On the night that Aaron Judge tied his father’s American League home run record, Roger Maris Jr. made a bold declaration.
One more home run would give Judge the outright AL lead, but would still leave him 11 shy of Barry Bonds’ MLB record of 73 home runs, which he hit in 2001. Following Judge’s tying shot on Wednesday, though, the younger Maris called Bonds’ total illegitimate, per Brendan Kuty of NJ.com.
“I think it means a lot, not just for me. I think it means a lot for a lot of people,” Maris said. “That he’s clean, he’s a Yankee, he plays the game the right way. I think it gives people a chance to look and somebody who should be revered for hitting 62 home runs … He should be revered for being the actual single-season home run champ. That’s really who he is, if he hits 62. I think that’s what needs to happen, I think baseball needs to look at the records, and I think baseball should do something.”
