9. 1961 AL/NL Home Run rates.

American League (AL):

	1961					G-P	G-P	G-P	G-P	G-P	G-P	1961
HR#	Name	Tm	HR	AB	AB/HR	HR	AB	AB/HR	Dif	PctDif	PctDif#	Name
1	Roger Maris*	NYY	61	590	9.672	345	4761	13.800	4.128	29.91%	2	Maris*
2	Mickey Mantle#	NYY	54	514	9.519	352	4837	13.741	4.223	30.73%	1	Mantle#
3	Jim Gentile*	BAL	46	486	10.565	360	4865	13.514	2.949	21.82%	3	Gentile*
4	Harmon Killebrew	MIN	46	541	11.761	360	4810	13.361	1.600	11.98%	4	Killebrew
5	Rocky Colavito	DET	45	583	12.956	361	4768	13.208	.252	1.91%	5	Colavito
6	Norm Cash*	DET	41	535	13.049	365	4816	13.195	.146	1.10%	6	Cash*
7	Bob Allison	MIN	29	556	19.172	377	4795	12.719	-6.454	-50.74%	9	Allison
8	Bill Skowron	NYY	28	561	20.036	378	4790	12.672	-7.364	-58.11%	10	Skowron
8	Al Smith	CHW	28	532	19.000	378	4819	12.749	-6.251	-49.04%	8	Smith
8	Leon Wagner*	LAA	28	453	16.179	378	4898	12.958	-3.221	-24.86%	7	Wagner*
	Group		406	5351	13.180

AL expanded from 8 to 10 teams so the group with the most AL HR has 10 hitters.

Maris breaks the 1927 HR record of 60 set by Yankee Babe Ruth. Maris wins second consecutive AL MVP. But Mantle leads AL in PctDif.

National League (NL):

	1961					G-P	G-P	G-P	G-P	G-P	G-P	1961
HR#	Name	Tm	HR	AB	AB/HR	HR	AB	AB/HR	Dif	PctDif	PctDif#	Name
1	Orlando Cepeda	SFG	46	585	12.717	242	3,897	16.103	3.386	21.03%	1	Cepeda
2	Willie Mays	SFG	40	572	14.300	248	3,910	15.766	1.466	9.30%	2	Mays
3	Frank Robinson	CIN	37	545	14.730	251	3,937	15.685	.956	6.09%	3	Robinson
4	Joe Adcock	MLN	35	562	16.057	253	3,920	15.494	-.563	-3.63%	5	Adcock
4	Dick Stuart	PIT	35	532	15.200	253	3,950	15.613	.413	2.64%	4	Stuart
6	Hank Aaron	MLN	34	603	17.735	254	3,879	15.272	-2.464	-16.13%	7	Aaron
7	Eddie Mathews*	MLN	32	572	17.875	256	3,910	15.273	-2.602	-17.03%	8	Mathews*
8	Ernie Banks	CHC	29	511	17.621	259	3,971	15.332	-2.289	-14.93%	6	Banks
	Group		288	4,482	15.563

Cepeda sweeps HR and HR rate. Robinson is third in PctDif but NL MVP for pennant winning Reds. Aaron is way down at 7th in PctDif. In 1962 NL will expand from 8 to 10 teams.

Click this link to view detailed data for this series.
1. Ted Williams, Home Run King? Yes, using AB/HR. Wednesday, December 18, 2019

... Home Run hitting by individuals should be judged by more than the total...

... for this new series:
- look at batters in their own league
- subtract the individual's numbers from that of the group of other batters before making the comparison...

Finally, this new series is being done on somewhat of an anecdotal basis using a spreadsheet, not a database of all batters 1920-2019, 100 years as in the recent 2019 series. This time it's only 8 years: 1954-1961.

Why those years? They're interesting. They are before the designated hitter (DH) was introduced in the American League (AL) in 1973 and before modern expansion, except for the AL in 1961 when it added the Angels and new Senators, who later moved to Texas and changed their name to Rangers. Obviously, the years are also way before inter-league play started in 1997...

Players in bold led that league in Home Runs that season.

	AL best PctDif	AL	AL		NL best PctDif	NL	NL
year	Name	HR	PctDif	year	Name	HR	PctDif
1954	Ted Williams*	27	41.37%	1954	Ted Kluszewski*	49	19.35%
1955	Ted Williams*	28	36.53%	1955	Willie Mays	51	17.67%
1956	Mickey Mantle#	52	45.55%	1956	Joe Adcock	38	20.25%
1957	Ted Williams*	38	34.32%	1957	Duke Snider*	40	22.32%
1958	Rocky Colavito	41	23.22%	1958	Ernie Banks	47	31.69%
1959	Harmon Killebrew	42	23.53%	1959	Eddie Mathews*	46	21.82%
1960	Ted Williams*	28	28.29%	1960	Eddie Mathews*	39	19.62%
1961	Mickey Mantle#	54	30.73%	1961	Orlando Cepeda	46	21.03%

* lefty # switch hitter

AB: At Bats
HR: Home Runs
American League (AL) and National League (NL)
Home Run Rate: AB/HR (lower is better)
N: number of AL or NL teams that season
Top home run hitters: N hitters with the most HR, plus any ties at the bottom
Home Run Rate AL or NL: for N hitters: total AB / total HR
Home Run Rate hitters: AB/HR
Dif: Home Run Rate hitter - other Home Run Rate AL or NL N hitters
PctDif: Dif/Home Run Rate AL or NL
PctDif#: rank among N hitters for PctDif

Hitters are ranked by relative position: 1, 2, 3, ... Ties would have the same number and then rank number would resume. For example, if four players are tied at third place: 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 7, 8, ...
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