This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Thirty-five trips to home plate passed between Aaron Judge‘s 60th and 61st home runs, a week’s worth of action in which the eyes of the sporting world seemed to pause each time the Yankees superstar had a chance to make history.
Judge connected with the pitch he was seeking on Wednesday evening, launching a tiebreaking two-run homer off the Blue Jays’ Tim Mayza that helped propel the Yankees to an 8-3 victory at Rogers Centre. Judge and Roger Maris are now forever linked, as the only men to hit 61 home runs during an American League season.
“When you’re at Yankee Stadium and you’ve got 45,000 on their feet, cheering and locked in on every single pitch, it can weigh on you,” Judge said. “So I definitely know what [Maris] went through at that time. To have the pull between [Mickey] Mantle and Maris, back and forth, it’s incredible what he was able to accomplish.”
The fingers-crossed clamor for a magical moment inspired some of the liveliest crowds seen at Yankee Stadium all season, with more than 200,000 fans passing through the gates for a six-game homestand against the Pirates and Red Sox.
A much larger audience watched at home, with even college football telecasts breaking in for coverage when Judge’s turn in the lineup rolled around. Not coincidentally, the Yankees won all six of those games.
“At the end of the day, when I’m looking in that dugout and I see my teammates all locked in and ready to go, that’s who I do it for,” Judge said. “That’s why I show up every single day, ready to go to work for them.”
As strange as it may sound, a trip north of the border — the Yankees aiming to secure the AL East against a hot Blue Jays club also fighting for its playoff seeding — seemed to help cool the temperature on Judge.
Boone said that Canadians “tend to be polite,” and though they were cheering hard for their Jays, there was also a sizable contingent hoping to see Judge go deep.
The moment came on a 3-2 pitch in the seventh inning, with Judge cracking a 117.4 mph drive on a belt-high Mayza sinker; the rocket took just 3.8 seconds to clear the left-field wall.
“It kind of felt like we were the only ones there,” said Gerrit Cole. “It was just a really special moment of togetherness. We’re all so proud of him. We know how hard he works. He wants to keep it low key like he always does. But boy, does he deserve it. He deserved hugs from all of us, and I’m thankful we were able to share it with him for a moment.”
Roger Maris Jr. said that he plans to attend the Yankees’ home games this week, hoping to witness Judge’s 62nd. He will have plenty of company.
“I don’t think it’ll take very long,” Maris said. “I think he’s loose. I think the party [Tuesday] night loosened him up, the celebration. After he hit that home run and came to bat the next time, you could just see his face. He’s back and he’s ready to go now. I think it’ll happen in New York. Like I mentioned to Aaron, ‘Get to New York, hit 62 and knock the top off of Yankee Stadium.’ It’s going to be fun.”
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