Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is on a home run rampage in the 2025 MLB season, so much so that he is starting to draw comparisons with Aaron Judge’s epic 62-homer campaign from 2022.
But with those comparisons, an old controversy of “Goldilocks balls” has crept back into the spotlight. Judge’s 62-homer season in 2022 was just as controversial as it was legendary.
What Are “Goldilocks Balls”: All About the Aaron Judge Controversy
“Goldilocks balls” refer to a specific type of baseball that is “just right”; that’s neither too hard nor too soft. As reported by Business Insider back in 2022, Meredith Wills, a Society for American Baseball Research award-winning astrophysicist, found three distinct groups of baseballs:
- The old deadballs, which don’t travel as far as the other two.
- The juiced balls from 2019
- And a third group, whose characteristics fell between the two, which Willis’ team dubbed the “Goldilocks.”
These balls reportedly had more consistent weight distribution and higher compression than dead balls, meaning flyballs simply traveled farther, and even marginally off hits were enough to clear the fence.
The research in Willis’s report noted that dead balls were found in ballparks across the league, but the “Goldilocks” only turned up in Yankees games or marquee postseason games.
The controversy after Judge smashed 62 home runs to break Roger Maris’s long-standing American League record wasn’t entirely about the ball itself but how it was unevenly distributed across ballparks, benefiting only one team and one player.
Now, some Mariners podcasters are having fun with it, demanding that if Judge got the Goldilocks advantage, then Raleigh deserves the same.
Mariners Podcasters Demand MLB Give Goldilocks to Carl Raleigh
The topic of “Goldilocks balls” resurfaced after two podcasters, TJ Mathewson and Lyle Goldstein of the Marine Layer Podcast, brought it up during a discussion about Raleigh’s historic season.
“Is MLB going to give him the Goldilocks balls like they gave Judge in ’22?” Mathewson asked. “There were people who studied the balls used in games that Aaron Judge played in down the stretch of 2022. They found MLB gave him essentially a juiced ball to go chase the home run record, and it was just the games he was in.”
“Everyone else played with the regular ball, except for Judge, who got a ball that flew a lot farther when he was going for Roger Maris’ record,” he added.
In contrast, Mathewson pointed out that players this season seem to be battling the opposite issue; baseballs allegedly aren’t traveling as far as before, a claim echoed by Pittsburgh Pirates veteran Andrew McCutchen.
Read: Andrew McCutchen Reveals MLB’s Helplessness Over Ball Seam Change That’s Silently Crippling Hitters
But that isn’t stopping Raleigh from clearing the fences.
Back in 2022, there were reports that MLB inserted a “Goldilocks” ball into Yankee games while Aaron Judge was chasing 62 HR.
Those balls reportly traveled further than the “dead” balls they were using that season.
Will MLB give Cal Raleigh the same treatment? pic.twitter.com/6vhmF7hJg2
— Marine Layer Podcast (@MarineLayerPod) June 23, 2025
“Does Cal get the same treatment?” he continued. “Because right now, the balls this year are supposedly traveling less than ever. Cal’s like, ‘Doesn’t matter; I’m still going to hit 60.’ But if they start giving him the Goldilocks balls, you’re going to hear from Roger Maris Jr. paying off the league to stop it.”
His co-host, Goldstein, then chimed in with a tongue-in-cheek jab: “Roger Maris Jr. is probably going to launch a campaign against Cal Raleigh, because that record apparently can only be held by a Yankee. That’s why they won’t give him the juiced balls. They can’t let a precious Yankees record get broken. Oh my God.”
Records Cal Raleigh Could Break in the MLB 2025 campaign
Apart from Judge’s herculean 62 home runs in an AL season, Raleigh is also chasing a few other records:
- Catcher HR record: 48 (Salvador Perez, 2021)
- Switch-hitter record: 54 (Mickey Mantle, 1961)
- Mariners record: 56 (Ken Griffey Jr., 1997 & 1998)
Additionally, the chase for Barry Bonds’ 73 homers in a single season (2001) is still on, but realistically, it remains untouchable, even in very optimistic projections.
The Mariners have 19 games left before the All-Star break. Will Cal Raleigh break Barry Bonds’ record for the most home runs before the break in that time? pic.twitter.com/MNB98BswwG
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 24, 2025
However, Bonds’ most home runs before the All-Star break (39) is still beatable. As of Jun. 25, Raleigh has smashed 32 homers.
With 17 games left before the All-Star break on Jul. 15, all eyes will be on whether the Mariners catcher can match or even surpass Bonds’ 39-homer first-half milestone.
MORE: Cal Raleigh Leaves Legends Behind as His Record-Breaking Season Rewrites What’s Possible for Catchers
