On Tuesday night, when the New York Yankees played the Texas Rangers, Aaron Judge hit his 62nd home run, which was the most in the American League in a single season. Roger Maris held the previous record since 1961. By surpassing it, Aaron Judge engraved his name in baseball history.
MLB insider Jon Heyman was one of the people who greeted Aaron Judge on his incredible achievement. While he was congratulating Judge, he made fun of Barry Bonds, who held the MLB record for most home runs with 73 homers. He said that Judge “rightfully” had the record because he did it without using steroids.
Though Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds all had more home runs than Aaron Judge, their accomplishments are often questioned following allegations of the use of performance-enhancement drugs.
Reminding fans of this, the baseball columnist called Aaron Judge “the real, honest-to-goodness home run champion” and even warned those supporting the fallen heroes of the steroid era to stay away. Earlier Roger Maris Jr. also called Aaron Judge the “clean home run king.”
The purpose of the post was to send a message to MLB fans who think that Barry Bonds is the real home run champion. This resulted in a social media storm and fans were quick to defend Bonds as the true record holder. They didn’t like what the insider said about players during the steroid era.
“That’s not what the record books say” one fan commented.
“Barry Bonds is the home run king bud” another fan said.
Some MLB fans thought that what Jon Heyman said was stupid. He could have said what he wanted to say without making fun of Barry Bonds. One fan said that Heyman was being hypocritical because he voted for Bonds to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Fans also didn’t like that Heyman’s post took the spotlight off Aaron Judge. They thought it took away focus from the real story, which was to honor Judge’s historic season. Aaron Judge had to wait 61 years to beat Maris’ record. No one knows how long it will be before someone beats Judge.
Aaron Judge is in complete control this offseason
After the 2022 MLB playoffs are over, Aaron Judge will be a free agent. This year, he “bet on himself” after reportedly turning down a seven-year, $213.5 million contract extension from the Yankees. He used this season to show the league how good he really was.
During Aaron Judge’s free agency, there will be a lot of teams that want to sign him. He will be able to choose where he wants to work for the next 8–10 years of his career.
Aaron Judge will join a list of star players who are free agents this offseason. Jacob deGrom, the ace pitcher for the New York Mets, Trea Turner, an infielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Xander Bogaerts, a star for the Boston Red Sox, are all free agents.
This group of free agents is one of the best the league has seen in a long time. Next season will be a good time to see how the league has changed.
Do you agree with the tweet of Jon Heyman?
