Aaron Judge is chasing down Roger Maris’ illustrious Yankees and American League home run record, but in doing so, he is also close to accomplishing a feat that has only ever been done by another Yankee legend.
After smashing two home runs in Tuesday night’s win over the Red Sox, Judge now has 57 bombs on the season, 20 more than Kyle Schwarber’s 37, the second most in the league this season.
As noted by Bob Nightengale, Babe Ruth is the only player in MLB history to win a home run title by at least 20 homers, dating back to when Ruth revolutionized the sport with his awe-inspiring power that saw him hit more home runs than entire teams in the early 1920s.
In 1920, Ruth’s 54 home runs were well more than George Sisler’s 19, as were Ruth’s 59 in 1921 compared to Bob Meusel’s 24. Seven years later, in 1928, Ruth’s 54 home runs well outpaced Hack Wilson’s 31.
Despite nearing Maris’ record, flirting with a triple crown award that hasn’t been done by a Yankee since Mickey Mantle in 1956, and now with a feat last accomplished by Ruth over 100 years ago, Judge insists that he can’t pay attention to the numbers, regardless of the harrowed franchise names that are attached to them.
“You really just don’t look at it,” Judge said of the gap between him and Schwarber. “If you're checking the numbers, you're going to get caught, so I just keep trying to do what I can do and the numbers will take care of themselves.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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