Bryan Hoch

“The definitive story” (Tyler Kepner, The New York Times baseball columnist) of Yankees slugger Aaron Judge’s incredible, unparalleled run to break Roger Maris’s home run record and the franchise both men called home.

Aaron Judge, the hulking superman who carried an easy aw-shucks demeanor from small-town California to stardom in the Big Apple, had long established his place as one of baseball’s most intimidating power hitters. Baseballs frequently rocketed off his bat like cannon fire, dispatching heat-seeking missiles toward the “Judge’s Chambers” seating area in right field, sending delirious fans scattering for souvenirs.

But even in a high-tech universe where computers measure each swing to the nth degree, Roger Maris’s American League mark of sixty-one home runs seemed largely out of reach. It had been more than a decade since baseball wiped clean the stains of its performance-enhanced era, in which cartoonish sluggers Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds made a mockery of the record book.

Given a more level playing field against pitchers sporting hellacious arsenals unlike anything Babe Ruth or Maris could have imagined, only an exceptional talent could even consider making a run at sixty-one homers. Judge, who placed the bet of his life by turning down a $213.5 million extension on the eve of the regular season, promised to rise to the challenge.

“In the most thorough telling yet of an all-time-great Yankees performance” (Jeff Passan, New York Timesbestselling author), veteran Yankees beat reporter Bryan Hoch unravels the remarkable journey of Judge’s run to shatter Maris’s beloved sixty-one-year-old record. In-depth, inspiring, and with an expert’s insight, 62 also investigates the more significant questions raised in a season unlike any other, including how—and where—Judge will deliver his encore.

The definitive chronicle of a chaotic and unforgettable season, featuring a heartfelt foreword from Opening Day starter and lifelong Yankee fan Gerrit Cole  

The New York Yankees are unprecedented. With more than twice as many World Series titles as their closest competitor, the most MVPs and the most Hall of Fame inductees, there's never been anything quite like the franchise's storied history.

Then the 2020 season took place, and the greatest team in American sports found out what "unprecedented" really means.

The Bronx Zoom provides an intimate and engaging look behind the scenes of a year unlike any other. Veteran reporter Bryan Hoch guides readers through dizzying twists and turns as the Yankees navigate a season amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, historic movements for equality and social justice, and a bitterly contested presidential election.

From a spring training cut short to the postseason’s final out, new insights and anecdotes emerge from countless interviews with players, executives and Yankees personalities, providing personal perspectives on the challenges and joys of the 2020 season.

Go behind the scenes with the talented roster, as manager Aaron Boone pairs his new big-ticket ace with a powerhouse offense alternating between torrid stretches and lengthy slumps.

Relive the bizarre final showdown against the upstart Tampa Bay Rays, where the American League East rivals found themselves occupying the same Southern California hotel while putting championship aspirations on the line in an empty ballpark.

The Bronx Zoom is a thoroughly reported narrative of a monumental and defining era of our lives, told with humor and pathos through the familiar lens of Yankees baseball. No baseball lover or Yankee fan's library is complete without it.