Who’s the Home Run King?

Who’s the Home Run King?

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Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees hit his 62nd home run of the season last week. Some say he is the homerun king while others say he is not.  It should be simple, but it isn’t. In 1961, Roger Maris hit 61 home runs, breaking Babe Ruth’s record of 60 that he set in 1927.  Maris’s record lasted a long time. However, in 1998 both Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa surpassed Maris with 70 and 66 home runs. Three short years later, Barry Bonds hit 73. That era was so much fun to watch. Balls were getting shot out of the yard so frequently and with such velocity. It was amazing to watch. However, this era also became known as the steroid era. As many others from that era, all three of these players were on steroids. These players were huge. Their muscles had muscles. It was too good to be true. They broke the rules to hit that many home runs. They cheated.

It should come as no surprise that since Major League Baseball cracked down on steroids by regularly testing players, the number of home runs also decreased. It was back to normal, proving how difficult it is to hit home runs at such a steady pace. Yet, this year, Aaron Judge managed to hit 62. No steroids. Now, it doesn’t hurt that he is 6′ 7” and weighs 282 pounds. He is a freak of nature, but he got to these measurements without cheating.

Joe’s Perspective: This week’s featured trait is integrity, and I believe integrity matters in sports. Major League Baseball has been clear that these three individuals used steroids in the steroid era. They steadfastly maintain that these 3 individuals will be voted into the hall of fame. So, in my opinion, MLB should go one step further.  I think they should either place an asterisk next to the years that Mark McGrwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds shattered the home run record or delete them from the record books entirely. It shouldn’t be a “clean record” and a “steroid record.” I don’t believe that cheaters should sit atop of the record book.  What say you?

Your Turn: If you were the commissioner of Major League Baseball, how would you handle the single-season homerun record?

 

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  1. I think that they should leave their names in the books because it is still impressive and didn’t go against rules at the time, but the records should be noted as enhanced seasons.

  2. I would still allow them to hold the record because even though they were on steroids it’s still very impressive to hit 70+ home runs in a season.

  3. The game was just different during Barry Bonds & Sosa era! So I think they should keep the record book the same. 73 homeruns is incredible either way.

  4. This is fallacy. The steroids didn’t help Sammy, Mark, or Bonds put the bat on the ball they were each great hitters without the roids.

  5. Cheating or not, it it still incredibly hard to hit a major league pitcher and while steroids may have added a little strength you can’t take away that Barry bonds is the best hitter of all time. Those guys should still be in the record book

  6. Yes there the home run king bc no matter what drug u take u have to still hit the baseball that’s hard enough but to have 60+ homeruns that’s even more crazy. They should be in the HOF and they should hold the records.

  7. I would say cheaters don’t belong on the list. The asterisk idea is also good, so even if they were kept on the list, it would show more about their feat.

  8. I wouldn’t delete their records entirely, but I would make it known that they cheated and it wasn’t fair to those who didn’t take steroids.

  9. I completely agree with Judge. He is the best home run hitter and should be placed number 1. Cheating has no room in records and does not show very good integrity.

  10. If I was the commissioner of Major League Baseball, I would handle the single-season home run record by taking the people off of the top and have the people who didn’t use steroids at the top of the leader board. With that being said, I do think that somewhere could be honorable mentions of these players during the “steroid record” era because those records are still worth something. Personally, cheating is something that shouldn’t be tolerated in sports because you should be able to accomplish something with your own capabilities.

  11. Personally, I would take the other top leaders off of the book in order to have the people who accomplished those things on their own to be rewarded. Your don’t need steroids in order to accomplish great things and it shouldn’t be put aside the fact that people do it without things like steroids.

  12. I don’t think the original players who cheated by taking steroids deserve the recognition of having the most home runs. I believe that people have natural born talents and some people are good at what they do the way I would handle the record would be still testing to make sure steroids/cheating is not in place other than that I would continue to watch the athlete do great things.

  13. If I was the commissioner I wouldn’t let the people who used steroids be on the record holder because they cheated to get to where they were.

  14. I would think it’s cool that a player could hit so many home runs and set a new record in sports and continue to beat the past ones.

  15. For official records of home runs the people who broke the previous records while using steroids should not be counted and they should keep the record of the person who broke it without cheating.

  16. I would do the same thing, because it was the steroid era, and it was hard to tell who took steroids and who didn’t, I would just not count any of the other ones.

  17. I do not think it’s right at all for the players to get top of the record book especially when you cheat. I don’t think they should be deleted completely but they definitely need to know it’s not okay and have something so other people know too.

  18. I get that they cheated and it isn’t a fair record but since the records were already in the books I agree with the idea of putting an asterisk next to those years.

  19. I would either remove them from the record books or leave an asterisk. Cheating isn’t fair and it shouldn’t be recognized as a good and honorable thing

  20. I don’t think that the players who were on steroids should keep their records. The only reason they achieved the record was because they were cheating.