NEW YORK — Bud Black, manager of the Colorado Rockies, knew what he was talking about. Black played with Barry Bonds, the all-time home run leader, in San Francisco in 1993 and 1994.
“I saw Barry in his prime,” Black said.
He then turned the conversation to Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who hit his 50th and 51st home runs of the season against Black’s club on Sunday, giving the Yankees a 10-3 victory at Yankee Stadium.
“They’re probably not quite at the same level” as Bonds, Black said, “but Ohtani and Judge are a little off.”
A few minutes later, across the stadium in the Yankees’ clubhouse, the conversation about Judge and Bonds flared up again.
Bonds’ record of 73 home runs in a single season has stood since 2001.
Could Judge top this at some point in his career?
“If there’s one player in the league that can do that,” said right fielder Juan Soto, “it’s him.”
When asked the same question, Giancarlo Stanton gave a blunt answer: “Yes.”
“I’m not going to put a limit on what Aaron Judge can do,” manager Aaron Boone said.
After Sunday’s game, Judge was on pace to hit 63 home runs, one more than the American League single-season record he set in 2022. At the time, he broke the record of 61 set by Yankees ace Roger Maris in 1961.
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Judge hit No. 50 in the first inning against Rockies starting pitcher Austin Gomber and No. 51 in the seventh inning as part of back-to-back-to-back hits with Soto and Stanton against rookie Jeff Criswell, who was pitching in just his second MLB game and had never allowed a home run in the majors until Sunday.
Judge is on a roll. He has hit seven home runs in his last six games, nine in his last 10 games and 19 in his last 36 games. He has also reached base in each of his last 15 games.
“One of the best players in the game,” Black said.
In 2022, Judge hit his 51st home run on August 30. This year, he did it on August 25, with the Yankees having 31 games left after Sunday.
Judge became the fifth player in MLB history to hit at least 50 home runs in three separate seasons, joining Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Alex Rodriguez. He is also vying to become the third hitter to have multiple seasons with at least 60 home runs, joining Sosa and McGwire. He would be the only player in that category not to have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
Judge hit just six home runs in April and had a .207 batting average. Then he changed his swing and went on a tear that never stopped.
“That tells you it’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish,” Soto said. “Everybody was worried about him in the beginning. I wasn’t worried about him at all. Knowing how great he is and it’s like you say, it’s crazy to see someone hit a home run day in and day out. It’s unbelievable. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone hit that many home runs so consistently. It’s awesome to have him behind me.”
“It’s unreal,” Stanton said. “Like I said, he does something special every day, and you almost take for granted how good he’s been, what a pillar he’s been to our offense and our team in general.”
This season, Judge has hit a home run every nine at bats. In Bonds’ historic season, he hit a home run every 6.5 at bats. With just a month to go, Judge will have to pick up the pace if he wants to break the MLB single-season record.
“Times are changing,” said Stanton, who hit a majors-record 59 homers during his MVP season in 2017. “The game is changing. It’s such a big number. But before that, 60 was. Then it was 70. It can be done. At the rate he’s going, he can. It’s just a matter of putting it together.”
“Seven-three is such a huge number,” Boone said. “I don’t know. But then again, records are meant to be broken. That’s one of the great things about our sport.”
Judge’s 62 bombs in 2022 are only the seventh-highest total of all time. McGwire had 70 in 1998 and 65 in 1999. Sosa had 66 in 1998, 64 in 2001 and 63 in 1999.
But Judge hasn’t been a one-trick pony. He also leads MLB in OPS (1.201), RBIs (122) and on-base percentage (.465). His .333 batting average was second in the majors behind the Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. at .347.
But breaking the AL record could be within reach for Judge. In 2022, he finished August with 51 home runs and hit 11 in September.
When asked casually how many home runs Judge could hit, Boone said, “A lot.”
“I know that’s not necessarily his focus or his goal,” the manager said. “He’s trying to have the best at-bats and help us win a championship.”
Judge said he tries not to think about how many home runs he’s hit. His 308 career home runs are the most by any player in their first 964 career games in MLB history, with Philadelphia Phillies great Ryan Howard in second place with 274.
“I don’t think it really helps anybody if I go out there and try to hit a home run,” he said. “I’ve gotten to this point by trying to be a good hitter and a good teammate. So that’s what I’m going to try to do. If I do that, we’ll look up at the end of the year and I think the numbers will be where they need to be.”
Where should the numbers go?
“We’ll see,” he said.
(Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
