Connecting The Dots Between Single-Season Home Run Kings
Today, we look at the likes of Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds, and consider how Aaron Judge may become connected to them all through home run heroics.
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Pregame Pepper - Home Run Hysteria
Leading Off
The True Home Run Leader
By Ray Kuhn
Baseball, and the world for that matter, looked very different in 1961 than it did in 1927. The same comparison can be made between 1998 and 1961. There was also a change in the world we live in between 1998 and 2001. Making the leap between 2001 and 2022 encompasses even more changes as each climate represents a very different era in baseball.
While it might be clear to most, the question should still be asked as I did not pick these years at random: What is the relevance here?
Looking at the single-season home run leaderboard, each of these years has a great deal of significance and has all been memorialized in our memories. However, the manner in which these marks were set and broken, along with the climate, could not be more different.
Let’s start nearly a century ago in 1927. At the time, there was no bigger star in this country than Babe Ruth. Even still, the Sultan of Swat remains larger than life, and he truly emerged out of nowhere and took the baseball and entertainment world by storm. No one had ever seen anything like him, and I am not sure we ever truly will again.
The home run was a rarity and almost a foreign concept in baseball prior to Ruth just turning things upside down. At that point, it was hard to truly know that a revolution was taking place as multiple records were set which culminated in Ruth hitting 60 home runs in 1927. Other than the fact that baseball was segregated at the time, there was not anything specific or divisive taking place here.
Fast forward to 1961, and the same was true. Well at least to a point, and for a while through the first 154 games of the regular season. In 1961, something notable took place as the MLB schedule was now 162 games after previously concluding after 154.
So, both Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle failed to eclipse Ruth’s mark in the same number of games that he had available to him back in 1927, and controversy began to take hold. Ultimately, Mantle fell off the pace and Maris persevered through the stretch to break Ruth’s mark.
After the colossal failure of a strike in 1994, baseball needed something good for its fans to get around, and the burgeoning 24/7 national sports culture, in part powered by ESPN at the time, ate up what transpired in the summer of 1998. A blind eye was turned to steroids, and the nation was captivated by both Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa smashing the home run records of the past and finishing with 70 and 66 home runs, respectively.
The same situation repeated itself, to a point, as Barry Bonds was not nearly as well received as McGwire and Sosa, just three years later. At 73, the home run record, and the game looked very different than they did with Ruth setting the initial record that Maris subsequently broke.
Looking back on things, the proposed asterisk on Maris’ mark is quite different than the ones placed on McGwire/Sosa and then on Bonds.
While Jackie Robinson brought about the integration of baseball in 1947, baseball really did not look much different in many ways from 1927 compared to 1961. On many fronts, strides and advancements were made leading up to 1998 (and 2001), but there is a black cloud of steroids hanging over those years.
You could argue that in 2022 the game is harder (most pitchers throw 95-plus miles per hour, new relievers are cycled in often and you generally face three or four hard-throwing hurlers each night all emptying the tank), but it is also the fairest and level. Not only is the game integrated, but also it is truly global, and to the best of our knowledge, steroids are no longer a factor.
Yes, improved travel, nutrition, and overall player care have improved along with increased player tools, preparation, and scouting reports, but that works both ways between hitters and pitchers. One factor to keep in mind is that hitters now have the use of the DH spot in both leagues.
Now, why are we re-litigating this?
Aaron Judge has 49 home runs through 128 games. At this point, the Yankees have 34 games remaining in the regular season, and the outfielder is setting up to finish the year with the most home runs in New York Yankees history. Where he goes after that is anyone’s guess, but it certainly would not be surprising to see Judge hit 14 home runs between now and the end of the season.
After having been burned by McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds, it is hard for fans (rightfully so) to buy into anything related to the home run record once again. Unless Judge goes on a tear, I cannot see him breaking Ruth’s mark by the time the regular season hits the 154-game mark, but it is very possible he beats Maris’ total by the end of the season.
In addition, if he does, should Aaron Judge be considered the true single-season home run leader? Consider this my vote for yes.
Ray Kuhn can be found writing on Fantasy Alarm and podcasting at Friends With Fantasy Benefits after previously covering the Houston Astros as part of the FanSided network at Climbing Tal’s Hill. Reach him on Twitter at @ray_kuhn_28 or raykuhn57@gmail.com as he is always interested in talking or writing about our great game.