Alex Cora broke into the majors in 1998, the year of the McGwire-Sosa home run race, so he knows full well the impact such a chase can have on the sport.
He thinks what Aaron Judge is doing is fantastic for the game.
With the regular season winding down, the New York Yankees star is chasing down Roger Maris’ Yankee home run record of 61, which also is the American League record. Judge inched closer to that mark in Tuesday’s win over the Boston Red Sox, hitting Nos. 56 and 57.
This comes after an offseason in which Judge decided to turn down a market value offer from the Yankees and bet on himself. Suffice to say it was a smart play.
Cora had plenty of high praise for Judge in his weekly appearance on "Merloni, Fauria and Mego."
“People can say he’s taking advantage of Yankee Stadium, (but) yesterday, that home run he hit against us into the bullpen, I haven’t seen guys doing it in a while here," Cora said when asked if Judge's chase is getting enough fanfare. "I agree, it’s kind of quiet in a sense, people are not talking too much about that, but I do believe the guy has been amazing.
“You think about the way this season started with him, that press conference with (Brian Cashman) talking about what he offered him, what he turned down and the guy has put in an MVP-caliber season. He represents the game of baseball the right way. Even yesterday in his interviews, he was very humble.
“I know he’s playing for the Yankees and we want to get him out, but for the sport it’s great. For the sport it’s amazing, and I think a lot of people in the industry are very proud of him.”
There are 20 more games left in the Yankees' regular season, beginning with Wednesday's tilt with the Sox at Fenway. Prior to Tuesday's two-homer performance he hadn't hit one in five games, but the rate he's mashed much of this season suggests he has plenty of time to catch Maris.
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