But not for the reasons you think.

Every time someone in sports does something amazing, somebody seems to want to come along to tell us that it isn't really that amazing after all. The latest incarnation of this has taken the form of "Well, who cares if Judge hits over 61 home runs? That isn't the REAL home run record. Bonds has the real record."

Leaving aside the steroids accusations - and I'm inclined to believe they do matter at least to some extent - it's just silliness to say that breaking Maris's record doesn't matter.

And it is Maris's record, even today. Roger Maris has the AL home run record to this day. He has held it, in a small bit of cosmic kismet, for 61 years. He does not "technically" have it, or have it only if you don't count steroid users, or have it only when the moon is in the house of Athena or something, I don't know. He actually is the sole holder of the AL record.

There's also the fact of when this is happening. Look at how many home runs Judge is outpacing the competition by. Look at the number of homers flying during the late 90's and early 2000's. What Judge is doing vis a vis home runs is just on another level from everyone else in the sport. Granted, we're not talking Ruth 1920, probably the most single dominant season by any player in baseball history. But this is another level of home run dominance. Judge isn't having one of the most dominant OVERALL seasons ever, granted. Ohtani is competitive just this season for the MVP (though I absolutely think Judge deserves it), and within the decade Mookie Betts was similarly dominant. But in terms of sheer power Judge is doing something that we haven't really come close to since Ruth.

And let's face it. Whatever the historical record says, whatever your opinions on cheating vs. playing with only white players vs. playing in an expansion year, 1961 will always be the year that the home run record was broken, by a Yankee. It matters, to the ghosts of the Yankees, to the fans, to New York, to baseball, that a Yankee is on the cusp of breaking Roger Maris's record. Yes, Sosa broke it, Mcgwire broke it, Bonds broke it. So what? They didn't do it 61 years after Roger Maris in the most depressed offensive environment in years while playing for the Yankees.

Let Bonds have his record. My home run king is going to be Aaron Judge - *If* he can pull it off. I can't wait to find out!