Aaron Judge Hitting 62 Home Runs Matters To America

Backstory

For those unaware, Aaron Judge hitting 62 home runs is not the single season home runs record holder in all of Major League Baseball. That title of Home Run King officially belongs to Barry Bonds, with 73 home runs, set in 2001. Between Bonds and Judge home run totals sit both Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. What do all of the top three leaders have in common? Alleged PED use. Yes, it is required to use the term "alleged" because none of them actually tested positive, however McGwire did make an admission.

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However, many fans note the undeniable change in each of their physical appearance and performance during their peak years. It would be hypocritical to deny their records after vouching for their Hall of Fame induction. The records are the records.

America’s Next Great Desire

So why does Aaron Judge’s accomplishment matter? For starters, it answer the calls for reflections far beyond the situation at hand. Americans are surrounded by “fakeness". When Americans view models and celebrities in magazines, entertainment, and the internet; they see makeup, plastic surgery, photoshop, and computer generated images (CGI). Trust in American politicians may likely be at an all time low, since each half of the American population believes that the other half of the government is completely lying to them. Americans live life on social media viewing carefully selected and persuasive images of their peers that are intended to give impressions that their lives are better than what they are. Americans are tired of their world being fake, and are starving for something truthful and genuine.

“Fakeness" in Baseball

This completely translates to baseball. One of baseballs biggest stars, Fernando Tatis Jr., has just tested positive for PEDs. Also, MLB has recently given forceful effort towards eliminating spider tack and other foreign substances which may have given pitchers unfair advantages against hitters. Not far before this, many fans believed in the "juiced balls" theory in 2019, implying that MLB had changed the materials of the baseball in such a way to artificially enhance home run results. And most obviously, the Houston Astros cheating scandal of 2017 will forever call into question the legitimacy of their championship.

All of this, happened within the last 5 years. Add this on to the steroid era home run hitters, which includes the previously mentioned top 3 single-season record holders, and baseball fans have no idea what to believe anymore.

Most prominently in this chaos, is baseball’s current identity crisis. The civil war that continuously plays out on sports radio, sports talk TV, players, and fans alike, is the balance (or dependance) on analytics vs human intuition. Commonly, supporters of the latter claim that the over reliance on analytics has removed heart, soul, and emotion from decision making. Again, we see the cry for a genuine experience.

Aaron Judge"s Role

What does any of this have to do with Aaron Judge hitting 62 home runs? Simple, it was something real to believe. With the amount of drug testing in the sport, there is very little reason to believe Aaron Judge is taking PEDs in 2022. He has a reputation for being soft spoken, hard working, and giving towards others. It appears as though Aaron Judge is a genuine human who earned his accomplishment through good attitude and hard work. As a result, our prayers have been answered. Baseball finally gave us something organic and awe inspiring to gather around after Americans have been begging and thirsting for truthfulness for so long.

Aaron Judge’s American League home run record is more than just a baseball statistic, it is a reminder that the human body and spirit can accomplish great things. This is not just what Yankee fans want, nor is it just what baseball fans want. It is what Americans in the year 2022 want.

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