Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge has been the center of the baseball world all season. Not only did led the MLB in home runs 15+, but he broke the American League record for home runs in a season (62).
This record, not because of Judge, is surrounded by controversy. This is because every guy ahead of Judge on this list (Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, and Sammy Sosa) are steroid era sluggers who were clearly jacked up on something during the seasons in which they set their own records.
So is Judge, who is likely clean, the home run king? Our partners at BetOnline.ag used twitter data to find out what the public thinks. From BetOnline:
The map below is based on geotagged twitter data in the last 48 hours after Judge’s 62nd home run, tracking tweets about whether Bonds record of 73 was the true record, or if Aaron Judge’s record is the “real record” because it is “clean” and Judge hasn’t had any allegations of PED or steroid use, which is what currently taints Bonds (and McGwire and Sosa) for many baseball fans. For example, tracking tweets, hashtags, or phrases that are pro-Bonds like “Bonds still has the record,” “The record is 73,” “73 is the record,” “Bonds is still the home run king,” etc. versus pro-Judge tweets like, “Judge has the REAL record,” “clean record,” “Judge’s record,” “new home run record,” “record without steroids,” etc. Over 100,000 tweets were tracked.
As you can see from the map, Bonds still gets the nod from MLB fans, but it’s pretty close.
Bonds – 27 states
Judge – 23 states
In my own opinion, Bonds is still the home run champion. I get it – he was cheating, but so was everyone else in his era. He was the best cheater amongst cheaters, and the record is still his.
I do, of course, respect what Judge did this season. 63 home runs is nothing to ignore. His Yankees, however? They may be something to ignore. The Bronx Bombers were incredibly pedestrian to finish the season and, although they had the second best record in the American League, will probably be on the outside looking in come the end of October.
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