President Biden on Tuesday congratulated New York Yankees star outfielder Aaron Judge on breaking the American League season home run record.
“Congrats @TheJudge44 on home run 62,” Biden wrote in a tweet on Tuesday. “History made, more history to make.”
Judge, a four-time All-Star, broke the single-season American League home run record Tuesday night, belting his sixty-second dinger to left field off Texas Rangers’ pitcher Jesus Tinoco in the bottom of the first inning.
The 30-year-old star outfielder passed fellow Yankee great Roger Maris to move up the all-time leaderboard. Maris, who spent seven of his twelve seasons in the Major League donning the Pinstripes, famously went toe to toe with fellow Yankee great and teammate Mickey Mantle to break former Yankee and baseball legend Babe Ruth’s record during the 1961 season.
Ruth set the AL home run record with 60 homers in 1927.
Judge’s achievement comes as Maris’s son, Roger Maris Jr., said in a tweet on Sunday after Judge tied his late father’s record that the MLB should consider having separate Home Run records, with one being a clean home run record and the other home run record being for those who used performance-enhancing drugs (PED).
The current regular season Home Run record holder is former San Francisco Giant Barry Bonds, who belted 73 dingers during the 2001 season, breaking former St.Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire’s 1998 record by three homers.
Both Bonds and McGwire, along with countless other star players, have been criticized in recent years for their use of PEDs during their playing careers, resulting in them not being inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame despite their achievements on the field.
Former Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who allegedly tested positive for PED use in 2003, was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.
“Congratulations to Aaron Judge and his family on Aaron’s historic home run number 62! It has definitely been a baseball season to remember. You are all class and someone who should be revered,” Maris Jr. wrote in a tweet on Tuesday after Judge hit the HR milestone. “For the MAJORITY of the fans, we can now celebrate a new CLEAN HOME RUN KING!!”
Source: The Hill
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