SEATTLE – Should we call it 63*?
Cal Raleigh spent most of his summer chasing Aaron Judge’s single-season American League home run record of 62 home runs, ultimately finishing the regular season two blasts shy of the mark that the Yankees captain set three years ago.
It took until Game 3 of the AL Championship Series, and won’t be reflected in any record book, but Raleigh rounded the bases for a 63rd time this year in the eighth inning of the Mariners’ 13-4 loss to the Blue Jays on Wednesday evening at T-Mobile Park.
There was no in-game ceremony to acknowledge the moment — not with the Mariners trailing by eight runs at the time — but it adds a fun footnote to the ongoing coast-to-coast debate revolving around the leading candidates for the AL Most Valuable Player Award.
All BBWAA voting was completed at the conclusion of the regular season, but that won’t stop fans from continuing to argue for their team’s star.
For what it’s worth, there were loud chants of “M-V-P!” heard as Raleigh approached home plate, just as there were for Judge throughout the Yankees’ postseason games against the Red Sox and Blue Jays.
Judge belted 62 home runs in 2022, eclipsing Roger Maris’ single-season record of 61, which had stood as an AL mark since 1961.
If we’re including postseason homers, Judge hit two more that October in the ALDS against Cleveland, bringing his annual total to 64 — so Raleigh still has work to do. (Maris hit one in the 1961 World Series.)
Before Maris, the previous Major League record was held by Babe Ruth, who hit 60 home runs in 1927. Ruth also hit two homers in the ’27 World Series.
