It was one of those nights, the kind that reminded you of the basic rule of last century baseball: There were the Yankees, and then there were the others. From sepia tones to high definition, no other team has made history, before or now, with such grandeur and resonance.
In the ninth inning on Tuesday in the Bronx, Aaron Judge became the third player in American League history to hit 60 home runs in a season. The others were also Yankees: Babe Ruth in 1927 and Roger Maris in 1961, and both had their downhill teammates pushing them along. For Ruth it was Lou Gehrig, for Maris it was Mickey Mantle.
So, what else could happen after Judge’s 60th game other than a big game-ending big game from Giancarlo Stanton, after that round, to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-8? No other dynamic slugger can relate to Judge quite like Stanton, who once brought 59 hosts in one season to Miami. Stanton had to be at the top of a night like this, with a low-rider shouting into the left row of seats.
“It was an autograph from Giancarlo Stanton, the laser was 10 feet from the airport,” the admiring Judge said in the interview room afterward. “I had a good front row seat for that one. I think the whole team has lost their minds.”
Judge led the curator from the dugout to greet Stanton at the plate. His pursuit of Maris’ AL record – 61 – was a personal achievement in a team game. Ruth and Maris ended their gilded season with the championship, and Judge never competed in the World Series. He doesn’t wallow in his status line.
“He hit 60 tonight and it’s like nothing happened,” Stanton said. “He has a lot of work to do. That’s how to set up the mind. That’s how it always will be. “
Whatever awaits the Yankees, who have led Toronto by five and a half games in the AL East, Judge will always have a spot in the 60-man home-run club, a party of just three – the AL version, though star. Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa also went there, in the National League, just before the baseball team started testing steroids.
McGwire and Sosa overtook Maris in 1998. Both topped 61 again the following season, and the Bonds set a record with 73 hosts in 2001. Before that, Yankees director Aaron Boone said, 60 who has an unmistakable aura. Judge not only resurrected it, but did so with a contest that made no sense.
“I’m back for him to do it this season, the setting of this season,” Boone said, noting that Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber has the next highest home run total in 2022.” He’s 40. He’s second. I mean, it’s unbelievable, 60 to 40. When I play, the men usually hit the 50s and 40s, congregate there. It’s not happening now.
“And to go beyond the field and be fundamental at the level he is, push for a batting title, play the kind of almighty game he is – on a disappointing night up to that point, I tried to drink that in. I keep seeing ’60’ on the board as he runs around the bases. It’s hard for me to hold on.”
Judge – who made a quick call, mainly to keep the game going – ended the night as AL leader each category three crowns, with an average of 0.316 and 128 runs with 60 hosts. Only two Yankees (Gehrig and Mantle) have won three crowns.
For a player chasing milestones, Judge seems to play remarkably without pressure. He made his 58th and 59th home debut on Sunday in Milwaukee, then 60 in the next game. When Stanton scored 59 goals at home, in 2017 he ended the season without a connection in his last three games.
“How did I deal with it? By not getting it,” says Stanton. “Obviously you can’t run from it, you can’t hide from it. You can say in the stadium, you can say their pitcher doesn’t want to be the one giving it up. So that’s all those extra distractions, outside noise. You have to be able to compress all of that and still stay in your zone. “
Judge did it against Wil Crowe, a Pirate detox and great grandson of Red Ruffing, a Yankees Hall of Fame pitcher with a plaque in Monument Park. Crowe challenged Judge with a 3-1 sinker at 94 mph, and Judge hurled it 430 feet into the left court.
Michael Kessler, 20, a pitcher and quarterback for the baseball team at City College of New York, snatched the bouncing ball and returned it to Judge. He met Judge and received four autographed baseballs and a signed bat.
The judge smiled when asked what he was thinking after hitting the car; he attacked with bases loaded earlier in the game, and even with his car the Yankees were still ahead by three runs.
“My goodness, you idiot,” Judge said, thinking to himself. “You should have done this a little earlier.”
However, in the historical context, Judge is premature. Ruth hit 60 in the Yankees’ 154th game in 1927, and Maris finished in their 159th game in 1961. Tuesday was just the 147th game for the Judge’s Yankees – but he may be having too much. much fun to achieve his highest position in team history.
“Having the opportunity to play baseball at Yankee Stadium with a cramped house and a first-rate team, that’s what you dream of,” Judge said. “I love every second of it.”
