Aaron Judge at it again…

Aaron Judge of the (dreaded) New York Yankees hit home runs number 50 and 51 last night, with his own American League record in his sights. Here is an essay I wrote about Aaron Judge’s prolific 2022 season, where I argued that MLB’s indecisiveness regarding records from the so-called “Steroid Era” have led to a very dissatisfying state of affairs.

Aaron Judge’s Home Run Record

The 2022 baseball season has come and gone; as Rogers Hornsby once famously said, it’s now time for the boys of summer to “stare out the window and wait until spring.” One such player, Aaron Judge, is attracting an inordinate amount of attention this offseason for two reasons. First, he is among the biggest stars (if not the biggest star) eligible for free agency, and therefore may bring his talents to another team; second, his record-setting home run total during the 2022 season is among the greatest individual totals accomplished by any player in recorded history. Judge’s single-season total of 62 home runs officially places him seventh on the all-time leaderboard. However, because the six spots ahead of Judge are held by players that have admitted to the use of performance-enhancing drugs (P.E.D.), many people within the baseball community believe Judge’s total should instead be at the top of that prestigious list.

Baseball is a game replete with numbers; official team statisticians and voracious fans alike meticulously tally each in-game event in their scorecards. Few statistics draw the public interest as much as the (individual) home run record. This summer, Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees rekindled America’s love affair with the home run chase, not seen since the so-called “Steroid Era” of the late 1990s/early 2000s. Eventually finishing the season with 62 home runs, Judge’s accomplishment placed him seventh on the list of records maintained by Major League Baseball (MLB) – although he is now the sole record holder for the most home runs hit by a player in baseball’s American League.

Because of MLB’s rigorous modern-day protocol for testing players for the use of P.E.D. there is a tacit belief that today’s game is “clean” – free from steroid abuse. Thus, when fans, pundits, and beat writers compare individual performances between current players and historical players, the discussion of “fairness” plays prominently in the discussion. In an opinion piece for Sports Illustrated, Jack Vita writes “Barry Bonds hit the most home runs in a single-season in 2001, but Aaron Judge is Major League Baseball’s true, single-season home run king” (Vita, 2022). Vita’s position on justice is clear: Bonds, who hit 73 home runs in 2001 and holds the official single-season record, should be stripped of his award due to his involvement with P.E.D. Here, Vita argues for retributive justice, defined by Maiese as “punishment as a response to past injustice or wrongdoing” (Maiese, 2020). Using Judge’s recent feat as a platform, Vita is expressing his support for the disqualification of records set during the steroid era. Vita is not alone.

In the weeks leading up to, and following Judge’s historic chase, social media was flooded with similar posts from many members of the baseball community. Some were direct: “Judge beat the legit HR record, not the phony steroid one…” (chris11361898), and “... If Judge doesn’t have the real record then that means steroids are okay right? One or the other lmao” (DC4ForMVP). Perhaps the post with the most gravitas came from Roger Maris, Jr. – the son of the man who held the home run record before the steroid era, two years prior in 2020: “The million dollar question is if Judge hits 62 home runs next year in 2021 will he be recognized and celebrated as the single season Home Run King by Major League Baseball??? #QUESTFOR61” (Maris, Jr.).

While popular opinion seems to be in favor of revoking – or possibly annotating via asterisk – the records set during the steroid-era, there is still a contingent of players in support of maintaining them. Included among those is Judge himself. In an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci, Judge said “[the record is] seventy-three, in my book. No matter what people want to say about what happened in that era of baseball, for me, they went out there and hit 73 homers… and that’s for me what the record is” (Verducci, 2022). Likewise, ESPN writer Jeff Passan tweeted “Aaron Judge’s 62 home runs is a remarkable achievement. Barry Bonds’ 73 home runs is the record. There is nothing else to discuss” (Passan).

Incidentally, the home run record has its own sordid past that extends before the steroid era, back to Roger Maris himself. In the 1961 season, Maris – a second year player – chased after the record of 60 home runs set by the larger-than-life  baseball legend Babe Ruth. After eclipsing Ruth’s record with his 61st home run, fans cried foul that Maris benefitted from a longer, modern baseball season – 162 games compared to 154 during Ruth’s playing days – and that the statistics were therefore incomparable. Maris’ record allegedly had an asterisk placed next to it by Ford Frick, the Commissioner of Baseball  – a qualifier of sorts, lessening the accomplishment vs. the Ruthian brand – until it was officially dropped in 1991. However, no such qualifier appears next to the records of Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, and other players who have confessed to steroid (ab)use during their record-setting seasons.

Because the game of baseball is rife with statistics, followers of the sport enjoy comparing the exploits of players across different eras using real-world data. When the playing field is uneven, as it is most prominently seen when comparing the steroid era to other periods, the records are clearly incompatible. (Indeed more so than the 154-vs-162 game season debate.) This is perceived as an injustice not only to Aaron Judge and his fans, but also those who are fans of the sanctity of the game. In a fine example of procedural justice, defined as “making and implementing decisions according to fair processes that ensure ‘fair treatment’” (Maiese, 2010),  MLB implemented policies before the 2001 season to test for P.E.D, and punish players found using them. This action re-leveled the playing field, ensuring records such as Judge’s are controversy-free.

In the 21 years since Bonds set his single-season record, it has stood apart from the rest of the steroid-era records as the prime example of how MLB has turned a blind eye to that era’s distorted achievements. Much as Frick proposed an asterisk next to Maris’ record in 1961 to preserve Ruth’s brand, Aaron Judge’s chase has reconfirmed that it is time for MLB to consider an asterisk next to the steroid-era records to preserve its own.

References

Barra, A. (2011, June 27). Roger Maris and the Myth of the Asterisk. The Village Voice. https://www.villagevoice.com/2011/06/27/roger-maris-and-the-myth-of-the-asterisk/

Chris. [@chris11361898]. (2022, November 17). Judge beat the legit HR record, not the phony steroid one…. https://twitter.com/chris11361898/status/1593357546529628160

Jussim, M. The 15 Biggest Steroid, P.E.D., and Doping Scandals in Sports History. Men’s Journal. https://www.mensjournal.com/sports/15-biggest-steroid-ped-and-doping-scandals-sports-history/

Maiese, M., Burgess, H. (2020). Types of Justice. Beyond Intractability. https://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/types_of_justice/

Maris Jr., R. [@RogerMarisJr]. (2022, September 28). I posted this tweet below on 8/6/20 and it’s interesting that Judge is chasing down home runs #61 and #62. What if he hits #62 and more. Will he be recognized as the single season home run champ? I say yes … #QUEST FOR 61. https://twitter.com/RogerMarisJr/status/1574972466463936513

Nover, S. (2022, October 5). Aaron Judge’s 62nd home-run is a coda and catharsis for Major League Baseball. Quartz. https://qz.com/aaron-judge-62-home-runs-real-record-1849618121

NYY|LVR. [@DC4MVP]. (2022, November 8). So? If Judge doesn’t have the real record then that means steroids are okay right? One or the other lmao. https://twitter.com/DC4ForMVP/status/1590122544669282305

Passan, J. [@JeffPassan]. (2022, October 22). Aaron Judge's 62 home runs is a remarkable achievement. Barry Bonds' 73 home runs is the record. There is nothing else to discuss. https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1577486205096464385

Thomas, L. (2022, October 5). Aaron Judge is a Home-Run King. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/aaron-judge-is-a-home-run-king

Vita, J. (2022, October 5). OPINION: Aaron Judge is MLB's True, Single-Season Home Run King. Sports Illustrated. https://www.si.com/fannation/mlb/fastball/news/opinion-aaron-judge-is-mlbs-true-single-season-home-run-king