aaron judge needs his own thread

also a point of batting average away from the triple crown

“but what is his era?” - annoying people

Judge has 20 more homers than anyone else in baseball, something only Babe Ruth has ever done.

he's batting .491 in September so far

I used to love telling students about Ruth's 1920 season, when he outhomered every team in the league except his own--it was like science-fiction, I'd say. That won't happen this year, but Judge (59) ain't that far behind the Tigers (93).

All over the place, but asks a good question: "What is (Judge) chasing?"

https://joeposnanski.substack.com/p/the-real-home-run-record?r=1jtu0&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

what does he conclude? (paywalled)

to me, the record that i care about is still 61. sosa and mcgwire and bonds count, there's no need to pretend it didn't happen. i just don't care about those records in the same way that i don't care if two timin' jimmy mcneely hit .424 in 1897 or whatever

That link should work--it's one with a share link. I'll try again:

https://joeposnanski.substack.com/p/the-real-home-run-record?r=1jtu0&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Anyway, no real conclusion:

Ruth’s 60 is a number we care about still, though the game has changed many times over since then.

Maris’ 61 is a number we care about still, though the game has changed many times over since.

Bonds’ 73 is also a number we care about still, though the game has, we hope, changed since then, too.

And wherever Judge ends up, we’ll care about that, too. What’s the REAL record? Let’s be honest: It is whatever you want it to be.

it turns out the home run record was inside of us all along

the record is 73

What would you consider the single-season E.R.A. or strikeout records for pitchers?

the single season ERA record is 0, held by me and every other person on earth

so many unearned runs though

There you go then: the E.R.A. record is whatever you want it to be.

I only acknowledge my favorite HR race of all time, when 38 yr old Darrell Evans beat 37 year old Carlton Fisk for the 1985 AL home run crown. Steve Balboni in third place.

when i was a kid i had so much energy that i would pitch along to the televised games, mirroring the delivery of the pitcher. jfc i was a dork. but i feel like i threw hundreds of innings during those years, putting wear and tear on my arm at an early age. gave up some tough hits during those games as well, it was a learning experience

Baseball Reference--which may or may not jibe with the MLB's official record book, I don't know--has the single-season strikeout record as Matt Kilroy's 513 in 1886, when hitters used sawed-off table legs as bats and pitchers were allowed to take a 100-yard running start before delivering a pitch. Nolan Ryan's 382 ranks eighth.

1996 brady anderson is the most interesting single-season home run count and thus the record

jimmy otm

Pretty significant death. It doesn't make sense by modern metrics (39.6 career bWAR), but I know he still has passionate HOF advocates. He and Wes Parker were basically the focus of an excellent book I read last year on the great '60s Dodgers teams, The Last Innocents.

Oops.

60! Was watching the live look-in on mlb.com.

No doubter. he makes it look so easy

Worst thing is, on a night the Jays can move to within four, he's sparked this 9th-inning rally.

Thanks, Judge.

officially the triple crown leader now, too

I wasn't kidding the other day--I hate this.

https://www.mlb.com/news/college-student-catches-aaron-judge-60th-home-run-ball

You don't owe Judge or Cooperstown or the game or fandom anything; keep it and get as much as you can.

In six or seven years, this guy could have a family and a mountain of student debt. His five minutes with Aaron Judge may not seem so special anymore.

It’s so great that the two MVP contenders are just legend types like him and Ohtani. And if Trout didn’t miss time he’d be in the top three I’m thinking.

Wonder if we’re entering a new era of peak value consideration weighing more on HOF chances than accumulated value, and if it’ll benefit a guy like this. Judge has suffered injuries but the three seasons he’s been healthy he’s been ridiculous.

Probably a similar argument can apply to DeGrom, though Judge being younger has more time to pad out his numbers and I trust his health more going forward.

I may have said it in this thred but if i catch a meaningful HR ball im making it extremely clear that im shaking down the team/owner and not the player

Right--no malice towards Judge at all, who seems as likeable and as humble as can be. I just don't think you owe the "game" anything at all. I mean, the fans are almost the last consideration of the league anytime a decision is made.

(xpost) Yes to all of that. I suggested Judge as a possible HOF candidate on some thread in May, when he just seemed like the MVP favorite.

Agree that he probably wouldn't go in for bulk career numbers; was thinking more of a concentrated peak period. But, again, if he can stay healthy for seven or eight seasons, maybe he'd get to 450 HR by the time he's 37, which'd give him a shot at 500 (if that still means anything by then). But a couple of MVPs and a couple of WS would probably be a more viable path, and he's got a pretty good jump on both this season.

― clemenza, Thursday, May 19, 2022

I think the peak value Hall of Fame arguments for Votto/Posey/Mauer are going to work in their favor so I actually think similarly Judge doesn’t even necessarily have to reach any of the more fabled trad milestone totals. I think he might, though. His skill set is likely gonna age better than people think, he’s a big dude but he’s not Ryan Howard or Chris Davis.

The baseball Hall of Fame is moving more towards what they do with the NBA and NFL HOFs, which really reward peak value more and tend to value compilers less. Guys like Tracy McGrady and Terrell Davis getting the hall call in their sports are good examples.

trying and failing to imagine aaron judge on roids

give him speed and roids and he'd have 200 home runs this season

The safest path to the HOF is to start early (20/21), pile up a whole bunch of HOF seasons before you're 30, and build up a cushion that allows you to coast through your 30s--still playing, but probably only intermittently at All-Star level.

There might be a hidden advantage with someone like Judge, though, that will help you when you're up for induction. You got a late start, so you have to keep playing at an All-Star level deep into your 30s--36 or 37, maybe. The one thing you won't have then is that prolonged decline phase that Pujols and Cabrera and others have had. There just isn't enough time.

Adrian Beltre, Paul Molitor, and David Ortiz are good examples; they were great almost right till the end.

in his last season Ortiz hit 48 HR and led the league in doubles, RBI, slugging and OPS

nelson cruz is probably not making the hall of fame though

judge would need at least a couple more 6 WAR seasons i think before his peak is actually impressive by the current HoF standards

at which point hes not that far from having a worthy full career WAR anyway

Best season ever in the shittiest era of baseball.

At lunch, I had the AM sports talk on and they were going on about Bonds record not counting etc. ESPN made millions off that crap and said nothing about the roids at the time.

Don't have anything against Judge, he seems to be a very unique athlete. I was always impressed on how he moved in the outfield for such a big dude. He's definitely not Big Donkey Adam Dunn out there.

two doubles and a walk tonight

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/will-aaron-judge-gets-his-300-million-deal/

judge is having an all-timer season but i feel sorry for whichever team takes his next contract

(although, maybe i don't. everyone and everything has so much money now. maybe "losing" on a contract isn't a big deal like it used to be)

Before we go, however, there’s one other factor to consider that does help Judge’s cause, and that is Mets owner Steve Cohen. The parsimonious nature of owners hasn’t yet hindered Cohen and while he hasn’t been explicit, hints have dropped about the team’s payroll reaching anywhere from $300 million to $345 million. That leaves room for the Mets to get into a Judge bidding war, and I doubt the idea of signing the crosstown rival’s MVP winner makes that prospect less enticing.

yeah, money is no longer a factor. it matters, but not really. i need to update the way i think about contracts

(xposts) Would seem to be in an ideal spot to chase the TC.

1) Big HR lead, doesn't matter if he's walked or pitched around a lot.

2) Big RBI lead, people getting on base ahead of him doesn't matter.

3) Team has basically clinched the division.

So two doubles and a walk is a great game.

i think he should hit some more dingers

bit of a fuss because friday’s yankees game is exclusive to apple tv, seriously restricting the audience for potential record tying/breaking

classic mlb, really