Biden congratulates Aaron Judge on record-breaking home run

President Biden on Tuesday congratulated New York Yankees star outfielder Aaron Judge on breaking the American League single-season home run record. 

“Congrats @TheJudge44 on home run 62,” Biden wrote in a tweet on Tuesday. “History made, more history to make.” 

Judge, a four-time All-Star, broke the single-season American League home run record Tuesday night, belting his 62nd dinger to left field off Texas Rangers pitcher Jesus Tinoco in the bottom of the first inning. 

The 30-year-old star outfielder passed fellow Yankee great Roger Maris to top the single-season list. Maris, who spent seven of his 12 seasons in the major leagues donning the pinstripes, famously went toe-to-toe with teammate Mickey Mantle to break Babe Ruth’s record during the 1961 season. 

Ruth, also a Yankee, set the AL home run record with 60 homers in 1927. 

Maris’s son, Roger Maris Jr., said in a tweet on Sunday after Judge tied his late father’s record that MLB should consider having separate home run records, with one being a clean home run record and the other for those who used performance-enhancing drugs (PED). 

The current regular season home run record holder is former San Francisco Giant Barry Bonds, who hit 73 homers during the 2001 season, breaking former St. Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire’s 1998 record by three homers. 

Both Bonds and McGwire, along with countless other star players from their era, have been criticized over the years for their use of PEDs during their playing careers, resulting in them not being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame despite their achievements on the field. 

Former Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who allegedly tested positive for PED use in 2003, was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.

“Congratulations to Aaron Judge and his family on Aaron’s historic home run number 62! It has definitely been a baseball season to remember. You are all class and someone who should be revered,” Maris Jr. wrote in a tweet on Tuesday after Judge hit the home run milestone. “For the MAJORITY of the fans, we can now celebrate a new CLEAN HOME RUN KING!!”