Aaron Judge is now the greatest single-season home run hitter in the history of the Yankees and the American League after closing his 2022 regular season with 62 home runs, finally eclipsing Roger Maris in the penultimate game of the year.
Many argue that Judge is now the overall record holder, as, some, like Roger Maris Jr., don’t recognize the records held by known or heavily suspected steroid users. Others, like Brandon Tierney, are calling on Major League Baseball to use Judge’s historical season as an opportunity to tweak the record books to at least note those who didn’t do it clean.
But don’t expect that to happen, based on commissioner Rob Manfred’s comments on Get Up on Thursday.
“The record books say what they say,” Manfred said. “I think that over the history of the game there have been different eras, the ball performed differently, the equipment was different and I think the best way to handle it is let fans make their own judgment as to what records are most significant to them.
“There’s just so many different variables. There was a period of time where the ball was different, and a period of time where there was obviously steroid use. I think, in effect, people do that already. When they look at the numbers, they make a judgement based on when those numbers were achieved.”
Get Up host Mike Greenberg countered with the thought of adjusting the records so that fans decades or even centuries from now who won’t have that first-hand experience will know about the controversies surrounding some of those records, but Manfred didn’t seem to believe that was necessary.
“I think numbers that were achieved during the dead ball era…everyone knows that,” Manfred said. “With respect to these home run numbers, fans are going to continue to have that historical context.”
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