The M&M Boys Start Their Epic Home Run Race April 26, 1961

On This Day in Baseball History April 26, 1961: On a frigid Detroit Wednesday, a sparse crowd of 4,676 fans braved the elements at Tiger Stadium to see the epic 1961 home-run race take its first steps.

Roger Maris coming off his 1960 American League MVP season, hits his first of sixty-one homers off of off Paul Foytack in the fifth inning. We all know how the race ends with Maris out slugging Mantle 61 to 54 to break Babe Ruth's single season homerun record, but on this day, Mantle holds the distinct lead in the homerun race. Mantle bangs out his seventh and eighth homeruns for the season. His 7th dinger came off of Jim Donohue in the eighth inning and his 8th came off of Hank Aguirre to take the lead for the Yankees in the 10th. Mantle hit a homerun from either side of the plate for the eighth time in his career.

The 1961 season, as immortalized in the 2001 HBO movie 61* by Billy Crystal would be one of the most exciting seasons on record with many Baseball fans rooting for the favored Mantle to break the record while the shy and often times reclusive Maris wanting to avoid all the hoopla and just wanting to go out and do his job.

The race would be redone in 1998 when both Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals and Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs chased Roger Maris' 61 homerun season. With the power numbers being reduced in recent years, will we ever see another single season homerun race?

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading:
- Yanks Set Back Tigers in Tenth on Mantle's Second 2-Run Homer by John Drebinger from the New York Times dated April 27, 1961
- The boxscore for the Wednesday, April 26, 1961 game between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium from Baseball Reference

Roger Maris Hits His 61st Home Run October 1, 1961

On this day in Baseball History October 1, 1961: Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hit his 61st home run of the season in the fourth inning off of rookie starter Tracy Stallard in a 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox. In doing so, Maris broke Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs which was set in 1927. Maris' achievement came with some controversy. The article Maris Hits 61st in Final Game from the October 2, 1961 edition of the New York Times states:

Ruth's record, of course, will not be erased. On July 17, Commissioner Ford C. Frick ruled that Ruth's record would stand unless bettered within a 154-game limit, since that was the schedule in 1927. Maris his fifty-nine homers in the Yanks' first 154 games to a decision. He hit his sixtieth four games later.

However, Maris will go into the record book as having hit the sixty-first in a 162-game schedule.

Maris finished the season with 590 official times at bat. Ruth, in 1927, had 540 official times at bat. Their total appearances at the plate, however, were nearly identical--698 for Maris and 692 for Ruth.

According to the official baseball rules, a batter is not charged with an official time at bat when "he hits a sacrifice bunt or sacrifice fly, is awarded first base on four called balls, is hit by a pitched ball or is awarded first base because of interference or obstruction."

Though it had taken 162 games (actually, 163, since the Yankees played one tie), a player finally had risen from the ranks to pass Ruth's majestic record. Maris himself missed only two of these games, although he sat out a third without coming to bat, when, after playing the first inning in the field, he was bothered by something in his eye.

Here is the boxscore to the October 1, 1961 Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees game from the October 2, 1961 edition of the New York Times:

The last two players to come close to the 154-game record set by Ruth was Jimmie Foxx in 1932 and Hank Greenberg in 1938 who both came up two homers short of tying the 60 home run record. For an interesting take on the whole Roger Maris/Babe Ruth home run record asterisk, I recommend that you read the article Roger Maris and the Myth of the Asterisk by Allen Barra from the Jockbeat Blogs of the Village Voice dated June 27, 2011.

Maris would win his second consecutive American League MVP award with a league leading 61 home runs, 141 runs batted in and 132 runs scored. Here is a breakdown of all 61 home runs by Roger Maris from the October 2, 1961 New York Times:

And if you haven't check out Billy Crystal's movie 61*. Let me know what you think of it.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading:
- Click here to access Roger Maris' career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click here to access the article Angry King of Swat: Roger Eugene Maris from the October 2, 1961 edition of the New York Times
- Click here to access the official Roger Maris website

Mark McGwire Hits Home Run Number 62 September 8, 1998

On this day in Baseball History September 8, 1998: Slugger Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals broke Roger Maris' record for home runs in a single season, hitting number 62 off Chicago Cubs pitcher Steve Trachsel at Busch Stadium, St. Louis. McGwire would finish the 1998 season with 70 single season record setting home runs. Where the achievement was celebrated by many at the time, McGwire's admission of steroid use on January 11, 2010 has placed a cloud over his 70 home run season of 1998.

Maris' single season record stood since 1961 and was in itself a point of controversy. Maris' record was looked upon by some as not being legitimate on the point that it took Maris' eight more games than it took the original single season home run king Babe Ruth to hit 60 in 1927.

Regardless of how some people feel today, that was an emotional moment in the history of the game. I can't speak for anyone but myself but I remember sitting on the edge of my seat with every at-bat that both McGwire and Sammy Sosa took waiting to see how would hit the ball out of the park. McGwire would finish with 70 homers while Sosa finished with 66.

I know many fans have been embittered with the whole "Steroid Era". For myself I can say that I am not. I am not going to sit here and thump my proverbial bible as some baseball writers, executives and TV people do today. Why? Everyone benefitted from the Steroid Era. Newspapers profited, TV/Cable networks profited, MLB profited, owners profited, players profited, vendors profited, sponsors profited. Everyone profited, even us fans. And I don't see anyone of those groups that profited giving back any of those profits back. So it is easy for many of them to place themselves on a higher moral plane without realizing that many of them just turned a blind eye to what was going on because it was convenient to "not rock the boat". Think back to 16-years ago (looking past your bitterness) and tell me that watching those clips, like the one up above don't give you goosebumps. I know they did to me.

The game we love isn't a perfect game, played by human beings, that for as much as we place them on the high pedestals aren't perfect. Many are flawed. Many do things to get an edge be it for fame, records or millions. That isn't a product of the Steroid Era. Many players throughout the history of Baseball have done that in different ways, shapes and forms. For better or worse Baseball is, and probably always be a game where cheating thrives. I would suggest that you read Roger I Abrams book "The Dark Side of the Diamond: Gambling, Violence, Drugs and Alcoholism in the National Pastime". Abrams does an amazing job researching different eras and you'd be surprised at the lengths some players (even some of them Hall of Famers) have gone to gain an edge.  

Will that change? No. I think players will continue to look for ways to find an edge be it via physical means or by equipment and hardware. Many will celebrate those who we believe to have done it "cleanly" or the "right way". If you as a player, with the rules in place against PED's decide to do so and get caught then so be it. You get your just desserts.

I'm so over the Steroid talk. When do we start complaining about Nano-tech, muscular implants and ocular implants in Baseball ;)

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading:
- Click here to access Mark McGwire's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click here to read my article The Return of Mark McGwire from my former blog Baseballism.blogspot.com from January 9, 2010
- Click here to access McGwire Surpasses Maris With 62nd Home Run by Richard Justice from the Washington Post dated September 8, 1998
- Click here to access the article Mark McGwire Falls: Roger Maris & Babe Ruth Regain Title, "Home Run Kings" by Patrick Read from Bleacher Report dated January 11, 2010