1961 Major League Baseball season

The 1961 major league baseball season began on April 10, 1961. The regular season ended on October 1, with the Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 58th World Series on October 4 and ended with Game 5 on October 9. In the second iteration of this World Series matchup, the Yankees defeated the Reds, four games to one, capturing their 19th championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1958. 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. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the Pittsburgh Pirates from the 1960 season.

For the third year, there were two separate All-Star Games played. The first, the 30th Major League Baseball All-Star Game, was held on July 11 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California, home of the San Francisco Giants. The National League won, 5–4. The second, the 31st Major League Baseball All-Star Game, was held on July 31 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, home of the Boston Red Sox. The game ended in a 1–1 tie, due to a rainout following the end of the ninth inning.

In response to the proposed Continental League, the American League expanded by two teams in the first MLB expansion since 1901, ushering in the expansion era. The original Washington Senators moved to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area in Minnesota and became the Minnesota Twins, being the sixth team since 1953 to relocate, and the third of American League teams since then. The American League therefore placed a new team in Washington, D.C., also called the Washington Senators. Also, the American League placed a team in Los Angeles called the Los Angeles Angels.

The 1961 schedule was the first time that the American and National Leagues did not follow the same scheduling format. Due to expansion of the American League, the AL schedule consisted of 162 games for all ten teams. Each team was scheduled to play 18 games against the other nine teams. Meanwhile, the National League, still consisting of eight teams, continued the 154-game format in place since the 1904 season (except for 1919). Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams. 1961 would mark the last 154-game season in professional baseball history, as the National League itself would copy the American League 162-game format following their own expansion the following season.

American League Opening Day took place on April 10, featuring the Chicago White Sox and newly enfranchised Washington Senators, while National League Opening Day took place the following day, featuring all eight teams. The final day of the regular season was on October 1, and saw sixteen teams play. The World Series took place between October 4 and October 9.

The 1961 season saw the following rule changes:

• A sacrifice fly is no longer limited to fair balls.^[1]
• A rule preventing leagues of all levels of major and minor league baseball from drafting college players during a school year was implemented.^[2]

The postseason began on October 4 and ended on October 9 with the New York Yankees defeating the Cincinnati Reds in the 1961 World Series in five games.

• Home runs, single-season: 61, Roger Maris, New York Yankees

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.

• Sport Magazine's World Series Most Valuable Player Award: Whitey Ford (NYY)

• Max Carey
• Billy Hamilton

The 1961 season saw two new teams in the American League, and with it, one new venue and one returning venue:

• The Los Angeles Angels played their first and only season at Wrigley Field. Their final game was on October 1 against the Cleveland Indians, moving into Dodger Stadium (referred to as "Chavez Ravine Stadium" when the Angels played) for the start of the 1962 season.
• The Washington Senators played their first and only season at Griffith Stadium, the longtime home of the original AL Washington Senators. Their final game was on September 21 against the Minnesota Twins, moving into District of Columbia Stadium for the start of the 1962 season.

The Minnesota Twins, newly relocated from their long-time home in Washington, D.C. as the Washington Senators, leave Griffith Stadium after playing there for 50 seasons, moving into Metropolitan Stadium where they would play for 21 seasons through 1981.

Briggs Stadium, home of the Detroit Tigers, is renamed to Tiger Stadium.

The Los Angeles Dodgers would play their final game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 20 against the Chicago Cubs, moving into Dodger Stadium for the start of the 1962 season.

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^[32][33] 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^[34] 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.

The All-Star Game and World Series aired on NBC.

• 1961 in baseball (Events, Births, Deaths)
• 1961 Nippon Professional Baseball season

• 1961 Major League Schedule at Baseball Reference