MLBits: Judge Hits No. 60, White Sox Are Dead, Judge v. Ohtani Debate Shifting? Braves Clinch Postseason Berth, More

Judge’s 60th home run of the season sparked a wild comeback for the Yankees and came with plenty of reaction around the internet last night. Let’s get into some of it.

Aaron Judge Hits No. 60!

Aaron Judge is just one home run shy of Roger Maris’ Yankees single-season Yankee and AL record for home runs in a season after his 60th home run of the season sparked a wild ninth-inning rally for the Yankees on Tuesday night in The Bronx.

AARON JUDGE, HOME RUN NO. 6️⃣0️⃣‼️pic.twitter.com/N7ffe9a3t9

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) September 21, 2022

Judge became the sixth player in MLB history to hit 60 or more home runs in a season, and here’s how his pace stacks up against the two players to hit 70-plus home runs in a season through 147 team games:

Barry Bonds: 64

Mark McGwire: 62

Aaron Judge: 60

Here’s a fun story on Judge’s 60th home run last night from Jeff Passan:

History, numbers, ghosts: They’re about ego.

The present is about winning.

Which is what made the night of Aaron Judge’s 60th home run so special. The only thing he saw special about it was that the Yankees won. Column from the Bronx, free and unlocked: https://t.co/tWbSKAwwYn— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 21, 2022

Some more reaction from Judge’s big night across Twitter:

Aaron Judge is the first player in MLB history with at least 60 HR, 15 steals and 90 walks in a season.

— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) September 21, 2022

The kids that caught No. 60 gave it back and got to meet Judge, got a signed bat.

Spoke with Michael Kessler, the 20-year-old who caught Aaron Judge's 60th HR ball, then traded it to 99 for autographs and photos:

“Judge means so much to the organization. He’s just unbelievable. Just the way he is, he deserved to have the ball back. I have no second thoughts.”— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) September 21, 2022

The fan who caught Aaron Judge's 60th home run ball gave it back to the slugger for free. ❤️

(📸: @JohnstoneJD) pic.twitter.com/JJYJgexDaH— theScore (@theScore) September 21, 2022

Would you give it back so freely? I have to think the implicit promise of a signed bat and a meeting is worth handing it over. After all, it’s not like it’s valueless. Not by a longshot.

The value of these Aaron Judge and Albert Pujols' baseballs, per SCP Auctions?
Judge's 60th HR is worth $100,000-$150,000.
His 62nd HR: $500,000-up
His last HR: $1M-up
Mark McGwire's 70th HR ball sold for $3M
Barry Bonds' 756th HR passing Aaron: $752,467
His final #762: $362,000— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) September 21, 2022

Has the Ohtani v. Judge MVP Debate Shifted?

There’s been much debate this season as to who deserves (read: deserves, not will win) the American League MVP award, Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani.

Personally, I’ve been of the opinion for much of the season that Ohtani is the easy choice for the MVP award this season (and maybe every season), but Judge’s historical 2022 campaign is reaching a point in which I’m starting to be swayed in the other direction.

Yes, Ohtani’s season has been magical, and he’s accomplished things that we might never see happen again, but Aaron Judge is on the verge of breaking the Yankees and American League single-season home run record and winning the Triple Crown in the American League with 15 games to play this season.

While Ohtani is making history in his own right, we haven’t seen a 60-home run season in over two decades, and we haven’t seen a Triple Crown in baseball in a decade (Miguel Cabrera in 2012). Judge accomplishing both seems like enough to give him a slight advantage over Ohtani.

Aaron Judge AL Triple Crown ranks:

AVG: .316 (1st)
HR: 60 (1st)
RBI: 128 (1st)

Judge is seeking to become just the 10th player in American League history to win the Triple Crown pic.twitter.com/RgSZ6y9WrB— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) September 21, 2022

The 2022 White Sox are Dead

The Cleveland series was a must-sweep series for the Chicago White Sox if they hoped to catch the Guardians in the AL Central, and they couldn’t even manage to win the first game last night.

Dylan Cease turned in six innings of one-run ball despite his fastball being essentially non-existent, and the White Sox even led the Guardians 3-1 in the seventh inning. Then, the White Sox White Sox-ed all over the game, blowing the lead and eventually self-destructing in the 11th inning. That effectively ended their chances of catching Cleveland in the AL Central, and in hilariously fitting fashion.

Your 2022 Chicago White Sox in one clip… pic.twitter.com/EPfvcWwq4h

— Patrick K. Flowers (@PatrickKFlowers) September 21, 2022

Jay Cuda posted a video of all the defensive mishaps and blunders that plagued the White Sox this season. I suppose that’s what happens when everyone in the outfield not named Luis Robert (who played the second half injured) or AJ Pollock is a first baseman or DH.

White Sox dropped the ball (no pun intended) so many times this season, on seemingly routine plays.

And a lot of botched relays against teams as they challenged the outfield & stretched extra bases… making the white sox make a mistake. Here are just a hanful of them: pic.twitter.com/oanvbACAbZ— Jay Cuda (@JayCuda) September 21, 2022

Odds and Ends:

The Blue Jays erupted for 18 runs last night, but the Phillies scored 11 of their own, making that the second-highest scoring contest of the 2022 season. The first? Toronto’s 28-5 drubbing of the Red Sox earlier this summer.

JBJ JACK 😤

It's @JackieBradleyJr's FIRST as a Blue Jay! pic.twitter.com/SZI4NG97rx

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 21, 2022

Lost in all the Aaron Judge No. 60 hype is the fact that Giancarlo Stanton hit a 118(!) MPH walk-off GRAND SLAM last night down three runs in the 9th inning.

OMG AND NOW Giancarlo Stanton Hit a 118-MPH, Walk-off Grand Slam (Down Three Runs!)https://t.co/Ggc0yrSAGv pic.twitter.com/k5nSADq6ha— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) September 21, 2022

Giants legend Buster Posey is now a part of the Giants ownership group. Posey joins the San Francisco Baseball Associates LLC ownership group as the 31st principal partner. Posey will also serve on the ownership group’s board of directors.

Giants legend Buster Posey joins San Francisco's ownership group https://t.co/xstVafYbVY

— CBS Sports MLB (@CBSSportsMLB) September 21, 2022

I think this is pretty good, right?

Alexander Canario numbers at Triple-A:

Before last night: .152/.326/.182 (57 wRC+)
After last night: .211/.367/.474 (124 wRC+)

I guess that's what a three-homer night will do for you. 😂https://t.co/VSTT9JdDuI pic.twitter.com/daW74r51lz— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) September 21, 2022

The Padres padded their Wild Card lead by beating the Cardinals 5-0 on Tuesday night and then trolled the Cardinals in a fashion that will surely give some Cubs fans a smile.

Can't spell Cardinals without an L. #TimeToShine #PadresWin pic.twitter.com/BhshwKbwgb

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 21, 2022

The Braves punched the ticket to the Postseason with a 3-2 win over the Nationals last night. Atlanta trails the Mets by one game in the NL East, so that division battle is far from over as the regular season winds down.

The @Braves' title defense is officially set 😏 pic.twitter.com/v9GxGAB3oM

— ESPN (@espn) September 21, 2022

Here’s a clip of all 60 Aaron Judge home runs this season for those interested in that sort o

All 60 of @TheJudge44's homers!

Enjoy The Show. pic.twitter.com/6f70XGLFIC

— MLB (@MLB) September 21, 2022

According to the New York Post, the three leagues are soon expected to work with Diamond Sports (the Sinclair subsidiary that operates the 21 RSNs) to orchestrate a buyout of the networks. That would give the leagues direct control over the RSNs that have the local broadcast rights to 14 MLB teams, 16 NBA teams, and 12 NHL teams. 

REPORT: MLB, NBA, NHL Could Try to Buy the RSNs That Cover Half of Their Marketshttps://t.co/bfhUTVspfK pic.twitter.com/ihXbhWOLZD

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) September 21, 2022