baseball history because five of its best hitters were injured. Andrew Benintendi had wrist surgery. Matt Carpenter is not fully fit and the Yankees are in no hurry to recall DJ LeMahieu. So he’s had to do it without a lot of help at times.
Aaron Judge is having a far better season than Roger Maris, who was able to break Ruth’s record because it was an expansion year and pitchers were bad all over the league. Judge’s .315 average put him at the top of the AL on Saturday. In MLB, he traces Xander Bogaerts by one point. But Roger Maris fell close to 100 points behind the 1961 batting leader Norm Cash.
Aaron Judge is in the lead in almost everything, despite being under a lot of pressure in different ways. He’s gotten 128 runs batted in. He is 23 home runs ahead of Roger Maris, who finished only seven home runs ahead of Mantle.
Roger Maris and Aaron Judge didn’t have very similar historic seasons.
Do you agree that Aaron Judge is better off Roger Maris, who had to deal with many problems?
