With a powerful swing of the bat on Tuesday night in Arlington, TX, Aaron Judge blasted his way into baseball immortality.

AARON JUDGE BREAKS THE ALL-TIME AL HOME RUN RECORD WITH MAGIC NUMBER 6️⃣2️⃣‼️ pic.twitter.com/3pZTdFcU7k

— ESPN (@espn) October 5, 2022

The New York Yankees slugger hit his 62^nd home run of the season, a mark that surpassed the previous single-year American League record held by another Yankee, Roger Maris, for 61 years.

SIXTY-TWO! BASEBALL HISTORY! @TheJudge44 is the American League home run King! pic.twitter.com/QKrcuOvZMU

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 5, 2022

The ball had hardly cleared the fence at the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field when branded merchandise commemorating the kid from California’s incredible achievement went on sale.

I know. My father and one of my brothers, both of whose Yankee passion remind that the root of the word “fans” is “fanatics,” were soon texting me links to pennants and flags, all specifically celebrating Judge’s 62^nd dinger, that they wanted to purchase for their respective mancaves. Record-immortalizing T-shirts and can coolers were also among their projected purchases. They both called, too, to talk about the shot and Judge’s season and the history we’d all just witnessed. They were ecstatic.

As for the swag, I perused what was available online. Merch from the official Yankees MLB shop included the items I mentioned above as well as photo mints, parking signs, commemorative coins and decal sets. There was merchandise on other outlets, too.

This patch was available from Breaking T.

For instance, Breaking T’s collection included a Game of Thrones-themed image of Judge sitting on a throne of bats, with the line “Home Run King of the Bronx.” There were also tees and patches that simply had a graphic of the number “62” against a backdrop of Yankees pinstripes. Makers were trying to capitalize on the Etsy platform too, selling shirts with “62” on them and framed pictures containing the front pages of New York City newspapers that showed Judge’s history-making swing.

One T-shirt that arrested my attention was from the Yankees MLB shop. Part of the messaging read “Single Season AL Home Run Record.” The “single season” and “home run record” are in white lettering. The “AL” is in a more subdued gray. This creates the effect that when you first glance at the shirt quickly you may read, “Single Season Home Run Record.” It got me speculating – it is speculation, I can’t prove this – that the graphic design was intentional.

This T-shirt celebrating Aaron Judge’s record-setting home run was available from MLBShop.com.

While retired players Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa all belted more homers than Judge in a season while playing in the National League, there’s a mountain of evidence that they did so with the help of performance-enhancing drugs. As such, many baseball purists see the tally of 62 as the true home run record for all of Major League Baseball, since Judge accomplished the feat without being juiced. Was the printing on the tee subtly nodding toward this sentiment? I dunno, but maybe.

Without going further down that rabbit hole, the fundamental point is that there’s a boatload of interesting, creative merch available for Judge’s record-breaking season. And, there were fans – like my dad and brother – who were instantly eager to part with hard-earned money to snap up the swag before it was gone.

Which got me thinking: Why? Why is it that when big moments (championships, record-breakers, etc.) happen in sports, we rush to buy hats and T-shirts and pint glasses and all the rest of it hailing the success?

This Aaron Judge home run record can cooler was available here.

Perhaps the phenomenon is driven, in part, by a desire to have a tangible connection to the achievement. To do a little questionable metaphysical overthinking: Perhaps the merch is a kind of charm or talisman that acts as a conduit to the dopamine explosion you experienced when your player/team achieved their accolade. As in life so in sports, good moments are fleeting, and merch helps us hold onto them. These products help reanimate the happy memories. They’re not just memorabilia; they’re emotional memory itself.

I also suppose that everyone likes to be associated with a winner. When you don that Judge shirt or wear your team’s World Series-winning hat, you’re not just celebrating your player/team’s success. You’re proclaiming, even if only unconsciously, your connection to the victory and in a way making yourself a small part of it. You the man, or woman, too, so to speak.

Anyway, I’ve ordered an Aaron Judge record-breaker shirt. And when I wear it, there’ll be times I more vividly remember not just Judge’s all-time greatness but how happy my brother and father were amid it. Money well spent.

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