The countdown is on for Aaron Judge, who slammed his 51st home run of the season Tuesday night in Anaheim. The Yankees single-season record (and American League record) is within reach. And of course it’s held by Roger Maris, who hit 61 home runs in 1961, which oddly enough was 61 years ago.
Roger Maris was only 51 when he passed away in 1985. But these days the Maris family is watching closely, and they love seeing Judge give it a run, now 10 homers away from tying Maris with 32 games to play.
“Well, we don’t want him to break it.” Roger Maris Jr., the oldest of Roger’s six children, told me with a laugh. “I mean I do want Dad to keep the record, but that being said, records are meant to be broken. And if somebody had to break it I can’t think of a better guy. He’s a class individual for one, a great ballplayer for two, and he’s a great Yankee. And to be able to do that in New York would be an amazing thing. I think it would be great for the city, it would be great for the fans, and it would be fun and entertaining for the family to see what he could do.”
People who saw Maris play in his prime often mention the fine, multi-tool player he was—a two-time MVP, and a Gold Glove winning outfielder with a cannon arm who helped lead his Yankees and Cardinals teams to the World Series seven times in a nine year stretch.
Maris had an understated style about him. Roger Jr., who catches mostly highlights and games when he can from his home in Florida, thinks there are some similarities between his father and Judge.
“Great guy, low-key guy kinda like Dad was,” Roger Jr said. “Not a big rah-rah guy, just plays the game the way it’s supposed to be played. He just does so many great things on the field. He can hit, he can run, hit with power, he can run the bases. He’s just an all-around player. What’s there not to like?”
Maris’s single-season home run record stood for 37 years before Mark McGwire smashed 70 in 1998. That record was shattered in 2001 when Barry Bonds hit 73. But PED controversies have put those marks in a different light, leading some—including, not surprisingly, the Maris family—to believe that 61 is still a more legitimate, clean home run record.
“Yea, I think so,” Maris Jr. said. “And I also feel like the court of public opinion feels the same way. I think just based on what’s happened and what’s come to light since all the home runs were hit back in the day there with the steroids I think people realized [61] is the record.”
I asked Judge two weeks ago about the potential to hit 61 and he deflected talk of what he called “hypotheticals” with “too many important games out here to really sit down and think about the future.”
But Judge did admit he was a nine-year old Bay Area kid who looked up to Bonds in 2001. And while saying he doesn’t think about trying to set a clean home run mark, Judge did say that he thinks 73 is still the record to recognize.
“For me, in the record books it’s Barry Bonds,” Judge said. “I grew up a Bonds fan, so that’s kind of the number that’s in my head as the record. As a kid who was watching, you know I was sitting there at home with my dad watching him break the record. That’s the number for me.”
But there don’t appear to be enough games left on the schedule now to make a legitimate run at Bonds, so the only suspense is likely the countdown to Maris.
Whether it was in the late 1990’s or now another generation later, the Maris family appreciates and enjoys the fact that their father’s name and career are brought into the spotlight again. And they think Roger, who wore No.
9, would have enjoyed watching No. 99 make a run at 61.
“Dad was always like, ‘Hey let everyone give it their best shot, records are meant to be broken, if they can do it then I’ll be the first one to tip my cap to him and tell him great job,’” Maris Jr. said. “So we definitely pay attention and it’s fun to watch.
“If [Judge] hits 62 home runs I think Dad will be looking down from up above tipping his cap, saying great job. And same with the family. We’ll be happy for Aaron that he was able to do what he had to do.”
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