After Aaron Judge scripted a new record of 62 home runs, there is a raging debate over who is the best hitter in the MLB — Judge or Barry Bonds, who had 73 homers but was tainted with the PED scandal. However, the Yankees slugger has refused to join the HR record debate and said that Barry Bonds is his favorite and that he still thinks he has the MLB record.
Since it became likely that Aaron Judge would break the record for most home runs in a single season, there has been a lot of disagreement about the record. Bonds set the all-time home run record of 73 in 2001, but most people think he used steroids to do it. So, many people think the real record is 62, which the Yankees’ slugger now holds.
Aaron Judge told Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated.
“Seventy-three is the record. In my book. No matter what people want to say about that era of baseball, for me, they went out there and hit 73 homers and 70 homers, and that to me is what the record is. The AL record is 61, so that is one I can kind of try to go after. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it’s been a fun year so far.”
According to a report by TIME, Aaron Judge told
“I’ll say I have the AL record. I’ll hold my head on that. I won’t try to change someone’s opinion if they say I am or am not. That depends on them.”
Barry Bonds loves to see Aaron Judge going past him
Barry Bonds played in Major League Baseball for 22 years, including with the San Francisco Giants. He is thought to be one of the best baseball players of all time. He told Barry M. Bloom of Sportico that he wants Aaron Judge to “go for” his record of 73 home runs:
“Go for it. The way he swings, he might as well hit one a day and get past me. I don’t care. Why not?”
Aaron Judge has chosen to stay with the New York Yankees. Last year’s Most Valuable Player in the American League signed a new nine-year, $360 million deal. He was also named TIME’s Player of the Year.
He turned down a $213.5 million, seven-year deal from the Yankees earlier this year. He knew that his skills were valuable, so he took the chance to get them by entering free agency.
In 2017, Judge was chosen as the Rookie of the Year for the American League (AL). The AL Most Valuable Player Award went to Aaron Judge in 2022.
Who do you think holds the real record?
