NEW YORK'S HOTTEST CLUBS

THIS IS WHAT it feels like to hit a home run, according to Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who became the proud new owner of baseball's single-season record, non-asterisk category, by hitting 62 of them this year: "Your body almost feels a little light-like an out-of-body experience," he told me one afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

THIS Is WHAT it feels like to hit a home run, according to Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who became the proud new owner of baseball’s single-season record, non-asterisk category, by hitting 62 of them this year:

“Your body almost feels a little light—like an out-of-body experience,” he told me one afternoon at Yankee Stadium. Judge, six feet seven and 280 pounds, is the opposite of light. But then he makes contact with the ball and gravity reverses. Especially at home. When you do it at home, you kind of feel like you’re floating around the bases.”

All season long, Judge barely touched the ground. He was chasing history, and he was doing it in pinstripes. Fans who tuned out of the sport during the steroid era set push notifications to alert them when Judge was on deck. Even the other team across the East River, in Queens, enjoying a historic season of its own, was tracking every blast.

“I mean, it’s tough not to when you see him hitting a home run it seems, like, every day now,’ said Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, a.k.a. the Polar Bear, who broke Judge’s rookie record for home runs. This is the highest level—there’s no Moon League, there’s no Mars League—so you have to respect your opponent. He’s the best player on the planet right now. He’s having an absolutely insane year, and hope he continues. I really do.”