If a homerun falls into outfield seats in Yankee Stadium and no one outside of New York hears it, is it actually a home run?
Well, yeah, of course it is. Kind of definitely, in a limited, muted, shruggy kind of way. But is that any way to treat a 62nd home run moment?
Aaron Judge is leaning into 62 homeruns this year, the way a carnivore leans into a steak. He has 60 now, with 13 games to play. Though he hasn’t gone deep in his last two games, getting to 62 seems almost preordained. Judge barely missed No. 61 Thursday night. His flyball left the bat at 113 mph and landed 404 feet away in deepest centerfield, in the glove of Boston centerfielder Kike Hernandez.
Number 61 could happen tonight, live nationally on Apple TV-+
Then what?
What will it mean when/if he breaks the American League record of 61 homers, set by Roger Maris 61 years ago?
A generation ago, that would have been a dumb question. Whaddaya mean what will it mean?
Back then, sports fans would be talking about nothing else. A couple generations ago, we’d be standing in front of the electronics store, watching Judge’s every at-bat on the demo TV in the window.
This time, the epic moment will be noted briefly, and just as quickly forgotten. The fact that Baseball can’t give meaning to what used to be its most meaningful record is astounding and sad. It speaks to the Pastime’s overall decline. Everyone used to know the name of the heavyweight boxing champion of the world, too.
Baseball’s heart and soul rest with its numbers. 4,192. 4,256. 715. 56. Cal Ripken played in 2,131 consecutive games. The statistics give context to baseball, in a way unlike any other sport.
The traditional numbers have been given new, richer meaning in the past 30 years, thanks to Bill James and others. The numbers matter deeply.
Too bad steroids perverted them.
They enhanced performances while killing credibility and making cynics of us all.
“This hasn’t been done in this era,’’ Judge’s Yankee teammate Anthony Rizzo noted this week. “Someone chasing 61 clean like this and no real question marks on what’s going on in the game.”
If Judge gets to 62, the numbers will crown him the AL’s all-time champion. Some of us will suggest that’s not accurate. A clean 62 beats a dirty 73 (Bonds) and five years combined of 60-plus homers (McGwire, Sosa) as surely as a straight beats a full house. Barry, Mark and Sammy own all those numbers, and one more: Zero Hall of Fame plaques. What does that say about the credibility of their achievements?
What should it say about Aaron Judge’s?
What should 62 mean, in 2022?
His manager and former Red Aaron Boone has done all he could to assist Judge in the quest, mainly by batting him leadoff. Judge gets more at-bats there, and ideally, better pitches to swing at.
Boone can’t change the tenor of the times, though. When Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th homer in 2010, it was not to the sound of trumpets. It was an awkward moment, dulled by the PED accusations that would eventually get him suspended for a whole season.
This won’t be like that. Judge is deemed perfectly clean. But the joy when/if he slams No. 62 will not be uproarious, the way it should be.
Times change, games change. Not always for the better.
Now, then. . .
THE PREDICTION FOR SUNDAY. The Men don’t have to win to stay relevant. They have to win to stay confident in themselves and, more importantly, in those who coach them. Pittsburgh and Cleveland looked awful Thursday night, but the Ravens are good enough to win 11-12 games. If that occurs, every lost opportunity will haunt the Bengals.
They seize this one, though. Up tempo offense designed to get Burrow groove-ing, another lackluster QB to take down before things get real quite real fast* next Thursday night here against the Miami Tagovailoas.
Bengals 27, Jets 17.
*name the lyric, win fab prizes chosen just for you.
TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . Still on that grunge surf bender.
Doc, historcially NYJ is a bad matchup for us. I can see it going either way tomorrow but should be a close game. Almost 3 games and i am close to jumping off point. I cannot take another year of about 6 and 11 and zac taylor telling us how close they are and how good their opponent was. I am convinced i waste too much time following them. I can go back to being a casual fan and not get invested emotionally. Its too much to deal with this organization every season.
Pujols just got to 700 HRs last night. Doesnt seem to be that big a deal nationally. MLB is wrecked and cannot be fixed especially with manfred in charge.