it is turning into a historic
September for major league
baseball as two of the great
hitters, Aaron judge and Albert
Pujols are moving towards
remarkable records.
Reporter: This baseball season
is going to be one for the
record books.
Yesterday, Aaron judge hit his
61st homerun of the season
tidying the American league
record set in 1961 by another
wreck -- by another genki, Roger
maritz.
Only five other players have hit
the 60 home a record.
St. Louis cardinal Albert Pujols
in what seemed to be the very
twilight of his career reached
another rarefied milestone this
week hitting his 700th career
homerun.
Only three other sluggers have
reached that arc and he is the
only Latino player to do so.
For more on these talents we
turn to Jeff who covers baseball
for ESPN.
Two Aaron judge first, to those
that do not follow baseball at
closely, can you put his
accomplishments in perspective
for us?
>> Aaron judge burst on the
scene with a 52 homerun rookie
season.
Since then he has been among the
most tantalizing talents in the
sport.
He has not been able to stay
healthy for a full season but he
is healthy this year.
What he is doing is magnificent.
When you watch him you see a
6'7", 280 pound man who looks
like he should be in the NFL or
a power forward in the NBA
rather than roaming center field
at Yankee stadium.
He has tuned his swing to the
point that all about weight and
size translates to power.
He is the foremost power hitter
in major league baseball and
because he has been on the
field, he has put together this
year among the greatest seasons
in major league history.
Reporter: This is a guy that
homers and rbis, remarkable
package.
>> You just put out the three
triple crown categories.
He has the chance to win the
triple crown.
To compound that, the American
league record.
And to do all of this on the
verge of reaching free agency
which he will do this off-season
is one of the more remarkable
years.
Reporter: Some of our viewers
are going to remember -- wait a
minute, didn't Barry bonds and
mark mcgwire and Sammy Sosa hit
more than 60?
Some of those guys, there were a
lot of allegations and one
admission of using
performance-enhancing drugs in
their careers.
How do we measure those men's
accomplishments with what judge
is doing?
>> Roger marist junior, the son
of Roger marist who hit 61 home
runs in 1961 leaves that 61 is
the record.
The problem with that thought is
if you take it out logically and
you start erasing records that
major league baseball has in its
record books like Barry bonds,
all of a sudden, the last time
the Yankees won a world series
without a player accused of
using performance-enhancing
drugs was 1978.
It is a Pandora's box that gets
opened.
Maybe it is an easier thing to
do to just say that Barry bonds
hit a baseball over a fence 73
times in the 2001 season that is
a fact and that fact is
irrefutable.
You end up with warring factions
and baseball purists that want
to look at the record when Roger
marist set it and state he did a
clean -- and say he did it
clean.
Depending on the era, there is
always something different or
something objectionable and
Barry bonds in the end is the
one recognized by the league to
have the sea is -- to be the
single-season champion.
Reporter: Let's turn to Albert
Pujols.
A lot of writers were writing
his baseball obituary.
Re-signed by his old team, the
cardinals, and now has this
tremendous end of a career.
>> It is a tremendous story.
All of us in the industry solve
this as a swansong.
A tidy ending to a story of a
career that started in St. Louis
when he was 20 years old and
went beyond anyone's wildest
imagination.
A 13 round pick out of a junior
college in Missouri and turns
into arguably the greatest right
hand pitch or of all time.
The last decade after leaving
St. Louis going to the angels
was not particularly productive.
A lot of injuries and problems.
They figured -- this is a tidy
ending.
It turns out he has been one of
the best hitters in the league.
Giving St. Louis -- and now, he
will be playing in the playoffs
as he waltzes off into
retirement with that beautiful
round number of 700.
Reporter: It is worth reminding
people that hitters are facing a
different sets of -- set of
pitchers than the Ruths of the
world.
>> Right now, what they are
facing is the average fastball
is 94 miles per hour.
You regularly phase 100 mile per
hour plus fastballs and sliders
going 93 miles per hour.
The optimization of pitching is
a remarkable thing.
The fact that these pitchers
including Aaron judge and Albert
Pujols continue to do what they
do in spite of that is one of
the more beautiful things that
we see in baseball on a daily
basis these days.
Reporter: Jeff, thank you for
being here.