Aaron Judge comes close to tieing Roger Maris' regular season home run record
LINDEN — Linden native Aaron Judge, came close to tieing Roger Maris' American League home run record of 61 Thursday night.
The stage was set, tie game, ninth inning, Red Sox vs. Yankees, and Aaron Judge was up at the plate.
He hit what looked like his 61st home run until it was caught on the warning track.
Mitchell Lang is an old high school teammate of Judge's and watched from Linden's Route 26 Pub.
"I mean, I thought he had it, you know, he laid the wood right there, a great pitch he took, but he just came up short," Lang said.
Judge is now making Major League history in Yankee pinstripes, in the same conversation as the greats Babe Ruth and Roger Maris.
"I mean, no doubt he had all the potential in the world," Lang said, "I mean, everyone saw from the get-go."
The little community of Linden, population 2000, has put Aaron Judge's name on their welcome sign. People here have been all in, watching his historic season.
"Aaron grew up as a good kid," Linden's Tyler Perreault said. "You know, he has a great story and background and all that," said Linda resident Tyler Perreault.
At 6'7 and 280 pounds, Judge is a towering figure who is now a single towering shot away from Roger Maris' record.