During the regular season, lots of fans were watching the Yankees games on TV to see whether Aaron Judge would break the AL home run record. Eventually, Judge crushed 62 home runs in 2022 and became the new record holder. Hitting 60+ home runs in a single season is surely not easy and in history, only 5 other players used to blast at least 60 home runs in a single season.
Firstly, no one can ignore Barry Bonds’ great 2001 season. Well, many people would have a lot of questions about his career. But, now, let’s just take a look at his numbers in 2001, Bonds slashed .328/.515/.863 with 73 home runs and 137 RBI in the 2001 season. There’s no doubt that he was a home run hitter while he was playing. Barry has 762 home runs in his career. However, the 2001 season was the only time that he blasted at least 50 home runs in a single season.
In addition, fans might still remember the home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in 1998. Mark McGwire blasted 70 home runs in 1998. In that season, he slashed .299/.470/.752. The next season, McGwire hit .278/.424/.697 with 65 home runs. Interestingly, he collected 147 RBI in each of these two seasons. In McGwire’s career, there were 4 times that he blasted at least 50 home runs in a single season.
Now, let’s take a look at Sammy Sosa’s numbers. Sammy Sosa didn’t become the home run leader in 1998. However, he did have a great 1998 season, hitting .308/.377/.647 with 66 home runs and 158 RBI. Additionally, Sosa won the 1998 NL MVP award. In his career, Sosa crushed 609 home runs and there were 4 times that he blasted at least 50 home runs in a single season.
Finally, three players from the Yankees used to blast 60+ home runs in a single season. Baseball legend Babe Ruth hit .356/.486/.772 with 60 home runs and 164 RBI in 1927. Ruth had 714 home runs in his career and there were 4 times that he blasted at least 50 home runs in a single season. Moreover, in 1961, Roger Maris smashed 61 home runs. Maris played 12 seasons in the majors and there was only one season that he hit more than 40 home runs. Furthermore, Aaron Judge hit .311/.425/.686 with 62 home runs and 131 RBI in 157 games this year. Judge surely set the new AL record. He has 220 home runs so far in his career and he used to crush 52 home runs in 2017.
Hitting 60+ home runs is not easy. By far, there are only 9 times that we see a player hit at least 60 home runs in a single season. Looking back, Roger Maris is the only player who finished a season with 60+ home runs, but posted an OPS below 1.000. However, Maris did win the AL MVP award in 1961. Additionally, Barry Bonds blasted 73 home runs in 2001 and won the NL MVP award. Sammy Sosa defeated Mark McGwire in the 1998 NL MVP voting. Aaron Judge just won the 2022 AL MVP award after crushing 60+ home runs.
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