61 in '61: Roger Maris' Record-Breaking Season
Historic Season
Much of the controversy behind Maris' 61 home runs in 1961 has to do with the uniqueness of the season itself. That year, the MLB added two teams, the Washington Senators and the Los Angeles Angels, and to compensate extended the season from 154 to 162 games. Famously, Major League Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick, a fan of Babe Ruth's, made an objection to "breaking" the home run record in the newly enlarged season, pushing for two separate records to be kept for Ruth and Maris. When a reporter asked benignly if "you should use an asterisk on the new record," the urban legend took root that Maris' record was not a legitimate one. While the slugger failed to break the record by the 154-game mark, he actually hit 61 faster than Ruth hit 60 — on his 684th at bat that season, compared to 689 for Ruth. Even so, the notion of a permanent apostrophe is a flawed one: the MLB did not start keeping an official record book until 1998. Maris is pictured here during an at-bat during the 1961 season.