Major League Baseball, well renowned as America’s pastime has had two of its finest athletes reach new heights in their respective careers, and further contribute to the lore that is Major League Ball.

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, continues his quest for 62 home runs.

Judge has hit 61 home runs on the season with five games left as of Sunday. It is safe to say he will surpass fellow Yankee, Roger Maris’ American League record of 61 set back in 1961. With this being said sports spectators and analysts both doubt Judges’ ability to break the all-MLB record of 73 home runs on the season. Mostly due to the fact that at his current rate, he would not have enough games to break said record.

The all-time record was set by San Francisco Giant, Barry Bonds, in 2001. However, it has to be mentioned that there is much speculation that Bonds was using performance-enhancing  substances throughout his career.

Given his success at the plate, I would not be surprised if he does one day break bonds’ record. Although, if any current sluggers would do so, I would assume it would be Mike Trout or Shohei Ohtani to beat him to it.

Judge made his Yankees debut in 2016 and immediately started contributing to the team, winning a unanimous rookie of the year award in 2017. Only being in the Majors for six years, fans are absolutely thrilled to see how the career of the young star goes.

Judge has been creeping up on this season’s record for so long, and now with the regular season coming to a close, there is speculation that he might not break the record. Student Life, the independent newspaper of University of Washington in St. Louis published an article Sept. 27 saying Judge is likely to not break the home run record.

Personally, I stay optimistic in this matter, I say with confidence that there is no question that Judge will reach and surpass Maris’ record. To say otherwise is blasphemy against the sports world. He just needs one more home run, let us not kid ourselves. It will happen.

In addition to Judge, veteran Albert Pujols has also further cemented his name in MLB stardom as he has just reached 700 home runs, joining a very elite company of baseball legends.

The 700 mark was reached on Sept. 23. A very sweet story for fans, as Pujols returned to the St. Louis Cardinals this season, the team of his 2001 MLB debut. Pujols was with the Cardinals for 11 seasons, winning two World Series with the team in 2006 and 2011. He then moved to the Los Angeles Angels for nine seasons and later the rival Los Angeles Dodgers for a season.

The future Hall of Famer joins the company of some of the most hallowed names in baseball with Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth, all in the 700+ club. In interviews, Pujols shared how he was grateful to all coaching staff over the years and expressed gratitude for the Cardinals organization. He also added how special it was to him to reach the 700th homer in the historic Dodger Stadium, one of the oldest ballparks in the league.