The 60-homer mark remains a magical threshold in baseball.

Babe Ruth was the first hitter to reach it in a season, and nobody else did until Roger Maris 34 years later. Then it was another 37 years until Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa surpassed 60 home runs in 1998, part of a power surge in which there were six 60-homer seasons between ’98 and 2001.

After that, it took over two decades before New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit 62 in 2022. Now Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh has 60 this year, and fittingly the American League MVP race is coming down to him and Judge.

As of Thursday night, Raleigh (-220) was a slight favorite for the award over Judge (+165) according to BetMGM Sportsbook. But 60 homers is no guarantee of anything. In 1999, both McGwire and Sosa surpassed 60, but Chipper

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