Baseball fans could miss Aaron Judge’s record-breaking home run thanks to MLB, Apple

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is chasing home run history this season, but MLB isn’t making it easy for fans to watch him do so.

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is chasing home run history this season. He’s having one of the most historic seasons in MLB history as he strives to break Roger Maris’ AL regular-season record of 61.

He’s just two away from tying, and he’s likely to surpass it before the season is over. However, the upcoming game on Friday against the Red Sox is only available on Apple TV+, which is inaccessible to part of the fanbase.

Maris set the Yankees franchise and AL record of 61 homers in a single season in 1961. If Judge breaks the record, it’d be a pivotal moment in the franchise. Frankly, the game should be more accessible to those who want to watch.

Judge is one of the best players in baseball, and he’s comparable to some of the all-time greats.

Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is one of the bests of all time

He’s being compared to legends like Maris and Babe Ruth, which is saying something on its own about his talent. The 30-year-old is having the best season of his career at bat, hitting an incredible .316/.419/.701 for an OPS of 1.120.

He’s also leading the league in home runs by 20, with Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber in second place at 39 homers. He also leads the league in RBIs (127), WAR (9.6), on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, runs scored (122), total bases (368), OPS+ (213) and offensive winning percentage (.851), to name a few.

With an average OPS+ being 100, Judge is more than twice as good as the average hitter in the league this season. Over his seven-season career, he’s hit .284/.393/.584 for an OPS of .977.

Judge also only had two seasons where he hit less than 27 homers, both of which were over less than 30 games. Maris, in comparison, only had four seasons where he hit more than 27 over his 12-season career.

He’s on track to be nearly as impactful as Ruth, who hit .342/.474/.690 for an OPS of 1.164 over his lengthy 22-season career. Though he may not reach the level of talent Ruth possessed in his time, he’s certainly producing results that make him a candidate for fair comparison to the MLB legend.