1961 v. 2022 top ten batting stats, including Roger Maris and Aaron Judge.

This post takes several top ten American League lists for 1961 and 2022 and puts them side by side. Those seasons are 61 years apart and include two New York Yankee right fielders who set new season home run records: Roger Maris (61) and Aaron Judge (62). In 1961 two new teams were added and the schedule was increased from 154 to 162 games as it was in 2022.

There are surprising parallels and contrasts. The biggest change, as you might expect, is in Strike Outs (SO).

The first list is a stat that was unknown in 1961 and still little understood in 2022: Wins Above Replacement (WAR), which is a total. Then there are "average" stats, then more totals, including Home Runs. Data was taken from:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1961-batting-leaders.shtml

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2022-batting-leaders.shtml

Among the 1961 players are members of the Hall of Fame, including Mantle, Killebrew, Kaline, Aparicio, Yastrzemski.

	1961 WAR				2022 WAR
1	Mantle • NYY	10.4		1	Judge • NYY	10.6
2	Cash • DET	9.2		2	Ohtani • LAA	9.6
3	Kaline • DET	8.4		3	Gimenez • CLE	7.4
4	Colavito • DET	7.6		4	Alvarez • HOU	6.8
5	Gentile • BAL	6.9		5	Cease • CHW	6.4
	Maris • NYY	6.9		6	Trout • LAA	6.3
7	Kralick • MIN	5.7		7	Rodriguez • SEA	6.2
8	Killebrew • MIN	5.7		8	Ramirez • CLE	6.0
9	Howard • NYY	5.4		9	Manoah • TOR	5.9
10	Pascual • MIN	5.1			Semien • TEX	5.9
	1961 BA				2022 BA
1	Cash • DET	.361		1	Arraez • MIN	.316
2	Kaline • DET	.324		2	Judge • NYY	.311
3	Piersall • CLE	.322		3	Bogaerts • BOS	.307
4	Mantle • NYY	.317		4	Alvarez • HOU	.306
5	Gentile • BAL	.302		5	Abreu • CHW	.304
6	Battey • MIN	.302		6	Benintendi • 2TM	.304
7	Francona • CLE	.301		7	Lowe • TEX	.302
8	Romano • CLE	.299		8	Altuve • HOU	.300
9	Brandt • BAL	.297		9	Kwan • CLE	.298
10	Siebern • KCA	.296		10	Gimenez • CLE	.297
	1961 On Base				2022 On Base
1	Cash • DET	.487		1	Judge • NYY	.425
2	Mantle • NYY	.448		2	Alvarez • HOU	.406
3	Gentile • BAL	.423		3	Díaz • TBR	.401
4	Pearson • LAA	.420		4	Altuve • HOU	.387
5	Killebrew • MIN	.405		5	Abreu • CHW	.378
6	Colavito • DET	.402		6	Bogaerts • BOS	.377
7	Kaline • DET	.393		7	Arraez • MIN	.375
8	Siebern • KCA	.384		8	Benintendi • 2TM	.373
9	Piersall • CLE	.378		9	Kwan • CLE	.373
10	Battey • MIN	.370		10	Kirk • TOR	.370
	1961 SLG				2022 SLG
1	Mantle • NYY	.687		1	Judge • NYY	.686
2	Cash • DET	.662		2	Trout • LAA	.630
3	Gentile • BAL	.646		3	Alvarez • HOU	.613
4	Maris • NYY	.620		4	Altuve • HOU	.533
5	Killebrew • MIN	.606		5	Devers • BOS	.521
6	Colavito • DET	.580		6	Ohtani • LAA	.519
7	Sievers • CHW	.537		7	Ramirez • CLE	.514
8	Wagner • LAA	.517		8	Rodriguez • SEA	.509
9	Kaline • DET	.515		9	Lowe • TEX	.492
10	Smith • CHW	.506		10	Hernandez • TOR	.491
	1961 OPS				2022 OPS
1	Cash • DET	1.148		1	Judge • NYY	1.111
2	Mantle • NYY	1.135		2	Alvarez • HOU	1.019
3	Gentile • BAL	1.069		3	Trout • LAA	.999
4	Killebrew • MIN	1.012		4	Altuve • HOU	.921
5	Maris • NYY	.993		5	Devers • BOS	.879
6	Colavito • DET	.982		6	Ohtani • LAA	.875
7	Sievers • CHW	.913		7	Ramirez • CLE	.869
8	Kaline • DET	.909		8	Rodriguez • SEA	.853
9	Wagner • LAA	.865		9	Lowe • TEX	.851
10	Romano • CLE	.860		10	Gimenez • CLE	.837
	1961 OPS+				2022 OPS+
1	Mantle • NYY	206		1	Judge • NYY	211
2	Cash • DET	201		2	Alvarez • HOU	187
3	Gentile • BAL	187		3	Altuve • HOU	160
4	Maris • NYY	167		4	Ramirez • CLE	148
5	Killebrew • MIN	162		5	Rodriguez • SEA	147
6	Colavito • DET	157		6	Ohtani • LAA	145
7	Sievers • CHW	144		7	Díaz • TBR	143
8	Kaline • DET	139		8	Lowe • TEX	141
9	Romano • CLE	132		9	Gimenez • CLE	141
10	Siebern • KCA	129		10	Devers • BOS	141
	1961 Hits				2022 Hits
1	Cash • DET	193		1	Bichette • TOR	189
2	Robinson • BAL	192		2	Abreu • CHW	183
3	Kaline • DET	190		3	Rosario • CLE	180
4	Francona • CLE	178		4	Lowe • TEX	179
5	Richardson • NYY	173		5	Judge • NYY	177
6	Wood • DET	171		6	Guerrero • TOR	175
	Howser • KCA	171		7	Arraez • MIN	173
	Green • MIN	171		8	Bogaerts • BOS	171
9	Aparicio • CHW	170		9	Kwan • CLE	168
	Kubek • NYY	170			Ramirez • CLE	168
	1961 TB				2022 TB
1	Maris • NYY	366		1	Judge • NYY	391
2	Cash • DET	354		2	Ramirez • CLE	309
3	Mantle • NYY	353		3	Bichette • TOR	306
4	Colavito • DET	338			Guerrero • TOR	306
5	Killebrew • MIN	328		5	Ohtani • LAA	304
6	Gentile • BAL	314		6	Lowe • TEX	292
7	Kaline • DET	302		7	Devers • BOS	289
8	Francona • CLE	272		8	Alvarez • HOU	288
9	Smith • CHW	269		9	Semien • TEX	282
10	Siebern • KCA	266		10	Altuve • HOU	281
	1961 HR				2022 HR
1	Maris • NYY	61		1	Judge • NYY	62
2	Mantle • NYY	54		2	Trout • LAA	40
3	Gentile • BAL	46		3	Alvarez • HOU	37
	Killebrew • MIN	46		4	Ohtani • LAA	34
5	Colavito • DET	45		5	Santander • BAL	33
6	Cash • DET	41			Seager • TEX	33
7	Allison • MIN	29		7	Rizzo • NYY	32
8	Smith • CHW	28			Guerrero • TOR	32
	Wagner • LAA	28		9	Stanton • NYY	31
	Skowron • NYY	28			Suarez • SEA	31
	1961 Runs				2022 Runs
1	Maris • NYY	132		1	Judge • NYY	133
2	Mantle • NYY	131		2	Altuve • HOU	103
3	Colavito • DET	129		3	Semien • TEX	101
4	Cash • DET	119		4	Alvarez • HOU	95
5	Kaline • DET	116		5	Bregman • HOU	93
6	Howser • KCA	108		6	Seager • TEX	91
7	Bruton • DET	99			Bichette • TOR	91
8	Gentile • BAL	96		8	Ramirez • CLE	90
	Wood • DET	96			Ohtani • LAA	90
10	Killebrew • MIN	94			Guerrero • TOR	90
	1961 RBI				2022 RBI
1	Gentile • BAL	141		1	Judge • NYY	131
	Maris • NYY	141		2	Ramirez • CLE	126
3	Colavito • DET	140		3	Tucker • HOU	107
4	Cash • DET	132		4	García • TEX	101
5	Mantle • NYY	128		5	Alvarez • HOU	97
6	Killebrew • MIN	122			Guerrero • TOR	97
7	Allison • MIN	105		7	Ohtani • LAA	95
8	Siebern • KCA	98		8	Bregman • HOU	93
9	Kirkland • CLE	95			Bichette • TOR	93
10	Smith • CHW	93		10	Santander • BAL	89
					Arozarena • TBR	89
	1961 BB				2022 BB
1	Mantle • NYY	126		1	Judge • NYY	111
2	Cash • DET	124		2	Bregman • HOU	87
3	Colavito • DET	113		3	Winker • SEA	84
4	Killebrew • MIN	107		4	Alvarez • HOU	78
5	Allison • MIN	103			Díaz • TBR	78
6	Gentile • BAL	96		6	Suarez • SEA	73
	Pearson • LAA	96		7	Ohtani • LAA	72
8	Maris • NYY	94		8	Santana • 2TM	71
9	Howser • KCA	92		9	Ramirez • CLE	69
10	Geiger • BOS	87		10	Crawford • SEA	68
					Chapman • TOR	68
	1961 SO				2022 SO
1	Wood • DET	141		1	Suarez • SEA	196
2	Hunt • LAA	120		2	García • TEX	183
3	Mantle • NYY	112		3	Judge • NYY	175
4	Held • CLE	111		4	Chapman • TOR	170
5	Killebrew • MIN	109		5	Ohtani • LAA	161
6	Skowron • NYY	108		6	Arozarena • TBR	156
7	Gentile • BAL	106		7	Bichette • TOR	155
8	Allison • MIN	100		8	Mountcastle • BAL	154
9	Lemon • MIN	98		9	Hernandez • TOR	152
10	Hansen • BAL	96		10	Donaldson • NYY	148
	Yastrzemski • BOS	96
	1961 Extra Base Hits				2022 Extra Base Hits
1	Maris • NYY	81		1	Judge • NYY	90
2	Colavito • DET	77		2	Ramirez • CLE	78
3	Mantle • NYY	76		3	Devers • BOS	70
4	Gentile • BAL	73			Ohtani • LAA	70
	Killebrew • MIN	73			Trout • LAA	70
6	Cash • DET	71		6	Alvarez • HOU	68
7	Kaline • DET	67			Bichette • TOR	68
8	Smith • CHW	61		8	Altuve • HOU	67
9	Sievers • CHW	59			Guerrero • TOR	67
	Siebern • KCA	59		10	García • TEX	66

It's shocking that Maris had only 20 extra base hits that were not home runs.