It’s about time to put this card up on Monday. It’s Roger Maris’ record-breaking 1961 card for the Yankees. That was the year, of course, he overtook Mickey Mantle in the race for the homerun title and ended up breaking Babe Ruth’s all-time record with 61.
Aside from leading the league in homers, he also led in runs scored (132), rbis (141) and total bases (366). Despite being rated fast, Maris didn’t attempt any steals in 1961 (in fact, he only tried 30 times in his 12 year career).
Maris won his second straight MVP in 1961 just four vote points ahead of Mantle (202 to 198). Fourth place hitter Mantle had the better metrics (.317/.448/.687 to .269/.372/.620) but it was Maris who broke the record and quite honestly, it was Maris who drove in the runs and scored. Also noteworthy is that Maris batted third for most of the season.
A few interesting tidbits from Maris’ 1961 splits:
- He got off to a really slow start in 1961. Amazingly, he hit just one homerun in 61 PA for the months of March/April.
- He hit the most homeruns with one out and a runner on first. Eighteen. He hit eleven with two out with no one on. That tells me that the Richardson and Kubek on the Yankees did a solid job of getting at least one person on base.
- Maris was an Angel-killer. I’m sure my buddy, Don Smith can attest to this. He slugged 18 dingers against them, more than against any other AL team.
Growing up as a kid, Maris was the all-time single season homerun leader but it always seemed he was living under the shadow of Babe Ruth. Now, it’s hard to believe that he is already number seven on the all-time list.
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 Totals | 161 | 160 | 698 | 590 | 132 | 159 | 16 | 4 | 61 | 141 | 0 | 94 | 67 | .269 | .372 | .620 |
With all due respect to Maris, it’s his power numbers of 1-1-1-6 that really make this card. After that, it falls to the heights of mortals pretty quick. He goes from a 33-1 to a 44-8. He DOES have five 14s which make this a nice on-base card as well.
Incidentally, stats show that Maris was not intentionally walked (he has zero IBB for the year). With Mickey Mantle batting fourth, pitchers weren’t too anxious to put any runners on base. I’m sure he was pitched around a bit though. By comparison, the Mick was given nine free passes.
Maris was always known as a great right fielder and that didn’t slip APBA’s attention. He is rated as an OF-3.
Roger Maris seems to be a touchy subject when it comes to whether he should be in the Hall of Fame. Some, looking at his record-breaking season, two straight MVPs and near flawless fielding, say yes. Others think his overall career doesn’t match what others bring to the table.
Thanks Pastor Rich!
