There were times I thought Aaron Judge would never make it to 62 home runs. Then I heard from a friend who texted that she, a New York Yankees fan, was crying along with Judge’s mother. Yes, Judge had hit 62.
I, too, was happy for Judge’s accomplishment. I was also happy for the kid who caught the ball.
Can you imagine what that ball is worth? A collection company has offered $2 million for it. That’s incredible. The last I heard, the kid hadn’t decided what to do with the ball. Maybe he’s waiting for a better offer. I know what I’d do. And it wouldn’t take me long to decide. Just give me the money, and $2 million would be plenty, thank you.
Judge has had a meteoric rise. He was born in Linden, California on April 26, 1992, and was adopted the next day by Patty and Wayne Judge without ever connecting with his natural parents. He also has an older adopted brother, John.
Aaron was a three-sport high school athlete in California and accepted the only scholarship offer he received – to Fresno State, where he became a baseball star and was drafted 32nd by the Yankees in 2012. He quickly made his way up through the team’s farm system, playing in 27 games for the Yankees in 2016 and homering in his first Major League game. The next year he was Rookie of the Year and runner-up for Most Valuable Player as he hit 52 home runs for New York. And now, he has become the American League home run champion, surpassing Roger Maris by one.
Years ago, in 1962 probably, I was at a gathering for what was called the Professional Athlete of the Year. It was sponsored by the Hickok Co. in Rochester, New York and along with the Pro Athlete of the Year (Maris), there were several top athletes in attendance.
Yes, I met Maris. I was there as a sports writer for the Rochester Times-Union. He was there because he had hit 61 home runs. It was a different era. Even with his acclaim, he was rarely interviewed. And, as I discovered, he was very shy.
Also, from what I’ve read, he was not very well liked. As Yankees, Maris, whose father changed the family’s surname from Maras, and Mickey Mantle hit homer after homer in 1961, in search of
Babe Ruth’s record 60. Commissioner Ford Frick said that anyone who broke Ruth’s record would have to do so within 154 games. For the 1961 season, two teams had been added to the American League and the season, which had been 154 games, was extended to 162, which is what it is now.
Maris hit 59 home runs within 154 games, causing many fans to discard him as the record- holder. That group also included Mantle fans. Mantle was racing to 60 along with Maris, but was injured in early September and finished with 54 home runs. Maris, 27, was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player in both 1960 and 1961.
Maris, who had played previously for Cleveland and Kansas City, was with New York from 1960 through 1966 and two more seasons with St. Louis before retiring. He had a career total of 275 home runs.
Maris grew up in North Dakota. As a football player at Bishop Stanley High in Fargo, in one game, he scored two touchdowns returning a kickoff, two more on a punt and one on a pass interception. The total of five is said to still be a prep record. In 1983, he developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Two years later, he died at the age of 51.
