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I was in class at CSB when it happened.
I put the game on my phone.
Then? Boom.
Aaron James Judge became the single-season home run leader in American League history. He also surpassed the single-season Yankees record held by Roger Eugene Maris.
We learn those names. Oh, Roger will always be Raj or Rajah but he's also Roger Eugene.
Now, Aaron Judge is Aaron James.
Both cemented forever in Yankees lore.
I'm not here for the Barry Bonds/steroids/7th mother all-time junk. Don't ruin the joy tonight. I'm not here to stick my head in that pool. There will be a time for that. I'm also not here to say anything about Roger Maris, Jr who is doing what any child might do for their late parent: defend them.
Roger Jr. thinks his dad held the "clean" home run record and, until a little after 8 p.m. eastern time tonight, that might have been true.
Now, it's Aaron Judge.
Hate to be "that guy" but I predicted this years ago. The court of public opinion would have a say and many think Maris (and now Judge) are the owners of the "clean" record.
But no matter. I'm not going to let such things ruin tonight.
The funny thing is, given that I was teaching a class on sports broadcasting, it gave me a chance to review play-by-play in a big moment. The call on my phone was from Michael Kay. A few minutes later, I found a tweet with the call from John Sterling.
I played them both for my class. Then I waited.
One student -- Brian, the Jets fan -- shook his head.
"No," he said, talking about the Sterling call. "He's talking too much."
Spot.
On.
I got a text saying a similar thing to me. They know. They've paid attention.
At that moment, I didn't want to hear Michael Kay, John Sterling, Meredith Marakovits, me, or even Vin Scully's ghost.
I want crowd noise. I wanted to hear the reaction of the patrons at Globe Life warehouse in Texas. All of the pontificating of my fellow broadcasters could wait until after it was over.
Lay out. Let it happen.
I'm not criticizing here. I know John's style and I know Michael's style. That's what they've both done for years and they're legends. Fans appreciate them. I didn't think either call was "perfect" but that's me grading on the Scully Scale.
On TV, let the picture drive it. On the radio, let the crowd wash over.
For whatever you're thinking tonight, that's your opinion and it's great to have it.
For me, this was a moment of historic proportion -- all taken in stride -- that I wanted to appreciate. I was quietly grateful that I was able to be in front of a group of broadcasting/media students to explain and teach what I thought.
At the same time, I was euphoric to have seen the moment live. I acknowledged my gratitude to them for sharing it.
I don't expect to ever see this again but I'm glad I got to see it.
To be honest, I had texted Susan earlier in the day and told her I didn't think it was going to happen. I had begun to think that Judge and Maris would remain tied at 61 and maybe that would be just as sweet.
Thus I'm not good at predictions.
But now, thankfully, it is over.
We may never know what this was really like for Judge but I gather it was nowhere near as horrific as it was for Maris. Patches of Roger's hair famously fell out from the pressure in 1961. He was not just battling the ghost of Babe Ruth -- dead 13 years that summer -- but the very living and more-popular Mickey Mantle.
Mickey Charles Mantle, thank you very much.
For Maris, the press -- the media -- was a constant hassle.
I don't think Judge had to deal with that as badly and, even if he did, his California cool never seemed to break during this season.
Roger Maris hit 61 in 61. He held that mark for three days over 61 years, having eclipsed the Babe in a 1-0 win over the Red Sox on Oct 1, 1961.
Tonight Aaron Judge his 62nd in a 3-2 loss to the Rangers. That puts a bit of a bummer on the evening.
We will long remember the evening regardless. We will tell kids and grandkids about it.
Clean record. Steroids. Whatever.
He has 62 home runs.
Sixty-two.
And his name is Aaron James Judge.
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