60 Home Run record: summary of 154 v. 162 game season issues.

For people who still don't understand. This has all been covered in posts here in recent weeks.

In 1961 the old American League (AL) expanded from 8 to 10 teams and increased the schedule from 154 to 162 (5.2%). The National League did the same in 1962.

For the umpteenth time: no extra games, no record for Roger Maris. Plus, Maris hit Home Run 61 in game 163 because the 1961 Yankees had played a tie game. Babe Ruth hit number 60 in Yankee game 154; no homer in the 1927 game 155; they had played a tie also. Maris had NINE more games (5.8%).

Maris had 58 home runs through 154 games. Then:

59 in game 155

60 in game 159

61 in game 163.

This table should do the trick:

	1927	1961	1927	1961
G	Ruth	Maris	Yankees	Yankees
152	57	58	107-44-1	102-49-1
153	59		108-44-1
154	60		109-44-1	103-50-1
155		59		104-50-1
156
157
158
159		60		106-52-1
160
162
163		61		109-53-1
	1927	1961	1927	1961
G	Ruth	Maris	Yankees	Yankees

Ruth hit two home runs in team game 153.

Maris hit one more Home Run in 50 more At Bats:
Ruth: 540
Maris: 590

In 1962 the Dodgers and Giants tied and  played three extra games for 165. What if Willie Mays had 58 and hit home runs in the extra games for a new record?

What if the season is shortened to 144 games? A new season record would emerge in 3-4 years for the shorter season.

What if these players had eight more games:

Ruth 59 in 1921

Ruth 60 in 1927 when he out homered every other AL team; also in 1920

Jimmie Foxx 58 in 1932

Hank Greenberg 58 in 1938?

Check the top six 1961 AL HR guys with at least 40. All but Killebrew had career highs because of the diluted pitching because of 25 percent more AL teams.

I liked Maris and still do. I'm a Yankee fan. But I'm rational about his achievement. He'd have had as good a season with 58 home runs and none of the junk that persists. Junk is a euphemism.

I'm glad that in 2022 Aaron Judge reached 60 Home Runs in 147 games and hope he reaches 62 in 154. That would clean up the mess. After that, the subject switches to Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED), including steroids.

Stop staring at Batting Average and Home Runs. Look at their percentage above the league. Sunday, January 30, 2022

We baseball fans are simple. That's a euphemism for stupid. We stare at numbers and marvel at them even when they are completely lacking context. The two traditional stats stared at the most are:

Batting Average: Hits divided by At Bats (AB).

Home Runs: uh, that's it. Just a total. Not even a simple average or rate like AB divided by HR to get the common sense stat of the average number of AB to hit a homer.

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