The 1961 Major League Baseball season was played from April 10 to October 12, 1961. That season saw
the New York Yankees defeat
the Cincinnati Reds in five games in the
World Series. The season is best known for Yankee teammates
Roger Maris' and
Mickey Mantle's pursuit of
Babe Ruth's prestigious 34-year-old single-season home run record of 60. Maris ultimately broke the record when he hit his 61st home run on the final day of the regular season, while Mantle was forced out of the lineup in late September due to a hip infection and finished with 54 home runs.
In response to the proposed
Continental League, the American League expanded by two teams in the first MLB expansion since 1901. The original
Washington Senators moved to Minnesota and became the
Minnesota Twins. The American League therefore placed a new team in Washington, also called the
Senators. Also, the American League placed a team in Los Angeles called the
Los Angeles Angels.
In order to keep its schedule balanced, the American League season was extended by eight games. Previously, teams had played 154 games (22 games per opponent), but from 1961 AL teams would play opponents 18 times each for a total of 162 games. The National League played a 154-game schedule for the final time in 1961 before switching to 162 games when they also expanded to ten teams for the
1962 Major League Baseball season.
Maris' 61
home runs broke
Babe Ruth's 34-year-old major league single-season record of 60, set in 1927. Maris' record would stand for 37 years until it was broken by
Mark McGwire's 70 in 1998. Maris’ American League record would stand for a total of 61 years until it was eclipsed by
Aaron Judge’s 62 in 2022.
April 11 – At New York's
Yankee Stadium, the
Minnesota Twins, in their first game since their move from Washington, shut out the Yankees 6–0. The Twins'
Pedro Ramos was the winning pitcher. Ramos had a 2-run single and allowed just 3 singles in beating the Yankee starting pitcher,
Whitey Ford.
April 21 – The Minnesota Twins play their very first home game in franchise history, losing to the team that coincidentally replaced them in the nation's capital, the
Washington Senators 5–3.
April 27 – The
Los Angeles Angels draw a disappointing crowd of 11,931 for their first-ever home opener against the Minnesota Twins at Los Angeles'
Wrigley Field.
Ty Cobb, in his last appearance at a ball park, throws out the first ball. The Twins'
Camilo Pascual spoils the opener by winning, 4–2, sending the Angels to their eighth loss in nine games.
May 31 –
Boston Red Sox outfielder
Carroll Hardy pinch-hits for rookie
Carl Yastrzemski. On September 20, 1960, Hardy pinch hit for
Ted Williams, making him the only player to go in for both future Hall of Famers. Hardy also hit his first major league home run pinch-hitting for
Roger Maris when both were at
Cleveland (May 18, 1958).
July 4 –
Willie Mays hits his 300th career home run.
July 11 – Strong winds at
Candlestick Park dominate the first All-Star Game of the season. A capacity crowd sees Giants pitcher
Stu Miller blown off the mound in the ninth inning when a balk is called, and it enables the
American League to forge a 3–3 tie before losing 5–4 in 10 innings.
July 17 – Commissioner
Ford Frick decrees that
Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in a 154-game schedule in 1927 "cannot be broken unless some batter hits 61 or more within his club's first 154 games." Two days later, Frick, an old friend of Ruth, announces that should Ruth's record be beaten after 154 games, the record will carry an asterisk. When asked about the ruling,
Roger Maris replies, "A season is a season." This is also the day that one of baseball's greatest hitters passes away,
Ty Cobb, aged 74.
July 31 – At
Fenway Park, the second All-Star Game of the year ends in a 1–1 tie as heavy rain halted play. It is the first of two ties in All-Star history. The other would occur in 2002.
August 20 – The
Philadelphia Phillies snap a modern-day record 23-game losing streak, defeating the
Milwaukee Braves 7–4 in the second game of a doubleheader at
Milwaukee County Stadium. Phillie pitcher
John Buzhardt goes the distance for the victory; he had also been the winning pitcher in the Phillies' last victory prior to the start of the losing streak, on July 28 against the
San Francisco Giants.
August 22 –
Roger Maris becomes the first player to hit his 50th home run of the season in the month of August as the Yankees lose to the
Los Angeles Angels, 4–3. Angels pitcher
Ken McBride tees up the gopher ball in the sixth inning with one on.
October 1 – Before a small crowd at
Yankee Stadium,
Roger Maris smacks a 2–0 pitch from Boston's
Tracy Stallard into the right field stands for his 61st home run of the season, setting a new major league record for home runs in a season. The record will stand until
Mark McGwire of the
St. Louis Cardinals breaks it in 1998.
October 9 – In Game 5 of the
World Series,
Johnny Blanchard and
Héctor López spark a five-run first inning and 13–5 win for the
New York Yankees over the
Cincinnati Reds. Blanchard and López hit home runs, and López drives in five runs.
Bud Daley's long relief effort wraps up the Series, as
Ralph Houk becomes the third rookie manager to guide a World Series winner.
Whitey Ford is named the Series MVP.
Television coverage
CBS and
NBC continued to air weekend Game of the Week broadcasts, while
ABC televised several games in prime time. One of ABC's prime time games occurred as
Roger Maris[21][22] was poised to tie and subsequently break
Babe Ruth's regular season home run record of 60. As with all MLB games in those days, the action was totally
blacked out[23] of major league markets. As a matter of fact, as documented in the
HBO film 61*, the Maris family was welcomed into ABC's
Kansas City, Missouri affiliate
KMBC-TV so they could watch the in-house feed of the game, which was blacked out of Kansas City.