When your baseball ticket feels like a lotto ticket: Jays fans could snag historic Aaron Judge home run ball
Yankee slugger still 1 home run shy of Roger Maris' American League mark of 61
With Major League Baseball history once again on the line Tuesday night at Rogers Centre, William Chong says sitting in the outfield is a little bit like holding a lottery ticket.
That's because New York Yankees star Aaron Judge remains at 60 home runs, one shy of Roger Maris' American League record which has stood for a whopping 61 years.
Blue Jays fans watching their team move closer to a playoff spot might be hoping Judge is held hitless, though the six-feet, seven-inches tall slugger has plenty of fans here and others will be hoping he cracks a homer just for the chance at a big payday at the ballpark.
"There's a good chance he'll hit 61 and 62 in Toronto this week," said Chong, a memoabilia collector who owns Dolly's Toys and Games in Scarborough. Should that happen, those will likely be very lucrative baseballs for anyone who catches them.
"[62 is] going to be a seven-figure payout for whoever ends up catching it, which is kind of crazy for a baseball," Chong said.
Judge singled, walked twice and struck out twice during Monday's game against the Jays to remain at 60 home runs — leaving him with two more opportunities to reach the record in Toronto.
The Blue Jays (87-67) stopped the Yankees (94-59) seven-game win streak Monday with a 3-2 victory in 10 innings.
With five regular season games at the Rogers Centre remaining, the Blue Jays sport the fourth-best home record in the American League at 44-32, behind the Yankees (56-22), Tampa Bay (51-30) and Houston (50-23).
Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews will throw the first pitch on Tuesday.
With files from The Canadian Press