Review of "62"

 It seems ironic to be posting a review of a book I enjoyed on the New York Yankees on the day before I take my first trip to Fenway Park in 30 years, but I guess that's just how the reading schedule played out.  Here is my review of a book on Aaron Judge's record setting season, "62."

Title/Author:

“62: Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees and the Pursuit of Greatness” by Bryan Hoch

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (Very good)

Review: 2022 saw one of the best individual seasons in recent baseball history as Aaron Judge set a new American League record with 62 home runs in the penultimate game of the season.  How Judge and his team, the New York Yankees, fared in that season both on and off the field is captured in this book written by veteran Yankee beat writer Bryan Hoch.

Hoch’s knowledge of the Yankees, both the players and the front office, is very clear in the writing as he provides details that only a Yankee insider would know.  This is especially true when he writes about Judge’s negotiations for a new contract both before the 2022 season and then afterward when he was a free agent but ended up re-signing with the Yankees.  His coverage of both the team’s performance on the field and Judge’s individual pursuit of the home run record are also very good.

At times, though, it did appear that objectivity was not a strong suit of this book.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not a “Yankee hater” and I don’t get upset when the team does well, but at times it feels like Hoch writes like a public relations employee for the team instead of a reporter.  One item that made me think like this was when he was giving a brief history of both the team and the previous record-setting seasons by Babe Ruth and Roger Maris.  This item talked about the institutional racism by the Boston Red Sox and their dubious distinction of being the last baseball team to integrate.  While everything Hoch wrote was true, it was never mentioned that the Yankees’ history in racial matters is not much better as they too were very slow to integrate.  A complete picture on items like this was my one issue with the book.

That doesn’t overshadow the many positives – the portrayal of Judge, the inserts of what Maris was going through in his record season of 1961, some great stories about the other 2022 Yankees like Josh Donaldson and Gerrit Cole.  Plus, of course, a description of each of the 62 home runs hit by Judge and some of the memorable calls by TV broadcaster Michael Kay and radio play-by-play man John Sterling.  This book should be part of every Yankee fan’s bookshelf.

I wish to thank Atria Books for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. 

Link: Amazon.com: 62: Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees, and the Pursuit of Greatness eBook : Hoch, Bryan, Maris, Roger: Kindle Store