ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his 62nd home run of the season Tuesday night, breaking Roger Maris’ American League record and setting what some fans consider baseball’s “clean” standard.
Maris’ 61 for the Yankees in 1961 had been exceeded six times previously, but all were tainted by the stench of steroids. Mark McGwire﹡ hit 70 for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1998 and 65 the following year. Barry Bonds﹡ hit an MLB-record 73 for the San Francisco Giants in 2001, and the Chicago Cubs’ Sammy Sosa﹡﹡ had 66, 65 and 63 during a four-season span starting in 1998.
McGwire admitted using banned steroids, while Bonds and Sosa denied knowingly using performing-enhancing drugs. Major League Baseball started testing with penalties for PEDs in 2004, and some fans — perhaps many — until now have considered Maris as holder of the legitimate record.
Aaron Judge is listed as 6’7” and 282 lbs.
﹡ steroids
﹡﹡steroids, corked bat
Also, Albert Pujols Hit His 700th Career HR
On September 24, Pujols hit his 700th homer. Only Barry Bonds﹡ 762, Hank Aaron, 755, and Babe Ruth, 714, have hit more. Pujols has since hit 3 more homers.
Pujols also now has the second most career RBIs, 2,218, having just moved ahead of Ruth, 2,213. Henry Aaron has the most at 2,297.
Alex Rodriguez﹡ is fourth with 2,086.
Albert Pujols says he is retiring after this season.
﹡Steroids
