Aaron Judge, AL Home Run King

The AL has been around for over a century, and in that time no player has ever hit more than 61 homers in a season. Aaron Judge overtook that mark—set in 1961 by another Yankee, Roger Maris—with his blast in the first inning of the second-to-last game of the season, against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas. Judge is a 2013 Yankees first-round draft pick, and at 6 feet 7 inches and 282 pounds, he’s more NFL- or NBA-like. He’d been under enormous pressure for weeks as he inched closer to the milestone and pitchers nibbled around his strike zone.

The single-season home run record had been among the most hallowed in sports before Maris’s 61 was eclipsed and then shattered in the late 1990s and early 2000s by three National League players who’ve been linked to steroids. Judge’s accomplishment helped earn him the AL Most Valuable Player award and a $360 million new contract. In November, it was announced that the historic ball, caught by a fan at Globe Life Field, would be auctioned off. It’s expected to fetch more than $3 million.