Aaron JudgeRoger Maris and I will remain forever linked. Yankees lore, as Judge’s 62nd home run Tuesday night took down Maris’ 61-year-old American League and Yankees franchise single-season home run record.
While Judge now clearly has the upper hand in the home run category, that doesn’t necessarily mean he had the better overall season.
How does the AL’s greatest homer-hitting season compare? Here’s Judge’s 2022 vs. Maris’ 1961.
When did they become world records?
Judge wins this category due to his home run volume. Simple math says 62 is more than 61, but the deeper numbers give Judge’s 2022 season the edge as well.
Judge’s record-breaker came in his 157th game of the season, while Maris reached his 61st (to break Babe Ruth’s record) in his 161st game and the final game of the 1961 season. Judge’s came on his 569th at-bat after drawing 111 walks, while Maris’ came on his 588th at-bat after drawing 94 walks.
Judge was also ahead of Maris in doubles (28 against 18), slugging percentage (0.681 vs..620) as well as total bases (390 to 366).
A better batting average?
Can we remove home runs from the discussion and determine which Yankees legend is a better hitter by looking at their batbatting averages?
While we saw Judge get the edge in slugging, the 2022 star also bettered Maris’ 1961 mark in batting average (.311 vs. .269), total hits (175 vs. 159) and on-base percentage (.426 vs. .372).
