Aaron Judge may have broken the American League record, but the MLB record belongs to Barry Bonds.
All eyes have been on Aaron Judge as everyone waited for the Yankees slugger to hit his 62nd home run of the season. It finally came Tuesday night as Judge finally eclipsed the number set by Roger Maris all the way back in 1961. While now has the American League record to himself it is important to remember one thing, the Major League record still belongs to Barry Bonds.
It seems many baseball personalties, analysts, reporters, and fans have decided to discount the achievements of Barry Bonds. Yes, it is incredibly likely that Bonds had some external enhancements that may have aided his on field production. That being said, any type of help that Bonds may have received would not help in the ability to put bat to ball and hand-eye coordination. These are two things that someone has or does not have and Bonds had it. Even before the widely accepted era of enhanced play, Bonds was well on his way to Cooperstown. It can even be argued that Bonds had two Hall of Fame careers, pre and post enhancement.
All things considered this is not to take away what Judge has accomplished this season, setting the new home run mark for the American League and the historical franchise that is the Yankees is incredibly impressive. It is just important to remember where Judge’s 62 sits all time (seventh) and the single season home run totals from the National League which surpass his 2022 total. It is Barry Bonds who stands atop this list and he will remain there until someone hits 74.
