During a Monday matinee, Aaron Judge made (mostly) everybody forget about his mid-season slump by hitting home runs 49 and 50 on the year. Not only did that kick up the AL MVP debate again, but it broke Mark McGwire’s rookie home run record that had stood since 1987.
Mark McGwire congratulated Aaron Judge on breaking his rookie home run record
How long until Judge breaks McGwire’s other records?
Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images
Judge is only the fifth Yankees player ever to hit the 50-home run mark in any season, and as a reward he got a call from McGwire himself to congratulate him on the accomplishment.
According to MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell, McGwire wasn’t able to reach the Yankees standout directly, but left a message for him after his dingeriffic day.
In his message, he said “watch out 73,” referring of course to the other famous single-season record everybody knows that was set by Barry Bonds in 2001.
Without getting into whether that record is the “right” one to be chasing, Aaron Judge reaching and surpassing that number sometime in his career doesn’t seem all that impossible considering what he did this season. Without a post-All-Star Game slump he could have even come close to doing it this year.
If there’s any fairness in sports, fans will be able to watch Judge mash baseballs for many years to come. Seventy-three is very much a possibility, but for now everybody can enjoy this record-breaking season of his and root for (or against!) him to hit a bunch more in the postseason.
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