Yankees’ Aaron Judge Breaks Single-Season Home Run Record

Topline

Aaron Judge’s 62nd home run of the year against the Texas Rangers Tuesday night broke Roger Maris’ single-season American League home run record, which stood for more than 60 years—drawing record TV ratings and boosting ticket prices as fans tried to catch a piece of baseball history.

Key Facts

Judge’s home run in an away game Tuesday night put him one over Maris’ 61, which he hit in 1961, breaking an American League record, but still leaving him nine home runs shy of the all-time MLB record set by Barry Bonds in 2001–a record mired in controversy over Bonds’ use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Bonds is one of three players who have hit more home runs than Judge in a single season, along with Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa (Sosa did it three times while McGwire did it twice)—all three have tested positive for PEDs and McGwire is the only one of the three who has admitted to knowingly using them.

Judge’s 62 home runs and 131 runs batted in lead the league in both categories, while his .311 average is second-best to Minnesota Twins first baseman Luis Arraez, leaving Judge just shy of the American League’s triple crown award (for players who finish first in all three categories)—a feat that’s only been achieved three times in the past 50 years, most recently by Miguel Cabrera on the Detroit Tigers in 2012.

Tangent

Yankees ticket prices have soared over the past two weeks as fans tried to watch Judge hit his record-breaking home run, jumping to $252 late last month for the last seven home games of the year, according to data from sales platform TicketiQ. Outfield tickets to Yankees-Rangers games this week in Arlington, Texas, ranged from $16 to a whopping $941 for seats in left field, where right-handed batters like Aaron Judge pull home runs, TicketiQ editorial director Greg Cohen told Forbes. Vivid Seats lists tickets to Wednesday’s game up to $723, while StubHub lists tickets up to $4,860. The Rangers have the fourth worst record in the American League, and rank eighth out of 15 teams in attendance this year, with just over 24,500 fans per home game—well below the Yankees’ 38,719, according to Baseball Reference.

Big Number

$1.25 million. That’s how much Judge’s 62nd home run ball could sell at auction, according to Goldin Auctions executive chairman Ken Goldin. The fan who caught Judge’s 60th home run—tying Yankees great Babe Ruth—returned the ball to the team for autographed merchandise and a photo with Judge, while a coach in the Toronto Blue Jays’ bullpen, where his 61st home run landed, secured the ball for the Yankees.

Further Reading

Yankees Ticket Prices Soar As Fans Hope To See Aaron Judge Set Home Run Record (Forbes)

Triple Crown? Yankees’ Aaron Judge Has Shot At Septuple-Plus Dominance (Forbes)

MLB Ratings Soar With Yankee Aaron Judge’s Hunt For Historic Home Run (Forbes)

Yankees’ Aaron Judge Ties Roger Maris’ Single-Season Home Run Record (Forbes)