Baseball fans, buckle up—Major League Baseball’s power surge in 2025 is rewriting the record books, and the home run race is hotter than ever. Two sluggers, Cal "Big Dumper" Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners and Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, are at the center of a season defined by jaw-dropping feats and historic milestones. As September unfolds, the battle for home run supremacy and American League MVP honors has captured the imagination of fans and analysts alike.
Let’s start in the Pacific Northwest, where Cal Raleigh has delivered a season for the ages. The Mariners catcher, affectionately nicknamed "Big Dumper," has been launching baseballs into orbit with a frequency that’s left opposing pitchers shaking their heads. On August 10, Raleigh joined franchise legend Ken Griffey Jr. as only the second Mariner to club 45 home runs in a single season—a feat that electrified T-Mobile Park and sent a clear message to the rest of the league: Seattle has a new power king.
But Raleigh was just getting started. Five days later, on August 15, he became the first player in the majors to reach the 100-RBI plateau in 2025, doing so with his 46th home run. The milestones kept coming: on August 25, Raleigh became the first player this season to hit 50 home runs, putting him in rarefied air and setting the stage for a September to remember.
Then, on September 14, Raleigh etched his name into the MLB history books by tying Mickey Mantle’s single-season record for most home runs by a switch hitter, blasting his 54th homer. That swing not only matched a mark set by a Yankee legend but also solidified Raleigh’s status as a legitimate MVP contender. The Seattle faithful can hardly believe their eyes—could Raleigh be the man to finally bring postseason glory back to the Emerald City?
Meanwhile, on the East Coast, Aaron Judge is having a season that even his own lofty standards might find hard to top. The Yankees’ superstar outfielder was just named American League Player of the Week for September 8–14, a stretch in which he put up numbers that seem straight out of a video game: a .450 average, .560 on-base percentage, and a staggering 1.200 slugging mark over six games. Judge hammered five home runs, drove in five, and crossed the plate nine times, compiling a 1.760 OPS that led all AL hitters.
This latest honor is the 14th Player of the Week award of Judge’s career, tying him with Albert Pujols and Hall of Famer Frank Thomas for fourth-most all-time and second-most in the American League behind Manny Ramirez’s 16. It’s his second such award of the 2025 campaign, following his first on March 31, and the third for the Yankees this season, with Cody Bellinger also earning the distinction earlier in September.
Judge’s week was packed with milestones. On Thursday against the Detroit Tigers, he belted two home runs, tying Joe DiMaggio for 45 career multi-homer games—third-most in Yankees history behind only Babe Ruth (68) and Mickey Mantle (46). Since his MLB debut in 2017, Judge’s 45 multi-homer games are the most by any player, outpacing even the prolific Manny Machado of the Padres.
The next night, Friday at Fenway Park, Judge launched his 362nd career homer, surpassing DiMaggio for fourth place on the Yankees’ all-time home run list. Only Ruth, Mantle, and Lou Gehrig remain ahead of him in the storied Bronx Bombers’ record books. That same home run was Judge’s 19th in the first inning this season, setting a new Major League record for most first-inning homers in a single season. The previous mark of 18 was held by Alex Rodriguez (2001) and matched by Judge himself in 2024.
Judge kept the fireworks coming, reaching base safely twice in each of his last four games to close out the week, including a Sunday homer at Fenway that brought his season total to 48. With just two more, Judge would notch his fourth 50-homer campaign, joining the likes of Ruth, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa as the only players in history to accomplish that feat.
“It’s always special to be mentioned with the greats,” Judge remarked after tying DiMaggio for multi-homer games, according to ClutchPoints. “But I’m just trying to help my team win ballgames.” The Yankees are certainly benefiting from his exploits, though the team went 3-3 last week. New York trails the Toronto Blue Jays by four games in the AL East but holds a 1.5-game lead over the Boston Red Sox for the top Wild Card spot.
Judge’s season stat line is the stuff of MVP campaigns: a .326 batting average, .447 on-base percentage, .678 slugging, 48 home runs, and 102 RBIs. He remains the odds-on favorite for the 2025 AL MVP, with only Cal Raleigh of the Mariners mounting a serious challenge. The two sluggers’ exploits have fans and pundits debating who deserves the crown—power, consistency, and clutch performances are all on display.
While the American League’s home run chase is grabbing headlines, the National League isn’t without its own fireworks. Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts claimed his sixth career Player of the Week award after slashing .462/.517/.808 with two home runs and 10 RBIs over six games. Betts’s steady production has fueled the Dodgers’ postseason push, and his streak of reaching base safely in 19 straight games since August 24 is turning heads across the league.
The 2025 season has also provided a fresh look at the all-time home run leaderboard. Barry Bonds’s single-season record of 73 homers in 2001 still stands, with Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Maris, and Babe Ruth rounding out the top performances in modern baseball history. Aaron Judge’s 62-homer campaign in 2022 and his current pace keep him in the conversation among the game’s greatest power hitters.
Seattle’s Cal Raleigh, by tying Mantle’s switch-hitter record and leading the league in home runs, is putting together a season for the ages. The Mariners’ faithful can’t help but dream big, while Yankees fans are relishing every Judge at-bat, knowing they’re witnessing history in the making.
As the regular season winds down, all eyes remain glued to the home run race and the MVP ballot. Will Raleigh break Mantle’s switch-hitter record and reach even loftier heights? Can Judge reach 50 homers yet again and carry the Yankees into October? With every swing, the story grows richer—baseball’s long ball legends are still being written, one towering shot at a time.
