Ever since steroid use became heavily criticized and then banned in MLB, fans and analysts have been arguing about the true, legitimate record for most home runs in a single season.
Some people say Barry Bonds should be viewed as the true home run king despite playing in the steroid era and being tied to the use performance-enhancing substances.
He hit 73 home runs in 2001, surpassing Mark McGwire‘s record of 70 in 1998.
The “Big Mac,” like Bonds, is tied to the use of PEDs.
As a result, there is a sizable contingent of people who believe Roger Maris and New York Yankees star Aaron Judge – after hitting his 61st home run of the season on Wednesday – are the true record holders.
At a time, there were people who discredited Maris’ record because he couldn’t do it in 154 games, which was the regular season calendar when Babe Ruth hit 60 in 1927.
People will always have something to say to discredit what they want to discredit.
Judge Sees Bonds As The Record Holder
In recent media appearances, Judge stated who he believes is the king of the home run.
Aaron Judge recently revealed to Tom Verducci what he thinks the real home run record is: https://t.co/jxHpMJbC26 pic.twitter.com/SQcnDugNuE
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) September 29, 2022
Judge grew up in the Bay Area and probably had a close look at Bonds’ feat.
“Seventy-three is the record,” Judge said a few days ago.
“In my book. No matter what people want to say about that era of baseball, for me, they went out there and hit 73 homers and 70 homers, and that to me is what the record is. The AL record is 61, so that is one I can kind of try to go after. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it’s been a fun year so far.”
So, there you have it: Bonds is still MLB’s home run king.
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