How to Watch Aaron Judge’s Pursuit of 61 Home Runs
Aaron Judge, who hit his 60th home run of the season in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s Monster comeback against the Pittsburgh Pirates, is just one home run away from tying Roger Maris’ single-season American League record of 61 , which was set up in 1961.
On Wednesday night, in the second game of six home games at Yankee Stadium, Judge gets his first chance to take on Maris.
Judge’s pursuit is made even more interesting by the fact that the three players who hit more home runs than Maris in a season – National Leaguers Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa – have been linked to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Judge, one of the tallest players in baseball history at 6 feet 7 inches and 282 pounds, has played his entire career during the era when Major League Baseball tested players for a variety of banned substances.
When is the game and how can I watch?
Wednesday’s game between the Yankees and Pirates is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Eastern Time. It will air on the YES Network in the New York area and on AT&T Sportsnet in Pittsburgh. It’s streaming everywhere else via the MLB At-Bat app.
How long do I have to wait to see the judge?
Not too long! The Yankees have Judge Bat Leadoff, so he’ll almost certainly be the first person down in the first inning. After that… it depends on how the rest of his Yankees teammates score.
So is he aiming for a record or not?
Yes and no. The MLB single-season record of 73 is probably out of his reach — Bonds had 64-147 team games in 2001 versus Judge’s 60 that year — but if he hits 62, Judge would own the AL record alone. He has already joined fellow Yankees Babe Ruth (1927) and Maris (1961) as the only AL batter to live to 60 years of age.
It’s possible that Judge will challenge Bond’s record for a season, but to do that he’ll need to find an even higher gear than what he’s shown so far.
What is what I heard about a triple crown?
Oh yes, Judge is also currently facing baseball’s first triple crown since 2012, and it would only be the 13th time a player has led the AL or NL in batting averages, home runs and runs batted since RBI became an official statistic in the year 1920. While he had never hit higher than .287 this season, Judge was open about his desire to hit .300 this year. He went from .299 after the Sept. 4 game to .316 after Tuesday night’s win. That was enough for him to pass the Minnesota Twins’ Luis Arraez and the Boston Red Sox’s Xander Bogaerts for the batting race lead. With Judge having huge leads on home runs (60 to 37 by Yordan Alvarez) and RBI (128 to 115 by José Ramírez), the batting title is the only eligible portion of the triple crown.
Who starts for Pittsburgh?
Roansy Contreras, a 22-year-old rookie right-hander from the Dominican Republic, starts Wednesday. He’s 5-4 this season with a 3.24 ERA. He’s done well, with four straight starts in which he allowed a earned run or less, but he didn’t get deep into the games, only one of those starts lasting a full six innings.
Should we be curious?
Probably.