Aaron Judge hits 60th homer, within 1 of Maris' AL record
NEW YORK — Aaron Judge hit his 60th home run Tuesday night, matching Babe Ruth and moving within one of Roger Maris' American League season record.
The New York Yankees slugger drove a 3-1 sinker from Pittsburgh's Wil Crowe 430 feet to the left field seats leading off the ninth inning. Judge's third home run in two games and ninth in September thrilled a screaming crowd at Yankee Stadium. He answered pleas for a curtain call despite New York's 8-5 deficit.
READ MORE: Judge's 60th homer sparks 5-run 9th, Yanks stun Pirates
He equaled Ruth's total for the 1927 Yankees and has 15 games remaining to match and surpass Maris' total for New York in 1961.
Judge leads the major leagues with 128 RBIs and is among the AL batting leaders with a .316 average as he tries for the first Triple Crown since Detroit's Miguel Cabrera in 2012.
Ruth became the first major leaguer to hit 60 homers when he connected off Washington's Tom Zachary for a two-run drive to right in the eighth inning on Sept. 30, 1927, the next-to-last game of the season.
Roger Maris Jr. and Kevin Maris, sons of the former player, were both on hand.
Fans in the outfield seats stood when Judge came to the plate.
"It was amazing. I mean, the only reason why we were here tonight was to watch history happen. It was absolutely amazing," one fan told CBS2's Dick Brennan.
"Oh, everyone got on their feet. It was just noise, electric," another fan said.
"Waiting 'til the last at bat, you know, it was just all, the whole time, everyone was standing on their feet with their phones out. It was completely awesome. It was totally crazy," another fan said.
"It was incredible. The stadium was shaking. It was unbelievable. We were shocked. We couldn't believe it happened," another fan said.
Fans at Yankee Stadium dove into the stands to catch that record home-run baseball.
Experts say catching number 60 could get you a couple hundred thousand dollars, but then the payoff goes up.
"Sixty-one, where it's tying, I think you're gonna get around $1 million," said Chris Brigandi, with Brigandi Coins and Collectibles. "And then 62, you're probably looking at least a few million, possibly $5 [million] and up."
Brigandi says you won't be able to hand over a fake ball either.
"They mark every ball that gets pitched to Aaron Judge with a secret code ... They're gonna make sure that you have the home ball, and they're gonna want to either buy it from you or make a deal with Aaron Judge and the Yankees to give it to him," he said.
So it's up to you whether to keep it or sell it, but first you have to catch it.
Bruni Vega, of the Bronx, seems to have the right approach. While telling Brennan about her Mets rosary during batting practice, she managed to snag a ball.
"I'm gonna pray for [Judge] because, you know what, I'm still a Bronx girl. That's what I came to see. I got lucky. I put it on today ... and I got a ball. The rosary works," Vega said.
The Yankees face the Pirates again Wednesday night.
