New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge looks to make American League home run history this week, sitting just two behind Roger Maris' record as the team returns to the Bronx to play its next six games.
The outfielder hit his 58th and 59th home runs of the season on Sunday and looks to add a few more when the Yankees take on the Pittsburg Pirates Tuesday night. Judge's 11th multihomer game tied the season record set by Detroit's Hank Greenberg in 1938 and matched by the Cubs' Sammy Sosa in 1998. The two homers against Milwaukee totaled 857 feet.
Seeking a Triple Crown, Judge leads the major leagues in homers and with 125 RBIs. The second home run raised his batting average to .315, third behind Minnesota’s Luis Arraez at .317 and Boston’s Xander Bogaerts at .316.
Judge's pursuit of Maris has stirred debate over how to put this AL record in context, should he break it. He's unlikely to threaten Barry Bonds' major league record of 73, but that mark, as well as the exploits of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa around the same time, have become complicated by performance-enhancing drug suspicions.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter here.
There's one way in which Judge will likely surpass both Bonds and Maris, no matter how many more homers he hits. Right now, he has an incredible 20-homer lead over Kyle Schwarber, who is second in the majors. Nobody has led baseball in homers by at least 20 since Babe Ruth finished with 54 in 1928 and nobody else had more than 31.
Maris only led the majors by seven when he hit 61, and Bonds led by nine when he hit 73.
