Major League Baseball

Aaron Judge breaks Roger Maris' AL record with 62nd home run

Updated Oct. 5, 2022 1:27 p.m. ET

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By Deesha Thosar
FOX Sports MLB Writer

The American League has a new home run king.

Aaron Judge made more baseball history Tuesday when he launched his 62nd home run of the season on a 1-1 count in the first inning against Texas Rangers pitcher Jesús Tinoco, breaking Roger Maris' record for home runs in a single season in the AL.

Yankees' Aaron Judge hits record-breaking 62nd home run of season

Aaron Judge breaks Roger Maris' American League single-season home run record with his 62nd homer of 2022 on Tuesday in Texas.

Judge's record blast came in the New York Yankees' 161st game of the season and the 157th in which he has played. He went homer-less in seven straight games before clobbering No. 61 on Wednesday in Toronto and then had another five games without a homer between Nos. 61 and 62.

The Yankees' slugger is now the fourth player in Major League Baseball history to hit 62 home runs in a season. Judge will be forever linked to these game-changing sluggers who also crushed 61 home runs or more: Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Maris.

More than six decades ago, Maris broke Babe Ruth’s then-MLB record of 60 home runs in the Yankees’ 163rd game of the season by crushing Boston Red Sox pitcher Tracy Stallard's 2-0 pitch to deep right field at Yankee Stadium. After his sprint around the bases, Maris popped out of the dugout and took a sheepish curtain call.

Aaron Judge hits home run No. 61

Aaron Judge crushed his 61st home run of the season Wednesday in Toronto, tying Roger Maris for the most homers in a single season by an AL player.

On Wednesday, Judge’s two-run shot in Toronto tied him with Roger Maris. Judge’s mom, Patty, knew it was the one right away. Sitting in the stands at Rogers Centre, her unbroken smile grew wider as Judge’s historic home run traveled 394 feet. Sitting beside Patty was Roger Maris Jr., who, just like Judge’s mom, had been attending every Yankees game, patiently waiting for the special occasion.

It seems like the record isn't where Maris’ and Judge’s similarities will end. Maris won the American League MVP award in that enchanted 1961 season. Judge is the likely AL MVP in his 62-home-run — and counting — season, one that has earned its place in both Yankees and baseball lore.

With just one game left in the regular season, Judge has little time to extend the record but has already made his mark as one of the greatest sluggers the game has ever seen.

Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets for the New York Daily News. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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MLB - New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers - 10/05/2022

Jesús Tinoco

Deesha Thosar