When Roger Maris Jr. declared that Aaron Judge should be the single-season home run king with his 62nd blast and that “baseball should do something” to make it so, it further extended the pretzel logic that has fueled debates surrounding the sport for more than six decades — and originated with his father.
In a game that treasures both its home run records and comparative analysis, perfect symmetry remains difficult to replicate when eras are different and the sport keeps changing.
When Roger Maris clouted his 61st home run of 1961 to pass Babe Ruth and set the Major League Baseball single-season record, the American League had moved to a 162-game schedule from 154 (the National League followed suit one season later).