How New York Yankees' Aaron Judge made home run history

Move over, Roger Maris: New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has hit his 62nd home run of the 2022 MLB season, setting the single-season record for the American League.

His 62nd home run — which came off Texas Rangers righty Jesus Tinoco on Tuesday in the Yankees' final series of the regular season — moved him past Maris, who held the previous Junior Circuit record with 61 home runs in 1961. Judge also broke Maris' famed franchise record, previously held by Babe Ruth, who hit 60 in 1927. Now, Judge joins Ruth and Maris as the only AL players to hit 60 or more home runs in a season.

So how did he do it? Let's break down Judge's road to 62.

While Judge's season hasn't exactly come out of nowhere — after all, he did hit a then-rookie-record 52 home runs in 2017 — this run to 62 wasn't exactly anticipated, either. While remaining an enormously productive hitter in the ensuing seasons, after averaging a home run every 10.42 at-bats in 2017, Judge averaged one every 14.14 at-bats from 2018 to 2021. Remaining healthy and playing 148 games in 2021, he hit 39 home runs, hardly a harbinger for a historic season when you consider Brandon Lowe and Mitch Haniger also hit 39.

Judge also didn't come roaring out of the gate: He hit one home run in his first 13 games. It took some time before everyone realized this could be a special season. My colleague Bradford Doolittle set up a day-by-day spreadsheet for Judge, creating estimated levels of playing time and home run percentage to compute a projected end-of-season home run total (differing from just a straight-up season pace).

Judge began the season with a projected total of 40.9 home runs — which dipped to 39.5 after he went homerless in his first five games. That would equal his