Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh joined one of baseball’s most exclusive clubs by hitting his 60th home run of the season on Wednesday night.
The milestone sets up a dramatic finish to the American League MVP race between Raleigh and New York Yankees star Aaron Judge.
The 60-homer mark has long carried historical weight. Babe Ruth reached it first in 1927, and Roger Maris followed 34 years later in 1961.
After that, fans waited another 37 years until Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa shattered the barrier in 1998, during a four-year span when six different players topped 60.
It then took more than two decades before Judge slugged 62 in 2022.
Now Raleigh has matched the mark, making him the first catcher — and first switch-hitter — ever to reach 60 in a single season.
Oddsmakers see Raleigh with a slight edge in the MVP race.
BetMGM Sportsbook listed him Thursday night at -220 compared to Judge’s +165.
Still, the number of home runs alone has not always guaranteed an MVP trophy.
In 1998, McGwire hit 70, but Sosa took home the award with 66. A year later, both surpassed 60, yet Chipper Jones was named National League MVP.
Judge remains a formidable contender.
He has 51 home runs of his own and leads the league in several major categories.
Entering Thursday’s games, Judge had a comfortable lead over Raleigh in Baseball Reference’s version of wins above replacement (bWAR), 9.3 to 7.2. FanGraphs’ version (fWAR) was tighter, 9.6 to 9.1. Judge also held significant advantages in batting average (.330 to .247), on-base percentage (.457 to .360) and slugging percentage (.683 to .594).
Another advanced stat, championship win probability added (cWPA), measures how much a player’s performance has increased his team’s odds of winning the World Series.
Judge again led Raleigh, 3.8% to 3.0%.
Both players will be in the postseason. The Mariners captured their first division crown since 2001 after a late-season surge.
The Yankees are also playoff bound, with Judge pushing for the AL batting title.
Voters will weigh not only numbers but also context — and Raleigh’s workload as a catcher, a position often considered the most physically demanding, could factor into the decision.
History suggests advanced metrics matter in MVP voting, but not always. From 2012 to 2015, Mike Trout led the AL in bWAR every year but only won once.
Since 2016, however, most MVPs in both leagues have aligned with WAR leaders, with exceptions like Christian Yelich in 2018 and Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2023, whose record 40-homer, 70-steal season gave him a unique statistical edge.
For Raleigh, the question is whether his record-breaking year behind the plate outweighs Judge’s broader statistical dominance.
His 60 homers make him the first at his position and from both sides of the plate to ever reach that total — a historic milestone that strengthens his case.
Now, the decision rests with the voters: whether the season belongs to Judge’s all-around dominance or Raleigh’s unprecedented power from behind the plate.
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