TORONTO — New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has been chasing history this baseball season.
Before tying Roger Maris’ American League record for most home runs in a season on Wednesday, Judge was struggling.
The 30-year-old was on a seven-game home run drought before he hit a two-run shot in the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, CBS Sports reported.
The record-tying 61st home run dropped just short of two fans who attempted to reach over a railing to catch it, the Associated Press reported.
Instead, the ball landed in Toronto’s bullpen, where coach Matt Buschmann happened to be.
The highly-coveted history-making ball was now in his hands.
Still, Buschmann wanted to make sure Judge got it, so he and Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano passed it to Yankees reliever Zack Britton, the news outlet reported.
Buschmann told his wife, Fox Sports reporter Sara Walsh, that the ball deserved to be with the Maris and Judge family because they "have been flying all over the country," the Associated Press reported.
CBS Sports reported that the two families had attended every Yankees game since Sept. 20, when Judge hit his 60th home run.
Maris set the record in 1961, and Judge has until Oct. 5 to hit No. 62 before the regular season ends.
