HOUSTON, TX – OCTOBER 28: Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. speaks to the media during a press conference prior to game four of the 2017 World Series between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Minute Maid Park on October 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
As the MLB postseason heads towards the divisional round, some within the baseball world are still debating a hot topic that ended the regular season.
Which number is bigger: 62 or 73?
Craig Carton asked MLB commissioner Rob Manfred if the league has an official stance on honoring Barry Bonds or Aaron Judge as the official season-single home run champion. Manfred confirmed that 73 indeed remains more than 62.
“We have always taken the position that the record book says what it says,” Manfred stated. “You can’t change what happened. You can’t undo what happened.”
Some baseball purists believe Bonds’ record — and the other five tallies from Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa exceeding Judge’s 62 — shouldn’t count because of their links to performance-enhancing drugs. While he doesn’t want to take away from Judge’s momentous feat, Manfred also isn’t willing to rewrite history.
“Different things happened in different eras. The ball was different. The height of the mound was different,” he continued. “Fans make their own judgments. I think what you saw with Aaron Judge, it was an absolutely monumental performance, and fans reacted to it that way.”
Judge broke Roger Maris’ American League record when crushing his 62nd long ball on the season’s penultimate day. In a year where power diminished throughout the sport, Mike Trout finished second in the AL with 40 home runs.
Judge’s season warrants celebration, but it’s not the most home runs anyone has hit in a season. Bonds hit 73, which is still more than 62, in 2001.
Since Manfred didn’t give any hint of the Commissioner’s Office considering an asterisk or revision to the record book, fans can close the book on this discussion to watch Judge and other MLB stars vie for a World Series bid.
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