If Aaron Judge Goes to San Francisco, It’ll Be Reminiscent of Bonds
The San Francisco Giants have made one thing clear: They will stop at nothing to obtain the best home run hitter in the game. It happened in 1993 when Barry Bonds packed his bags and left Pittsburgh, and it may eerily repeat itself with the Giants’ big interest in free agent slugger Aaron Judge.
Judge brought back the long ball in 2022 for the Yankees. What was otherwise a down year in this category, Judge broke the coveted American League single-season home run record held by Roger Maris for 61 years. Aaron slugged his record-breaking 62nd blast on Oct. 4.
Bonds set the all-time single-season home run record at 73, a number that may never be overtaken. He did this in a Giants uniform during his unreal stretch from 2001-04 where he was literally a baseball robot.
The Giants have something to prove. With the recent success of the Dodgers and Padres, they’d love to make an imprint on the NL West. Last season was a tough one for them going 81-81 after winning 107 the previous season.
A calling for Judge is the fact that he grew up in Giants territory. He was raised in the central California town of Linden, near Fresno, and also attended Fresno State. For a while, the Giants AAA affiliate, the Grizzlies, called Fresno their home. Naturally, Judge was a San Francisco fan.
Bonds grew up a Giants fan as well, living in the East Bay neighborhood of San Carlos. The Pirates drafted him during his senior year of high school. His dad, Bobby, was an All-Star outfielder for the Giants in the ’60s and ’70s.
These parallels are something to behold. Farhan Zaidi apparently won’t be outbid in the Aaron Judge sweepstakes. It’ll be interesting to see what happens, but I think it’s safe to say that the outfielder may wind up with his childhood favorite team.
One difference between the pair is that Bonds broke these records upon arriving in San Francisco. Who knows what Judge will do, but the Giants gambled on Bonds in 1993 after posting epic numbers in Pittsburgh. The point is that San Francisco may benefit from a prolific slugger and perhaps the most feared hitter in baseball.
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