By Reese McBride

During his first MLB debut, Aaron Judge hit a homerun against Tampa Bay on August 13, 2016. He did it again on August 14, 2016, proving that he was just getting started. 

Aaron Judge could be one of the best hitters in MLB history if he keeps up his home run streak going into next year. This season he has set a new record of 62 home runs for one player in an American League single season. He broke Roger Maris’s 61-year-old record on October 4, hitting 62 home runs as a New York Yankee. It was perfect timing, too: the slugger hit a new record on the second-to-last-day of the 2022 season.

“73 is the record in my book. No matter what people say about that era of baseball, for me, they went out there and hit 73 homers and 70 homers, and that to me is what the record is,” said Judge during an interview conducted by Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci. Judge is referring to the era when performance enhancing-drugs were used by players like Barry Bonds, who hit 73 home runs in a single season. 

Judge is currently one of the brawniest players in the MLB. He stands at a whopping 6’7″ and weighs about 282 lbs according to ESPN. For reference, Barry Bonds was 6’1″ and 185 lbs, and Babe Ruth was 6’2″ and about 215 lbs. Judge’s strength makes him responsible for 10 of 35 of the hardest hit balls this season. 

Judge’s 7 year, $213.5 million contract with the New York Yankees is over at the end of this season. “He’s going to free agency and that’s really good motivation for him,” Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres said, “He knows what he’s doing.”