Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees claimed he felt “some relief” after breaking Roger Maris’ American League record with his 61st home run against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night.
Judge broke a seven-game homer drought against Toronto bullpen pitcher Tim Mayza in the seventh inning of the Yanks’ 8-3 triumph at the Rogers Centre.
The 30-year-old California native has had a breakout season and is in contention for the AL Triple Crown. He has the same batting average as the Minnesota Twins’ Luis Arraez | .313 and leads the Junior Circuit in runs batted in | 130.
Aaron 61 long balls
His 19 more than any other player in baseball, but his domination of the home run charts is the real story. He’s simply a one-man wrecking crew this year; it’s not like the steroid or juiced-ball days when there was a league-wide rise in home runs.
Despite the current home run slump, he still has enough time to catch Maris, who played for New York from 1960 to 1966. He will also probably set a new AL record soon.
Judge told reporters, “It’s a tremendous pleasure to have the opportunity to be linked with one of the Yankee greats, one of the baseball greats. One thing that makes the Yankee organization so unique is all the players that came before us and paved the way, played the game the correct way, and are permanently honored with them.
Although his MVP-caliber performance has helped the Yankees capture the AL East championship and at the very least the No. 2 seed in the AL playoffs, he will still be under some personal pressure during the remaining seven games of the regular season as he seeks to set the new AL mark.
However, Judge is still unwilling to draw attention to himself.
“My strategy is what brought me here,” he remarked. “My job is to go out there and be the greatest bat I can be. I never really felt it would be fair to my teammates or the Yankees to be up here trying to chase a record.”
On Friday night, when the Yankees visit the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium, he will get his first opportunity to hit No. 62.
To learn more about your favorite Players/Team and be updated on betting news just go to OKBET Sportsbook or directly go to OKBET.com.
