Are you a baseball fan?
Judge just set the American League record, without the taint of performance-enhancing drugs. Is he now the “true” home run champ? Are you a baseball fan? Have you been following Yankee superstar slugger Aaron Judge’s sensational season? On Oct. 4, the 6-foot-7 Judge slammed his 62nd home run of the season, setting a new single-season American League record, surpassing Roger Maris’s mark set in 1961. The home run reignited a debate over the so-called steroid era and the baseball record book. In the National League, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa had seasons with 62 or more home runs too, but these players have been connected to performance-enhancing drugs. Should Judge now be considered the single-season home run king? Should Major League Baseball recognize him as the official champ? Would doing so restore the integrity of the sport — and its most hallowed record?
In “With His 62nd Home Run, Aaron Judge Stands Alone in A.L.,” David Waldstein writes: A little over 100 years ago, a charismatic and portly slugger named Babe Ruth began swatting balls over outfield fences by volume, helping establish the home run as one of the most coveted individual achievements in sports, and the Yankees as the most honored franchise.
Ruth’s records, including 60 home runs in 1927, became sacred milestones, cherished for decades by millions. In 1961, Roger Maris, as humble and retiring as Ruth was gregarious, broke the single-season record when he hit 61 homers, also for the Yankees. Now Aaron Judge, as physically imposing as Ruth and as modest as Maris, has passed them both, homering against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on Tuesday to reach 62 for the season, setting a new American League record. From Ruth to Maris and now Judge, the A.L.’s single-season home run record is stitched together in pinstripes. Of course, long before Judge made it to the majors, Maris’s and Ruth’s marks had fallen in the National League, swallowed up six different times by musclebound, drug-assisted sluggers whose achievements were debated and disputed, at times even questioned under oath by Congress. The most coveted individual achievement in the sport had been publicly muddied and baseball’s reputation smeared amid revelations that it was all a sham, accomplished with the aid of a chemist’s vial. Judge, a mammoth slugger who stands 6 feet 7 inches and weighs 282 pounds, has played his entire career in an era in which players are tested for performance-enhancing drugs. While no player can be guaranteed to be clean, Judge’s accomplishments in the testing era have helped restore enthusiasm among many fans for a benchmark that had lost much of its luster.
Students, read the entire article, then tell us:
What is your reaction to Judge’s record 62nd home run? Do you now consider him the true or “legitimate” baseball home run king? Do you agree with Roger Maris Jr. that Judge “should be revered and celebrated as the single-season home run champ, not just the American League home run champ”? Are you a baseball fan? Do you think that Judge’s monster season has helped to restore enthusiasm for the sport and the integrity of the game? How should Major League Baseball deal with records from the so-called steroids era? Should players like Bonds, McGwire and Clemens be stricken from record books (and perhaps permanently blocked from the Hall of Fame)? Should asterisks be placed next to their records? Or, do you favor the idea of adding more context, like an introductory page at the beginning of baseball’s official record book, as the broadcaster Bob Costas has urged? What remedy do you think is best? Cheating is in the news, as scandals have shocked and shaken the worlds of chess and fishing. How big a problem do you think cheating is in sports in general? Do scandals like these dampen your enthusiasm as a sports fan? What, if anything, can be done to prevent cheating in sports? Where would you rank Judge’s 62 home runs in the pantheon of sports achievements, such as Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak, Nolan Ryan’s seven no-hitters, Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game, Simone Biles’s 32 Olympic and world medals? Do you think Judge’s feat will be topped? What attracted you to being a baseball fan?
About everyday, a person comes in here, sometimes from a different country asking to learn about baseball. I would like to know how you got interested in this sport and how you feel about people frequently trying to learn about baseball. How do I become a baseball fan?
This may seem like a ridiculous question but is one that I am asking honestly. I want to try and get into baseball because I found out my mother enjoys it and it would be nice to have something to talk about that doesn't pertain to my job. I think I want to follow the Nationals since I am DC based. Any tips or advice on how or where to get started? I’m 16 and I just started watching baseball when I was 15 and I love it I live near the rangers so I love going to there games to. But since I’m older I’m not going to be able to play it. I can’t tryout for the school team cause I have never played and probably won’t make it and right now all my time sports wise is being put into wrestling since I wrestle. So anyone out there a fan of the game but never played I just feel out of place since I never actually got to experience it.
In “With His 62nd Home Run, Aaron Judge Stands Alone in A.L.,” David Waldstein writes: A little over 100 years ago, a charismatic and portly slugger named Babe Ruth began swatting balls over outfield fences by volume, helping establish the home run as one of the most coveted individual achievements in sports, and the Yankees as the most honored franchise.
Ruth’s records, including 60 home runs in 1927, became sacred milestones, cherished for decades by millions. In 1961, Roger Maris, as humble and retiring as Ruth was gregarious, broke the single-season record when he hit 61 homers, also for the Yankees. Now Aaron Judge, as physically imposing as Ruth and as modest as Maris, has passed them both, homering against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on Tuesday to reach 62 for the season, setting a new American League record. From Ruth to Maris and now Judge, the A.L.’s single-season home run record is stitched together in pinstripes. Of course, long before Judge made it to the majors, Maris’s and Ruth’s marks had fallen in the National League, swallowed up six different times by musclebound, drug-assisted sluggers whose achievements were debated and disputed, at times even questioned under oath by Congress. The most coveted individual achievement in the sport had been publicly muddied and baseball’s reputation smeared amid revelations that it was all a sham, accomplished with the aid of a chemist’s vial. Judge, a mammoth slugger who stands 6 feet 7 inches and weighs 282 pounds, has played his entire career in an era in which players are tested for performance-enhancing drugs. While no player can be guaranteed to be clean, Judge’s accomplishments in the testing era have helped restore enthusiasm among many fans for a benchmark that had lost much of its luster.
Students, read the entire article, then tell us:
What is your reaction to Judge’s record 62nd home run? Do you now consider him the true or “legitimate” baseball home run king? Do you agree with Roger Maris Jr. that Judge “should be revered and celebrated as the single-season home run champ, not just the American League home run champ”? Are you a baseball fan? Do you think that Judge’s monster season has helped to restore enthusiasm for the sport and the integrity of the game? How should Major League Baseball deal with records from the so-called steroids era? Should players like Bonds, McGwire and Clemens be stricken from record books (and perhaps permanently blocked from the Hall of Fame)? Should asterisks be placed next to their records? Or, do you favor the idea of adding more context, like an introductory page at the beginning of baseball’s official record book, as the broadcaster Bob Costas has urged? What remedy do you think is best? Cheating is in the news, as scandals have shocked and shaken the worlds of chess and fishing. How big a problem do you think cheating is in sports in general? Do scandals like these dampen your enthusiasm as a sports fan? What, if anything, can be done to prevent cheating in sports? Where would you rank Judge’s 62 home runs in the pantheon of sports achievements, such as Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak, Nolan Ryan’s seven no-hitters, Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game, Simone Biles’s 32 Olympic and world medals? Do you think Judge’s feat will be topped? What attracted you to being a baseball fan?
About everyday, a person comes in here, sometimes from a different country asking to learn about baseball. I would like to know how you got interested in this sport and how you feel about people frequently trying to learn about baseball. How do I become a baseball fan?
This may seem like a ridiculous question but is one that I am asking honestly. I want to try and get into baseball because I found out my mother enjoys it and it would be nice to have something to talk about that doesn't pertain to my job. I think I want to follow the Nationals since I am DC based. Any tips or advice on how or where to get started? I’m 16 and I just started watching baseball when I was 15 and I love it I live near the rangers so I love going to there games to. But since I’m older I’m not going to be able to play it. I can’t tryout for the school team cause I have never played and probably won’t make it and right now all my time sports wise is being put into wrestling since I wrestle. So anyone out there a fan of the game but never played I just feel out of place since I never actually got to experience it.
