Sep 28, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; New York Yankees designated hitter Aaron Judge (99) is interviewed by the MLB Network at the at the end of the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
MLBBy Sean Keeley on

Wednesday night, Aaron Judge hit his 61st home run of the 2022 MLB season, which tied Roger Maris for the all-time New York Yankees mark. While a great accomplishment, it still leaves him well short of the Major League Baseball record for most home runs in a single season.

Don’t tell that to many baseball purists, who see the home run marks set by Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa as tainted due to their use of PEDs, even though the MLB record books remain firm.

Whoever wrote the headline for Rolling Stone’s story on Judge’s home run certainly falls into that camp. They posted their story of the franchise-tying dinger with the header: “Aaron Judge ties the real home run record.”

Deep sigh.

Judge is now tied for seventh on the list for most home runs in a single season and is 12 behind Bonds’ 73 home runs that he hit in 2001. And while you might not like to acknowledge the era when many of the sport’s biggest sluggers were juicing, the record book is what it is.

Many sports fans took Rolling Stone to task over their eye-rolling headline and how it represents the mindset of baseball fans who don’t want to accept reality.

https://twitter.com/jareddiamond/status/1575308595645784064

https://twitter.com/russbengtson/status/1575299315605577730

It’s worth noting that even Judge respects the actual MLB home run record held by Barry Bonds, saying a few weeks back “That’s the record. I stayed up late watching him do it. That’s the record. No one can take that from him.”

[Rolling Stone]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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