Director:
Billy CrystalWriter:
Hank SteinbergAiming for one of the most famed records in sports history, a pair of very different baseball players hit home runs at an impressive rate. Roger Maris, a reserved sort, is much less popular than his hard-partying New York Yankee teammate Mickey Mantle, the player who many observers think will be the one to challenge Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in one season. But in the summer of 1961, Maris surges ahead of Mantle, making a run at Ruth's mark.
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Yesterday I stumbled onto it on YouTube and watched again after twenty years. I was surprised at how bad it is. And way too long.
But it reminded me of the final years of the old Yankee dynasty, before leagues were broken into divisions, and playoffs and tournaments replaced league champions, pennant winners, meeting in the World Series. Around 1999 the two leagues merged, eliminating their presidents and using one set of umpires. They even started playing regular season games against each other: interleague play.
The old Yankees had these pennant winning streaks (World Series win BOLD) of at least three:
1921,1922,1923: managed by Miller Huggins, all against the New York Giants.
1926,1927,1928: managed by Miller Huggins.
1936,1937,1938,1939: four consecutive pennants and four consecutive World Series championships managed by Joe McCarthy.
1949,1950,1951,1952,1953: five consecutive pennants and five consecutive World Series championships managed by Casey Stengel.
1955,1956,1957,1958: four consecutive pennants and two World Series championships managed by Casey Stengel.
1960,1961,1962,1963,964: five consecutive pennants and two consecutive World Series championships (1961-1962) managed by Casey Stengel (1960), Ralph Houk (1961-1963), Yogi Berra (1964).
Since then, there have been at least three consecutive pennants only four times:
Oakland As:
1972,1973,1974: three consecutive World Series championships managed by Dick Williams, Dick Williams, Alvin Dark.
1988,1989,1990: managed by Tony La Russa.
New York Yankees:
1976,1977,1978: managed by Billy Martin, Billy Martin, (Billy Martin (52-42)/Bob Lemon (48-20)).
1998,1999,2000,2001: four consecutive pennants and three consecutive World Series championships (1998-2000) managed by Joe Torre.
Note: three consecutive pennants (World Series win BOLD) before 1936 by teams other than the Yankees:
Philadelphia Athletics (1929,1930,1931); (1913,1914,1915)
New York Giants (1921,1922,1923); (1911,1912,1913)
Chicago Cubs 1906,1907,1908
Detroit Tigers 1907,1908,1909
Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle. Those were the big four, unmatched by any foursome on any other team through 1964.
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| Maris & Mantle Baseball Digest, front cover, October 1961 issue. Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons |
In 2020 I did not watch sports. But when baseball started I tracked the 1961 HR race in a series of posts that matched big home run events by Maris and Mantle on 1961 dates starting August 1 when it was Maris 40, Mantle 39. Preceding that, I re-posted these six with the same 1961 HR race label:
Mantle & Maris still only teammates to hit 50 HR. Tuesday, June 28, 2011
1961 Home Run race: Roger Maris v. Mickey Mantle, Yankee teammates. Friday, December 2, 2016
Roger Maris loses 1960 Home Run race to Mickey Mantle 40-39. Thursday, June 1, 2017
Why look at Roger Maris in 1960? Because it provides a base of comparison to his record setting season of 1961, which, of course, had 5% more games and pitching diluted significantly.
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90 Home Runs by two teammates. Saturday, August 17, 2019
24 times. Maris and Mantle are the only teammates to hit at least 50 home runs in the same season. Ruth and Gehrig were the first to combine for at least 100. Ruth and Gehrig hit the most by teammates tied: 46 each in 1931.
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9. 1961 Home Run rates: Maris breaks HR record ... in expansion year. Friday, December 6, 2019
Babe Ruth held the season home run record from 1919 through 1960.
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9. 1961 AL/NL Home Run rates. Wednesday, December 25, 2019
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Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall (1948–1967)
Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Fran Jeffries, Buddy Hackett
1h | Music | Episode aired 4 October 1961
| Episode credited cast: | |||
 | Perry Como | Self - Host | |
 | Mickey Mantle | Self |
 | Roger Maris | Self |
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Stars:
Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, William Frawley |
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