NY Yankees’ Aaron Judge said Shohei Ohtani breaking his home run record would be ‘good for the game’

Aaron Judge doesn’t mind that his American League record for home runs may last only one season.

Shohei Ohtani entered Wednesday with 35 home runs through the Angels’ first 96 games, putting him on pace for 59. While that’s short of Judge’s record 62, home runs tend to come in bunches.

“Records are meant to be broken,” Judge said Wednesday afternoon in the visiting dugout at Angel Stadium. “It’s just a record. It’ll be exciting for the game if he went out there and got 63-plus. We’ll see what happens.”

Judge said if Ohtani breaks his mark, he’ll use it as incentive.

“I still got quite a few years left in this game,” he said. “So if [Ohtani] breaks it, that’ll give me another opportunity to go out there and try to do something special. But I’m not really too focused on that right now. I’m always wishing him the best, always excited to see what he can accomplish. But I’m not too worried about the record right now.”

Judge is currently sidelined with a torn ligament in his right big toe He has been out since June 3.

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