Even before Aaron Judge hit his 50th homer of 2022 exactly two years ago, there was a buzz around the Yankees and the slugger in the midst of a historic season.

That he got to the milestone in Anaheim provided an even larger stage, coming in a game against Shohei Ohtani — then his only real competition for the American League MVP award.

And once he crossed 50-homer threshold, the real show began. Judge hit No. 51 the next night in Anaheim, and on Sept. 3 at Tampa Bay, began a stretch of homering in four straight games. The scrutiny increased as the size of the media contingent and the number of questions grew.

By the end — Judge broke the record with No. 62 on the second-to-last day of the regular season in Texas, with Judge’s parents and Roger Maris Jr. watching and the entire baseball world focused in — the pursuit clearly had taken a toll on Judge.