A Toronto Blue Jays fan was oh-so-close to catching Aaron Judge’s historic No. 61 home run ball.
During Wednesday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Judge clubbed his 61st home run of the season. He is now tied with Yankees icon Roger Maris (who set the feat in 1961) for the most home runs in a season by an American League player.
As you can see in the two tweets below, a fan out in the left field stands just barely missed on the chance to secure the home run ball. It bounced into the Blue Jays’ bullpen and was recovered by Toronto bullpen coach Matt Buschmann.
Here is the screenshot…
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Judge’s home run came in the top of the eighth inning at the Rogers Centre with the Yankees and Blue Jays tied 3-3. On Tuesday, the Yankees defeated Toronto 5-2 to clinch the AL East division crown for the first time since 2019.
Prior to Wednesday’s game, Judge hadn’t hit a homer since the Yankees’ Sept. 20 home game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He waited quite some time to match Maris, but the 30-year-old is finally a part of history.
Judge needs just one more home run to break Maris’ storied AL record. Barry Bonds holds the record for the most dingers in a single season with 73, set back in the 2001 season when he was playing for the San Francisco Giants.
Judge, the likely winner of the 2022 AL MVP award, became the first MLB player to hit at least 60 home runs in a season since Bonds and Sammy Sosa (2001).
The four-time All-Star bet on himself and rejected a lucrative extension from the Yankees worth over $200 million earlier in the offseason. Needless to say, Judge’s decision to avoid putting the pen to the paper will only increase his free agent price tag.
