Mark McGwire's shortest home run of the 1998 season was barely over the left-field wall at old Busch Stadium. Roger had a 37 year record.
The fading spectacle of baseball may have been revived by McGwire and Sammy Sosa's home run chase, with the Maris family at the nucleus to see which one would best Roger's 61 home-run season in 1961. McGwire hugged his bat-boy son before being swarmed by teammates. He embraced the Maris family in the perfect combination of baseball's past and present after embracing Sosa. Steroids make the all-time moment questionable. The younger Maris would like to see someone break his father's record. If Judge hits one more home run in the last seven games of the season, he will become the all-time home run king, according to Roger Maris Jr.
Maris Jr. said Wednesday that he thinks it gives people a chance to look at someone other than a guy who hit 62 homers in the American League. He should be revered for being the home-run champion. If he hits 62, he will be that person. That is what needs to happen. I think baseball should do something about the records.
The three single-season efforts now ahead of Judge in MLB history are all connected to steroids, with Barry Bonds' 73 home run season in 2001 still officially standing as the sport's best with a huge asterisk. Judge hasn't been connected with any performance enhancing drugs. The power to hit baseballs out of stadiums should come from the size of the man. McGwire is the only one to publicly admit taking steroids with Bonds and Sosa, and they both may have lied about it under oath.
The Maris family only gave the mantle to McGwire after Judge because they wanted to show how nice it was to see Roger's record fall into the hands of someone else. This is the second attempt for Roger Jr. to hand over his father's holy grail. I think the Maris' estate would be more than happy to have a player from any other team on the home-run list.
Roger Maris Jr. knows that his dad's record is about to go down in history as his team, division, and American League records will fall. He can say that McGwire wasn't the first to break it. The son of the soon-to-be-former-American-League-home-run king can't pretend that he doesn't believe in Judge.
An interview to discuss how much his dad's legacy is dependent on the great parts of baseball and how that doesn't mix with McGwire's cheating is needed. To open a path for Judge, the Maris had to scrub away 1998. It doesn't tell the whole story. Propping up Judge is easy and wouldn't distract from the fact that McGwire has been vilified. Don't fall for the Maris camp being a brand new thing. They put McGwire on the back while he used steroids.
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