Major League Baseball Season Recap 1961

Major League Baseball Season Recap 1961

World Series – New York Yankees AL over Cincinnati Reds NL 4 games to 1

World Series MVP – Whitey Ford
Babe Ruth Award – Whitey Ford

Awards –
Major League Cy Young Award Whitey Ford
MVP Awards – NL Frank Robinson AL Roger Maris

Major League Rookie of The Year –
NL Rookie of The Year – Don Schwall AL Rookie of The Year – Billy Wiliams

All-Star Game – July 11th – N.L. 5 over A.L. 4 (10), played at Candlestick Park (NL)
AL Starter W. Ford+ NL Starter W. Spahn+ MVP

All Star Game 2 July 31st N.L. 1 over A.L. 1-T played at Fenway Park (AL)
AL Starter J. Bunning+ NL Starter B. Purkey

Baseball Expansion and the M&M Boys\n\nMajor League Baseball expanded for the first time in modern history with the American League adding two teams for the 1961 season and extending the schedule by 8 games. New expansion franchises were awarded in Los Angeles and Washington after Calvin Griffith moved the former Senators to Minnesota in the offseason. The New York Yankees took advantage of the easier expansion schedule, winning 109 games to take their second of five consecutive AL pennants. Outfielders Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were the story of the summer as each chased Babe Ruth’s single-season record of 60 home runs. Mantle fell short at the end due to injury, but Maris clubbed his 61st home run on the final day of the season to break the 34-year-old record. Maris edged out his teammate for the second straight year to earn the AL MVP. Cincinnati won the NL pennant led by MVP Frank Robinson (.323, 37 HR, 124 RBI, 22 SB) and a good pitching staff, but lost to the Yankees in five games in the World Series. Yankee lefthander Whitey Ford (25-4, 3.21 ERA) won the Cy Young award and was named World Series MVP as he set a record of 29 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings in World Series play. Cubs OF Billy Williams (.278, 25 HR, 86 RBI) beat out Milwaukee C Joe Torre for NL Rookie of the Year honors.

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March 30, 1960

Rumors swirl that legendary manager Leo Durocher would be named the first manager of the new Houston franchise

January 1, 1961

Detroit’s Briggs Stadium is renamed Tiger Stadium

January 1, 1961

The Braves sign 5 players including future Hall Of Famer Phil Niekro

January 3, 1961

Frank ‘Trader’ Lane assumes the post as the Kansas City A’s general manager and executive vice president.

January 5, 1961

A contest to name the new Houston ballclub is announced

January 9, 1961

Leo Durocher joins the Los Angeles Dodgers as third base coach. Previously, Durocher managed the Dodgers in Brooklyn and the Giants in New York.

January 9, 1961

Ending two months of negotiations, the Twins of the American League agree on a $500,000 indemnity payment to the American Association for entering the minor league’s territory in Minnesota. The settlement paves the way for the team, formerly known as the Senators, to move from Washington, D.C., and play their home games in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area.

January 12, 1961

Charlie Grimm and Rube Walker are named to the Chicago Cubs College of Coaches

January 17, 1961

1961 – The Houston Sports Association buys the minor league Houston Buffs, a team affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals for decades. The HSA runs the team for the rest of the season while building a transition to National League play the following year. 

January 18, 1961

1961 – Harris County officials and members of the Houston Sports Association stump for votes in favor of the upcoming bond election to be held on January 31st. The bonds would allow the County to begin building the first indoor baseball arena, a condition National League owners gave Judge Hofheinz while approving Houston for an expansion franchise.

January 19, 1961

Cleveland Indians release former National League standout Don Newcombe

January 24, 1961

Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Athletics agree on a six-player trade.

January 26, 1961

Cincinnati Reds trade Joe Nuxhall to the Kansas City Athletics 

January 28, 1961

1961 – The International League Board of Directors votes to move the Montreal franchise to Syracuse, NY.

January 29, 1961

Billy Hamilton and Max Carey are selected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.

January 31, 1961

Houston voters approve financing for a domed stadium, removing the last hurdle to gaining a major league franchise for the Texas city. The Astrodome, the eighth wonder of the world, will be the result of today’s approval and will serve as the Astros’ home from 1965-1999.

February 3, 1961

Charlie Finley douses an old school bus bearing the sign “the Kansas City-to-New York shuttle” with gasoline

February 4, 1961

Houston Sports Association announces an agreement with Apache Junction, AZ for spring training facilities beginning the following season. Geronimo Park, in the shadow of Superstition Mountain, serves as the spring home of the Colt .45s in their first two seasons and is remembered best for its desolation and rumored curses.

February 9, 1961

Willie Mays signs for $85,000

February 11, 1961

Eddie Mathews gets a new contract

February 16, 1961

Charlie Finley purchases the outstanding 48 percent of the Athletics stock to become their sole owner.

February 16, 1961

Hall of Famer Clarence “Dazzy” Vance dies at the age of 69

March 1, 1961

former President Dwight Eisenhower jokes with the Angel players

March 3, 1961

1961 – The first tryout camp is held in Houston for the new National League expansion team. It is held at Busch Stadium, the same southeast Houston locale that had been called Buffs Stadium for decades.

March 6, 1961

County Board approved a sweeping ban barring fans from bringing beer, liquor or soda into County Stadium

March 7, 1961

1961 – The Houston Sports Association announces “Colt .45s” as the winner of the “Name That Team” contest. Entries from as far away as Australia came in. Many had suggested “Colts” but the gun, rather than the horse, won out much to the later chagrin of Judge Roy Hofheinz. 

March 14, 1961

The Mets, who will play their inaugural season next year, lure former Yankee general manager George Weiss out of retirement to become the club’s first president. The expansion team is believed to have been offered the iron-fisted executive a five-year deal at $100,000 annually, more than he ever earned during his 14 seasons with the Bronx Bombers.

March 16, 1961

The state of New York approves a bond issue for the construction of a 55,000-seat stadium on the site of the 1939-40 World’s Fair in the Queens Flushing Meadow area. The ballpark will be named Shea Stadium to honor William Shea, a lawyer who was instrumental in bringing the National League back to New York.

March 19, 1961

Boston Red Sox announce that rookie Carl Yastrzemski will start the season in left field, succeeding the legendary Ted Williams

March 20, 1961

New York Yankees announce the team will oppose any plan that would enable the new National League expansion franchise in New York, NY to use Yankee Stadium

March 24, 1961

The NY State Senate approves $55 million in funding to build a new stadium in Flushing Meadows Park for the new National League’s expansion team. Until the Queens’ ballpark is completed, which will become known as Shea Stadium, the Mets will play in the Polo Grounds during the first two years of their existence.

March 24, 1961

In Mesa, Arizona, left fielder Orlando Cepeda gives the Cubs two runs with an error, then hits a three-run home run as the Giants defeat the Cubs, 13 – 12.

March 24, 1961

1961 – Houston holds their first rookie camp in Jacksonville, FL. Farm director Bobby Bragan conducts the camp for young players under contract with the newly-named Colt .45s. 

March 27, 1961

Cardinals pitcher Larry Jackson suffers a broken jaw when hit by a fragment of Dodgers Duke Snider’s broken bat

March 28, 1961

1961 – In their first meeting since Pittsburgh’s dramatic World Series win over New York, the Bucs, behind would-be World Series goat Bob Friend, beat up the banged-up Bombers, 9 – 2. The game’s first run comes in the bottom of the 2nd on Roberto Clemente’s bases-empty bomb over the left-field fence. Pittsburgh goes up 3 – 0 in the 3rd on Dick Stuart’s two-run shot, likewise to left field. By the 7th, the Bucs have built their lead to 8 – 0 before New York can push across its initial tally. Today’s win boosts the Bucs’ Grapefruit League-leading record to 13-5, while miring New York ever more deeply in the preseason cellar.

March 31, 1961

Pacific Coast League is turned down in its bid to use the designated hitter rule

March 31, 1961

The Professional Baseball Rules Committee rejects the Pacific Coast League’s proposal to use a designated hitter for the pitcher by a vote of 8-1. The first use of the DH will occur in the American League in 1973.

April 3, 1961

New York investors Jack P. Schleifer and Milton Schwartz take a title to Connie Mack Stadium, formerly known as Shibe Park, in hopes of developing the property as an industrial center with bowling alleys and a restaurant when the Phillies move to a proposed new ballpark in the northeastern part of the city. The 52 year-old ballpark, home for both the A’s (1909-1954) and Phillies (1938-1970), will eventually become the site of the Deliverance Evangelistic Church in 1991.

April 10, 1961

Washington Senators play the first game in franchise history

April 11, 1961

The Los Angeles Angels play the first game in franchise history, defeating a strong Baltimore Orioles team, 7 – 2. For the Angels, Ted Kluszewski hits two home runs and Eli Grba pitches a complete game.

April 11, 1961

Red Sox rookie Carl Yastrzemski, in his major league debut, singles off Kansas City’s Ray Herbert in the team’s 5-2 Opening Day loss at Fenway Park. The 21 year-old left fielder from Bridgehampton, New York, will amass 3,419 hits during his 23-year Hall of Fame career with Boston..

April 11, 1961

Robin Roberts, in his twelfth-straight Opening Day start, is tagged with the loss when the Phillies lose to the Dodgers in the LA Memorial Coliseum, 6-2. The right-hander’s effort ties Grover Cleveland Alexander’s National League record for consecutive season openers.

April 14, 1961

New Senators debut and win first game

April 14, 1961

Frank Lary tosses a one-hitter on Opening Day, beating the White Sox at Tiger Stadium, 7-0. Chicago’s lone hit comes in the fifth inning when Jim Landis singles off the glove of shortstop Chico Fernandez.

April 16, 1961

Roger Maris connects for his first homer in 1961

April 19, 1961

Bill Veeck employs eight Little People to work in the stands during the White Sox home opener

April 21, 1961

The Twins play their first home game, losing to the ‘new’ expansion Washington Senators at Metropolitan Stadium

April 22, 1961

At Comiskey Park, Pumpsie Green hits a home run in the 11th-inning as the Boston Red Sox snap a 13-game losing streak by edging the Chicago White Sox, 7 – 6.

April 22, 1961

The Pittsburgh Pirates win their 10th straight game, edging the New York Mets, 4 – 3, and matching the major-league record to start a season, while the Mets tie a National League record by opening 0-9.

April 23, 1961

Art Mahaffey strikes out at least a batter in each inning, setting a club record with 17, while shutting out the Chicago Cubs, 6 – 0, in the second game of a doubleheader at Shibe Park. The Phillies win the first game behind a 1 – 0 shutout by Frank Sullivan.

April 25, 1961

Gene Conley pitches for Red Sox after winning NBA title

April 26, 1961

In the eleventh game of the season, Roger Maris finally hits his first homer in New York’s 13-11 victory over Detroit at Tiger Stadium

April 28, 1961

Warren Spahn second oldest to fire no hitter

April 30, 1961

Willie Mays 4 Home Run Game

May 3, 1961

Another brilliant Warren Spahn performance is spoiled when left fielder Mel Roach’s misplay costs the Milwaukee Braves’ ace a second no-hitter in a row. Spahn settles for a two-hitter in topping the Dodgers, 4 – 1.

May 3, 1961

The Toronto Maple Leafs play their home opener against the Jersey City Jerseys. Toronto outfielder Ellis Burton hits a two-run homer batting from the left side in the 8th inning – then hits a grand slam from the right side later in the frame. It is the first time in Organized Baseball history that a player has homered from both sides of the plate in one inning.

May 6, 1961

5/6/1961: The Senators were rained out in Cleveland in the bottom of the second inning. In the first frame, the Tribe’s Woodie Held smashed a grand slam over the right field fence off Hal Woodeshick. The blow came with no one out. The Nats scored an unearned run in the second, leaving the score 4-1 at the time of the postponement.

May 8, 1961

The Angels trade P Tex Clevenger and OF Bob Cerv to the Yankees for P Ryne Duren, P Johnny James and OF Lee Thomas. For Cerv, it is his third tour of duty in pinstripes.

May 8, 1961

The New York Metropolitan Baseball Club, Inc. announces the New York National League franchise’s team nickname will be the Mets.

May 8, 1961

New York announces that it will be known as the Mets, short for Metropolitans

May 9, 1961

The Indians tie a major-league record with just 23 official at-bats as Chicago’s Herb Score pitches a two-hit, 4 – 2 win.

May 9, 1961

The Pirates’ most dangerous hitter, Roberto Clemente, leads his team to a 9 – 6 decision over San Francisco, going 3 for 4 with a home run and 4 RBI, but his scariest shot comes before the game and travels about 60 feet. Les Biederman of The Sporting News reports: “Gino Cimoli can attest that Roberto Clemente hits the ball as hard as any batter in the league. Cimoli was pitching the final turn in batting practice before the night game with the Giants at Forbes Field when Clemente hit the last pitch before the Giants stepped into the cage. It was a liner that caught Cimoli on the left side below the heart and he went down in a heap. The Pirates outfielder walked off under his own steam. X-rays failed to reveal a fracture although Cimoli had a badly bruised side from the terrific impact of the ball.”

May 9, 1961

Baltimore Orioles slugger Jim Gentile becomes the first major leaguer to hit grand slams in consecutive innings

May 10, 1961

Mike McCormick fires his second 3-hit shutout of the year, stopping the Pirates, 3 – 0. The Giants are 3-up, 3-down in eight of the nine innings, but score three in the 5th, two on McCormick’s single.

May 10, 1961

The Cardinals tie a major-league record when three pinch hitters – Charlie James, Don Taussig and Alex Grammas – strike out in the 9th inning against the Reds. Cincinnati’s Bill Henry pitches just the 9th to save the 3 – 2 win, the Reds’ 9th in a row.

May 10, 1961

The White Sox purchase Wes Covington from the Braves. Covington will play for four teams this season, before settling in with a number of solid years for the Phillies.

May 15, 1961

The Alou brothers and Orlando Cepeda lead an 18-hit attack as San Francisco overpowers the Cubs, 14 – 1. Dick Ellsworth gives up six runs in the 1st without retiring a batter. Cepeda hits two homers and a double and drives in five runs, while Felipe Alou hits his first grand slam and brother Matty Alou his first major league homer. Matty will combine with Jesus Alou in 1965 to homer in the same game. Mike McCormick is the easy winner.

May 15, 1961

Teammates Felipe and Matty Alou both homer in the Giants’ 14-1 victory over Chicago at Candlestick Park. Felipe’s grand slam in the first inning scores the first four runs of the game, and his younger brother’s puts on the finishing touch of the rout with an eighth-inning round-tripper.

May 15, 1961

The American Basketball League’s Cleveland Pipers, owned by George Steinbrenner, hire John McLendon, Jr. as the franchise’s head coach, making him the first African American to be named to a top leadership position in any major professional sport. The well-respected college coach, leaving the post midway through the 1961-62 ABL season, will become the first of many of the future Yankee owner’s employees to resign over the years due to interference from the front office.

May 17, 1961

Roger Maris hits his first home run of the season at Yankee Stadium (and fourth overall) on his way to a major league season-record 61.

May 18, 1961

 Los Angeles Angels pitcher Ryne Duren posts four strikeouts in the 7th inning against the Chicago White Sox. He strikes out Minnie Miñoso, Roy Sievers, J.C. Martin, and Sammy Esposito to tie a major league record, in the 6 – 4 loss to the White Sox.

May 23, 1961

Norm Cash‚ Steve Boros‚ and Dick Brown hit consecutive homers for the Tigers in a 5 – 2 win over Minnesota.

May 23, 1961

At Chicago‚ Ernie Banks makes his debut in left field and goes 1 for 4 with no errors. But the Cubs lose‚ 2 – 1‚ in 10 innings to the Phillies.

May 29, 1961

At Fenway Park‚ Ike Delock outduels Whitey Ford to beat the Yankees‚ 2 – 1. New York’s scoring is Mickey Mantle’s first homer in two weeks.

May 30, 1961

Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Bill Skowron each hit two home runs to lead the New York Yankees to a 12 – 3 rout of the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Yogi Berra also homers for New York. Ralph Terry is the winning pitcher, Gene Conley the loser.

May 31, 1961

tape measure two-baggers from Roberto Clemente and Dick Stuart provide all the support Pittsburgh starter Joe Gibbon needs in his complete game victory over the Milwaukee Braves

May 31, 1961

Carroll Hardy of the Boston Red Sox becomes the only player to pinch-hit for both Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski

June 1, 1961

1961 – Joe Torre’s “most embarrassing moment” comes today. The Braves’ rookie is victim No. 7 out of 27 on the season for Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente, a somewhat sick total of outfield assists for a man seven years in the league. While nothing out of the ordinary for Roberto, this moment will be impossible to forget for Joe Torre, no matter how much he may want to: “I got a hit to right field and rounded first base as most runners do. Clemente picked up the ball, faked a throw to second and threw it so fast behind me to first base I was caught and tagged out. It was my most embarrassing moment on the field.” The sixth-inning, rally-killing baserunning gaffe is somewhat differently portrayed in Pirates beat writer Les Biederman’s contemporary account: “The only time the Braves had a chance to score on Harvey Haddix after the 1st inning came in the 6th inning when Torre singled to right with Frank Thomas on second. Torre rounded first and Dick Stuart cut off Clemente’s throw home and politely tagged out Torre. Then Clemente completed the inning by going to the 375-foot mark and spearing Joe Adcock’s long shot.” Whether Biederman or Torre’s account is most accurate, this remains a truly cringe-worthy moment and a valuable lesson for the young rookie, learned the hard way.

June 3, 1961

1961 – Roberto Clemente hits a 1st-inning home run and has a 4th-inning outfield assist, in Pittsburgh’s 5 – 2 win over Philly. In UPI’s account, Clemente’s name and nationality undergo unnerving transformations: “Alberto, whose 1st inning homer was his seventh of the year, was banished in the 8th inning in a spectacular arm-waving argument with first base umpire Ed Sudol. The fiery Cuban insisted he beat out a grounder to short but was overruled. Before leaving the field, Clemente tossed a cap high above the Pirate dugout.”

June 5, 1961

Robin Roberts, who will finish his career playing with three other clubs, wins his last game for the Phillies, beating the Giants at Candlestick Park, 3-2. The future Hall of Famer’s lone victory this season, a complete-game six-hitter, is his 234th win for Philadelphia, the most by a right-hander in franchise history.

June 7, 1961

1961 – Roberto Clemente’s second career home run off Sandy Koufax comes, like the first, at the Los Angeles Coliseum, a 1st-inning, bases-empty blast which gets Pittsburgh off to a quick 1 – 0 lead. Unlike the earlier Coliseum clout (his opposite-field moon shot of August 30, 1960), this one is pulled over the Coliseum’s notoriously surmountable left-field barrier. However, unlike Dodger left fielder – and left-handed hitter – Wally Moon’s stock in trade, the strategically-served pop flies derisively dubbed ‘Moon Shots’, this moon shot needs no air quotes, landing some 35 rows beyond the screen.

June 8, 1961

The Milwaukee Braves set a major-league record with four consecutive home runs in the 7th inning against Cincinnati

June 8, 1961

The A’s sign Lew Krausse, who hurled 19 no-hitters and struck out 24 batters in one game on the scholastic level, as an amateur free agent the day after he graduates from high school for $125,000. Eight days from now, the 18 year-old fireballing phenom will throw a three-hit shutout against L.A. in his major league debut.

June 9, 1961

Ryne Duren sets AL record by striking out 7 straight Red Sox

June 9, 1961

6/9/1961 – The Los Angeles Angels were playing a doubleheader at Fenway Park. The Angels lineup for game two had Ken Hamlin batting first and Gene Leek eighth. However, Leek started the game by grounding out and the Red Sox did not comment. The next batter should have been the ninth-place hitter, pitcher Ryne Duren. However, Lee Thomas came to the plate and singled to left. At this point the Sox again did not comment. Leon Wagner, properly following Thomas, singled to right driving advancing Thomas to third. At this point, Boston could not protest the batter since Wagner was the correct one. Thomas scored on a ground out by the next batter, Ken Hunt. In the second inning, sixth place hitter Ken Aspromonte led off with a single and the seventh batter, Steve Bilko, was called out on strikes. Leek should have hit now but Hamlin strode to the plate and beat out an infield hit. The Red Sox now point the improper batter to the umpires and Leek, the proper batter, is called out. The Angels follow the correct lineup for the rest of the game and go on to beat the Red Sox, 5-1.

June 10, 1961

The Braves tie the National League record with 14 homers in 3 straight games (at least one in each game) as they outscore the Cubs at Wrigley Field, 9 – 5.

June 10, 1961

Pitchers Ray Herbert and Don Larsen‚ 3B Andy Carey‚ and OF Al Pilarcik of the A’s go to the White Sox for pitchers Bob Shaw and Gerry Staley and outfielders Wes Covington and Stan Johnson.

June 10, 1961

At New York‚ ex-Yank Hank Bauer hits a inside-the-park homer over Mickey Mantle’s head to the centerfield monuments‚ but Mantle’s homer in the bottom of the 8th off rookie Bill Kunkel cements New York’s 5 – 3 win over Kansas City.

June 11, 1961

The Yankees sweep two from the Angels‚ winning the opener‚ 2 – 1 behind Ralph Terry’s 5-hitter. Yogi Berra clouts a pair of solo homers. In the nitecap‚ Mickey Mantle’s 1st inning homer‚ #19‚ gives him the American League lead‚ but Roger Maris adds a pair of home runs‚ his 19th and 20th‚ as New York wins, 5 – 1. The Yanks have won 10 of 11 games.

June 11, 1961

In Game 1 of a twin bill at Tiger Stadium, Norm Cash becomes the first Detroit player to hit a fair ball over the right field roof. The first baseman’s prodigious poke off Joe McClain is to no avail as the Tigers lose to the Senators, 7-4.

June 12, 1961

Bill Veeck sells his interest in the Chicago White Sox to partner Arthur Allyn

June 15, 1961

1961 – The expansion Washington Senators are 30-30 after winning today. It is the latest date an expansion team will be at .500. Washington will lose its next 10 games.

June 16, 1961

In his major league debut, 18 year-old Lew Krausse Jr., signed as an amateur free agent for $125,000 by A’s owner Charlie Finley, throws a three-hit shutout and collects two hits in Kansas City’s 4-0 victory over L.A. at Municipal Stadium. In 1932, the redheaded fireballer’s dad blanked the Red Sox in his final major league appearance, giving the father-son duo back-to-back shutouts twenty-nine years apart.

June 18, 1961

Pirates rookie Don Leppert hits a home run on the first pitch thrown to him in his major league career, going deep off southpaw Curt Simmons in the second inning of the Bucs’ 5-3 victory over the Redbirds at Forbes Field. The 29 year-old freshman catcher’s feat will not be accomplished again by another Pittsburgh player until 2012, when Starling Marte homers on the first pitch he sees in his big league debut.

June 18, 1961

In Game 1 of a doubleheader at Fenway Park, the Red Sox, trailing by seven runs entering the bottom of the ninth, beat the Senators, 13-12, after Jim Pagliaroni’s two-out grand slam tied the score. In addition to catching all 22 innings of the twin bill, the Boston backstop, hits a walk-off home run in the 13th inning of the nightcap, giving the Boston a 6-5 victory.

June 18, 1961

St. Louis Brown Eddie Gaedel dies from a heart attack at the age of 36

June 19, 1961

Roger Maris hits his 25th of the year, putting him seven games ahead of Babe Ruth’s pace in 1927

June 20, 1961

1961 – Al Kaline plays 3B for the first time in his career. His two hits and two RBIs lead the Tigers to a 5 – 4 win over the Senators. Kaline will return to the OF and play 3B just once more in his career, in 1965.

June 20, 1961

Mickey Mantle beats Willie Mays in World Wide Election

June 22, 1961

Roger Maris leads the Yankees on an 8 – 3 thrashing of the A’s by belting his 27th homer of the year. He adds two doubles and a single. Maris has now hit 20 homers in the past 30 days (May 24 to today), to tie the mark set by Ralph Kiner in 1947.

June 23, 1961

At home, the Cards win, 10 – 5, over the Giants. With two home runs, Stan Musial passes Lou Gehrig on the all-time list for extra-base hits. Babe Ruth remains first.

June 23, 1961

Down 9 – 0, then 11 – 2, the Phillies score 4 in the 8th and 6 in the 9th to top the Pirates, 12 – 11, at Pittsburgh.

June 23, 1961

Ernie Banks voluntarily takes the bench as a sore knee brings his 717 consecutive games played streak to an end. The streak started August 26, 1956. The Bank-less Cubs still win, 5 – 3, over the Braves at Wrigley Field. Joe Adcock, who applied the hidden ball trick last August 31st to George Altman, nabs another Cub, Billy Williams, in the 8th.

June 23, 1961

Louisville’s Howie Bedell’s 43-game hitting streak ends against Dallas-Fort Worth. Bedell ties the record of Eddie Marshall for the American Association’s longest hitting streak.

June 23, 1961

Sam Mele is named to replace Cookie Lavagetto as the manager of the ninth-place Twins during the team’s first season in Minnesota. As a coach, the Astoria, New York native filled in as the skipper of the club while Lavagetto took a seven-game leave of absence earlier in the month.

June 25, 1961

Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Angels set a major league record by combining to use 16 pitchers during a 14-inning game

June 25, 1961

Vic Power is the baserunner on first base in the bottom of the 9th, when Chuck Essegian pinch-hits a single. Power, thinking it is a home run, waits to shake hands with Essegian, and is forced out at second base. Detroitand Jim Bunning win, 6 – 3, then Cleveland takes the nightcap, 4 – 3.

June 26, 1961

Don Dichiara of Batavia hits four consecutive home runs in a game

June 26, 1961

Yogi Berra collects his 2000th career hit, all as a Bronx Bomber, in the Yankees’ 8-6 victory over the Angels. A huge cake is rolled out in Wrigley Field in Los Angeles to celebrate the accomplishment.

June 26, 1961

* At Los Angeles’s Wrigley Field, Angel reliever Art Fowler, who has allowed just one hit in his last 12 innings, serves up a 9th-inning home run to Bill Skowron as New York wins, 8 – 6. Mickey Mantle adds an earlier homer, off Ken McBride, and Whitey Ford wins his 13th. Yogi Berra collects his 2,000th career hit, all as a Bronx Bomber. To celebrate the achievement a huge cake is rolled out.

June 27, 1961

Gene Green, Willie Tasby and Dale Long hit consecutive home runs for the Senators as they trim Cleveland, 8 – 5.

June 28, 1961

The Phillies and Giants play for 5 hours and 11 minutes, but the 15-inning contest ends in a 7 – 7 tie. Both teams score three in the 15th in the longest night game to date.

June 28, 1961

Ryne Duren goes eight innings and strikes out 12 former teammates to give the Angels a 5 – 3 win over New York. Mickey Mantle drives in all three Yankee runs, two on a home run.

June 29, 1961

Mays becomes 4th player to hit 3 homeruns in a game twice in a season

June 30, 1961

Whitey Ford wins his 8th game of the month

July 1, 1961

At Milwaukee, Gordy Coleman collects eight hits and leads the Reds to a sweep over the Braves. The Reds win the opener, 8 – 5, as Coleman collects five hits, including a 3-run homer in the 13th off Warren Spahn. Gordy chips in with three more hits in the nitecap, a 4 – 3 Reds win.

July 1, 1961

The Senators stake rookie Carl Mathias to a 3 – 0 lead over New York, but a Mickey Mantle solo shot, a few feet left of the 456-foot sign in left at Yankee Stadium, puts New York on the board. The Nats up the score to 5 – 1, but Mantle then bangs a 3-run homer to make it 5 – 4 and knock out Mathias, who in his 11 major league games will give up three homers to Mantle. In the 9th, Roger Maris poles a two-run homer, his 28th, to give New York a 7 – 6 victory.

July 2, 1961

The Yankees hit five homers – number 28 by Mickey Mantle and numbers 29 and 30 by Roger Maris – to easily beat the Senators, 13 – 4.

July 2, 1961

The Pirates sweep a pair from the Giants, winning 7 – 6 and 9 – 0. Sore-armed Vern Law, making his first start in more than three weeks, is lifted in the 6th and Harvey Haddix wins in relief. Bobby Shantz pitches a 5-hitter to win the nitecap as the Bucs score six unearned runs off Juan Marichal. The Giants, 2 1/2 games back yesterday, will be nine out on the evening of July 8. The Giants’ Orlando Cepeda flexes his muscles, as does Pittsburgh’s Roberto Clemente. The Baby Bull powers a two-run, tape measure blast over the centerfield bricks. Shortly thereafter, the rival stars trade 425-footers. Crashing against Forbes Field’s right center exit gate, Cepeda’s blast goes for two bases. Clemente’s clout comes in the nightcap, good for a bases-clearing triple which puts Pittsburgh’s up, 8 – 0.

July 2, 1961

Pitcher Glen Hobbie and Tony Taylor each hit a pair of homers for the Cubs, but it is not enough as the Cardinals win, 10 – 9. Pinch hitter Richie Ashburn’s bases-loaded single in the 8th brings home the deciding run .

July 4, 1961

At Chicago, the Giants roll to a 19 – 3 win in the first game, collecting 22 hits including a homer by Orlando Cepeda that is one of the longest in Wrigley Field history. The Cubs come back in the nitecap to win, 3 – 2, overcoming Willie Mays’s 300th homer.

July 4, 1961

Harmon Killebrew’s hits his only career inside-the-park homer

July 4, 1961

Before 74,246 – the largest crowd at Yankee Stadium since 1947 – the Yankees split with the Tigers, winning the opener 6 – 2, before losing 4 – 3 in 10 innings.

July 4, 1961

Johnny Antonelli returns to the Braves as the Indians sell the veteran back to where he started as an 18-year-old pitcher.

July 5, 1961

At Yankee Stadium, Roger Maris cracks a 7th-inning solo home run against the Indians, and also is credited – erroneously, as it turns out – with a 3rd inning RBI on a single. The two RBIs are officially recorded, though just one appears in the game’s box score, and the error will not be noted until 1995. With the correction, Maris and Jim Gentile become co-leaders in RBIs for the season.

July 5, 1961

Cardinals first baseman Bill White collects 14 total bases when he hits three home runs and a double. The 27 year-old infielder’s offensive output helps the Redbirds rout the Dodgers at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, 9-1.

July 6, 1961

Solly Hemus (33-41) is fired as manager of the Cardinals and replaced by coach Johnny Keane.

July 8, 1961

At Yankee Stadium, Whitey Ford tops the Red Sox, 8 – 5. Mickey Mantle hits a home run in the 4th, off Tracy Stallard, for his 10th roundtripper this year in support of Ford.

July 9, 1961

At Los Angeles, Frank Robinson hits a pair of homers, a double and a single to drive in seven runs and the Reds coast over the Dodgers, 14 – 3.

July 9, 1961

The Tigers take over first place with a doubleheader sweep of the Angels. Frank Lary’s 13th victory in the opener, a 1 – 0 three-hitter, is followed by Jim Bunning’s 6 – 3 win in the nitecap.

July 9, 1961

Sherm Lollar’s 9th-inning pinch-hit grand slam, off Frank Funk, for the White Sox, crushes Cleveland, 7 – 5. It is the 5th pinch slam in the American League this season – two by the Sox – and ties the major league record. The Sox also win the second game, 9 – 8. Over the afternoon 8 home runs are hit.

July 11, 1961

Stu Miller is literally blown off the mound during all star game

July 11, 1961

Mays, Clemente and Aaron

July 13, 1961

Chicago’s Early Wynn gets an early departure as he retires just two Yankees in the 1st inning. Then Mickey Mantle (30th) and Roger Maris (34th) belt back-to-back homers to send the vet to the showers. For Mantle, it is the 13th homer in his career off Wynn, his favorite target. New York wins, 6 – 2

July 14, 1961

At Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Phillies top the Dodgers, 7 – 5, in 10 innings. Phils reliever Jack Baldschun pitches in his 8th straight game to pick up the win.

July 14, 1961

Roberto Clemente erases a 4 – 1 deficit with his two-out, 8th-inning, game-winning grand slam, hit “high and far into the black night, over the 410-foot sign in center-field,” according to Bob Stevens of the San Francisco Chronicle. UPI’s Scott Baillie elaborates, describing “a ball that took off low and gathered altitude like a jet as Willie Mays vainly scaled the left center field fence.” The Bucs tack on one more to beat the Giants by a final score of 6 – 4. The Chronicle’s Phil Berman collars Clemente for some post-game comments: “‘I was looking for an inside pitch,’ said Clemente. ‘I don’t know whether it was a fastball or not, but it came in a little inside and I was ready for it. I know it went out of here fast,’ he grinned. Although Clemente’s drive clears the centerfield fence like a shot, the Pirate outfielder recalls it is not the hardest ball he has hit here. ‘Last year I hit one harder to the left field bleachers (May 6, 1960). That was a high fly ball. But this was a line drive. And I liked this hit better because it won the game.'”

July 14, 1961

Willie Kirkland whacks his 5th home run in three games to help the Cleveland Indians down the Los Angeles Angels, 7 – 5 at Cleveland. His first four were in consecutive at bats before and after the All-Star break and tied the major league record. He now has 16 en route to 27 for the year.

July 14, 1961

Minnie Minoso scores on pass ball to 6-1 win

July 16, 1961

Detroit regains first place with two complete game victories from Phil Regan and Don Mossi.

July 16, 1961

Hiromu Fujii hits the first come-from-behind sayonara home run in Hiroshima Carp history, taking Masaichi Kaneda deep.

July 17, 1961

The Yankees top the O’s, 5 – 0, behind Whitey Ford’s 13th straight win. Mickey Mantle (#33) and Moose Skowron hit long home runs at Baltimore. The nitecap goes into the 5th when, with two outs and the Yanks up 4 – 1, a thunderstorm strikes. The umps wait 65 minutes before calling the game, thus washing out homers by Roger Maris and Mantle.

July 17, 1961

Bill White goes 8 for 10 in a doubleheader, as the Cards sweep the Cubs, 10 – 6 and 8 – 5, at Busch Stadium.

July 17, 1961

Commissioner Ford Frick decrees that Babe Ruth’s record of 60 home runs in a 154-game schedule in 1927 “cannot be broken unless some batter hits 61 or more within his club’s first 154 games.”

July 17, 1961

Sandy Koufax leaves after one inning of a 7 – 5 loss at Cincinnati. The 14-game winner has a circulatory problem in the index finger and palm of his pitching hand and will be sidelined until late September.

July 17, 1961

7/17/1961: The Yankees were leading 4-1 in the top of the fifth in Baltimore when the game was rained out. In that game, scheduled as the second game of a doubleheader, both Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle hit homers off Hal Brown. Maris’ came in the first with two out and no one on while Mantle blasted his leading off the fourth. In addition Marv Throneberry of the Orioles homered in the second with the bases empty as did Clete Boyer of the Yankees in the 3rd, making a total of 4 homers lost to rain in this one game.

July 17, 1961

Yankee sluggers Roger Maris (35) and Mickey Mantle (32), both ahead of the Bambino’s record 1927 pace, each lose a homer when the nightcap of a twin bill is rained out in the top of the fifth inning against the Orioles in Baltimore. The Memorial Stadium washout occurs on same day Commissioner Ford Frick decrees that Babe Ruth’s record of 60 home runs will not be broken unless a player hits 61 or more within the first 154 games of the newly expanded 162-game schedule.

July 17, 1961

Hall of Famer Ty Cobb dies at the age of 74

July 18, 1961

* Mickey Mantle poles two homers off rookie Joe McClain to pace New York to a 5 – 3 win over the Senators. In pre-game ceremonies, Mantle teamed with New York Congressman Eddie Dooley to win the homer-hitting contest against other Congressional-player duos.

July 18, 1961

Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock and Joe Torre of the Braves startle the Reds with a triple steal

July 18, 1961

Bill White ties Ty Cobb’s 49 year-old record by collecting 14 hits in four games

July 18, 1961

Ford Frick protects Babe Ruth’s homerun record

July 19, 1961

The Yanks and Senators split, with Washington winning the nitecap, 12 – 2. Dick Donovan is the winner. Mickey Mantle belts a 500-foot homer in the 4th over the RF wall.

July 19, 1961

Ford Frick, an old friend of Babe Ruth’s, announces that should Ruth’s single-season home run record be beaten after 154 games are played, the record will carry a “distinctive mark”. When asked about the ruling, Roger Maris replies, “A season is a season.” Sportswriter Dick Young suggests an asterisk, which is later claimed to be Frick’s idea. No such designation is ever used in the record books, though, but the incident leads to a myth that an “official record book” lists Maris’s record with an asterisk. The myth is still popularly believed over 50 years later.

July 21, 1961

With each team stranding 15 baserunners, the Angels and Senators tie the major-league record for runners left on base by two clubs in a 9-inning game. Los Angeles wins, 16 – 5.

July 21, 1961

Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris continue their assault on Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record

July 22, 1961

1961 – Johnny Blanchard does it again with a solo pinch-hit home run to start a three-run 9th-inning Yankee rally to tumble the Red Sox, 11 – 9.

July 23, 1961

1961 – Using 21 pitchers, the Tigers (11) and A’s (10) set an American League record for most hurlers used in an 18-inning doubleheader. At 3 hours, 54 minutes, the second game is the longest 9-inning contest in AL history. The entire doubleheader lasts six hours, 50 minutes, a major league record. The Tigers sweep, 6 – 4 and 17 – 14, taking first place by one percentage point.

July 24, 1961

Max Carey and Billy Hamilton, are inducted into the Hall of Fame

July 24, 1961

Boston OF Jackie Jensen’s fear of flying gets the best of him and he refuses to fly to Los Angeles. The Sox say they will not pay him for games he misses because of the problem.

July 24, 1961

At Kansas City, Detroit P Frank Lary collides with rookie 3B Steve Boros, and both players leave the game with injuries. Lary does not miss a start but Boros’s collarbone is broken and he will not return. He has 53 RBIs to date.

July 24, 1961

A home run derby featuring Bronx Bombers Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle vs. Giants sluggers Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda planned to take place before tonight’s exhibition game between the two teams is postponed due to the inclement conditions at Yankee Stadium. Mickey Mantle will be the only scheduled participant to homer in the actual contest, when his second inning round-tripper, a 450-foot blast off Bob Bolin that lands in the bleachers, accounts for New York’s only run.

July 24, 1961

In a mid-season exhibition match played at Yankee Stadium in front of 47,346 fans on a stormy night, and the San Francisco Giants beat their former cross-town rivals, 4-1. Mickey Mantle’s homer accounts for the only Bronx Bombers run, and Willie Mays, who is cheered enthusiastically throughout the entire evening, has two RBIs for the visiting ‘Jints.’

July 25, 1961

Roger Maris hits 4 homeruns during double header sweep

July 26, 1961

At Milwaukee, the Reds muscle three runs in the 8th inning to beat the Braves, 3 – 2. Gus Bell rings a pinch homer and Frank Robinson clubs a two-run homer for the Reds.

July 26, 1961

Johnny Blanchard ties a major-league record by hitting his 3rd and 4th home runs in four at bats over three games. He drives in four of the Yankee runs in a 5 – 2 victory over the White Sox at Yankee Stadium. New York manages just six hits but four are homers, including one by Mickey Mantle following Blanchard’s 1st-inning clout. Blanchard will end the year with 21 homers in 243 at bats, the first player in history to hit 20 or more in fewer than 250 at bats.

July 26, 1961

Johnny Blanchard hits his fourth consecutive home run over three games, setting a major league mark. The backup catcher’s pair of homers helps to pace the Bronx Bombers to a 5-2 victory over Chicago at Yankee Stadium. https://amzn.to/2uTR0CM

July 27, 1961

Vada Pinson gives the Reds a 2 – 1 win over the Braves when he swipes home in the 9th inning. Pitcher Carl Willey’s throw beats Pinson but he kicks the ball out of the glove of C Sammy White.

July 27, 1961

The Giants’ Juan Marichal fires his first shutout of the year, stopping the Pirates, 2 – 0, on five hits. Manager Alvin Dark says before the game that “Marichal will go all the way” and keeps his relief pitchers in the dugout to emphasis the point. Bob Stevens of the San Francisco Chronicle writes: “Later, Dark explained to questioning reporters: ‘I’m sick and tired of watching pitchers bow their necks for four-five innings and then look around for Stu Miller to bail them out.’ As far as press box historians could guess, last night was the first time in modern baseball history that a major league bullpen was left unattended.” Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays trade circus catches in the game. As reported by Stevens: “Only twice did Dark, enforcing an almost sadistic philosophy, go to the mound – when Marichal scraped an arm falling hard to the ground fielding a Smoky Burgess bounder in the 5th, and in the 7th when Don Hoak singled immediately behind a miraculous catch by Willie Mays of a deep, soaring, twisting drive by Burgess. Mays reached high in the sky after a 25-yard race to haul down Burgess’ boomer… The first break-through [against the Pirates’ Vinegar Bend Mizell] came in the 5th immediately after Roberto Clemente had crashed against the right-field wall to pocket a roaring shot by Orlando Cepeda.”

July 28, 1961

1961 – The Yanks buy 1B Bob Hale from Cleveland. This will make veteran Earl Torgeson, signed on June 17th, expendable. They’ll release Torgy as a player in early September and sign him as a coach.

July 29, 1961

Duke Snider’s pinch-hit home run and Ron Fairly’s RBI hit give Los Angeles a 5 – 4 win at Pittsburgh. The Dodgers take over first place from the Reds.

July 29, 1961

The Giants’ Orlando Cepeda hits a 1st-inning grand slam to give the Giants a 4 – 3 win over the Phils. The Phillies will lose 23 straight before another victory.

July 31, 1961

Due to heavy rain, the second 1961 All-Star Game ends in a 1-1 tie at Fenway Park with Rocky Colavito’s home run accounting for the American League’s only run. Jim Bunning, the American League starter, pitches three perfect innings again (he also did it in 1957), making him the only All-Star hurler to accomplish the feat twice.

August 2, 1961

New York beats Kansas City, 12 – 5, with Mickey Mantle walloping a 1st-inning homer off Art Ditmar. Mantle and Roger Maris are both at 40 homers.

August 2, 1961

Juan Marichal fires a one-hitter (a Tommy Davis single) at the Dodgers, winning, 6 – 0. Felipe Alou has three hits, including two home runs, to pace the Giants’ win over the league leaders.

August 2, 1961

Full Radio Broadcast Kansas City A’s vs Whitey Ford and New York Yankees

August 3, 1961

In the largest shutout score in a National League night game, the Pirates beat the Cardinals at Sportsman’s Park, 19-0. Harvey Haddix throws a four-hit complete game for the Bucs in a game that takes only two hours and thirty-six minutes to play.

August 4, 1961

At Candlestick Park, Warren Spahn wins his 299th game, 2 – 1, over the Giants. He gets a bit of help from Hank Aaron who leads off the 7th and 9th with homers off Mike McCormick. The Giants only score is an Orlando Cepeda homer in the 5th.

August 4, 1961

With a little help from George Altman, the Cubs’ Bob Anderson outpitches Sandy Koufax, and beats the Dodgers, 4 – 2. Altman hits two homers off Koufax, the first time anyone has done that off the Dodgers lefty.

August 6, 1961

Mickey Mantle leads the Yankees to a doubleheader sweep of the Twins, going 5 for 9 with three home runs and a double. His four RBIs give him an even 100 for the year and his homer total is now 43. In the opener, Mantle had two home runs off his favorite pitcher, Pedro Ramos, but it is Johnny Blanchard’s homer in the 10th that ties the game at 6 – 6. In the 15th, Yogi Berra hits a bases-loaded grounder and just beats the throw at first to give the Yanks the win. The Yankees win the nitecap by a run as well, when Clete Boyer drives in Mantle in the 9th inning to break a 2 – 2 tie. New York now leads Detroit by 2 1/2 games.

August 6, 1961

Maury Wills’ first home run in 1,167 major league at bats, and a double, triple, and home run by Frank Howard give the Dodgers an 11 – 4 win against Chicago and first place by a half game in the National League. Wills has three hits and scores four runs, while Johnny Podres gives up ten hits, but goes the distance to win. Wally Moon drives in three runs with three hits.

August 6, 1961

8/6/1961: In a game at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, two hitters lost home runs to rain: Jerry Adair of the Orioles and Tom Satriano of the Angels. It would have been Satriano’s first major league homer.

August 8, 1961

1961 – At Fenway Park‚ the Twins’ Camilo Pascual gives up an inside-the-park grand slam to Gary Geiger in the 3rd and a solo shot to Don Buddin in the 7th‚ but wins‚ 6 – 5. Pascual drives in his first 3 runs of the year to snap the Twins’ 8-game losing streak.

August 9, 1961

The Dodgers win their 17th out of 20 to stay a game ahead of the Reds, beating the Braves, 8 – 3, Don Drysdale hits a grand slam off Don Nottebart in the 2nd, and allows just four hits while striking out 11. Two of the four hits are homers by Joe Adcock.

August 9, 1961

The Cards beat the Pirates, 4 – 0, with all the Birds’ scoring coming on a grand slam by Julian Javier.

August 9, 1961

Cincinnati wins its 16th straight game against Philadelphia as Joey Jay blanks the Phils, 5 – 0. It is the 13th loss in a row for the Quakers, their longest string of defeats since 1936; they’ve won just one in 19 games. Elio Chacon hits his first major league homer, off Don Ferrarese.

August 10, 1961

Dave Philley, with his twenty-first pinch hit of the season, breaks an American League record, set by Ed Coleman of the Browns in 1936. The 41 year-old Texan, coming off the bench to hit for Dick Williams in the eighth inning, sets the new pinch hitting mark when he doubles to right field in the Orioles’ 8-0 win over Kansas City at Memorial Stadium.

August 10, 1961

1961 – Roberto Clemente utilizes the entire “toolbox,” but can’t quite keep the Cardinals from beating the Pirates, 3 – 2. Clemente’s 9th-inning leadoff laser over the right field screen pulls Pittsburgh to within one, but that’s how it ends. Earlier in the game, Clemente crushed the ball a couple of times with nothing to show for it. Les Biederman of the Pittsburgh Press writes: “Clemente twice tried to handle things with his bat but he hit the ball too hard. He hit a vicious line drive to Bill White in the 1st inning but the Card first baseman turned it into a double play. The same thing happened in the 3rd but this time his smash went straight to Julian Javier.” While drawing blanks at the plate, Clemente keeps the game close with his arm, doubling Ken Boyer off first in the 4th and cutting down Curt Flood trying to stretch a 5th-inning single. But he’s not done there, reports United Press International: “St. Louis threatened to break the game wide open in the 6th by loading the bases. But Clemente made a running over-the-head catch of [starting pitcher] Ray Sadecki’s liner to deep right to quelch the uprising.”

August 11, 1961

Warren Spahn becomes the 13th major leaguer to win 300 games

August 11, 1961

The Vancouver Mounties of the Pacific Coast League steal nine bases in one inning against the Salt Lake City Bees. Included in the pilfering are two triple steals. The Mounties score five runs in the frame.

August 11, 1961

In a classic pitching duel‚ White Sox lefty Billy Pierce and Kansas City’s Jim Archer walk none and neither go to a full count. Luis Aparicio’s home run is the only score as the Sox win, 1 – 0, in 1 hour‚ 32 minutes.

August 12, 1961

1961 – At Griffith Stadium‚ Roger Maris belts his 43rd homer‚ off Dick Donovan‚ but it’s New York’s only score as they lose‚ 5 – 1‚ the Yanks’ first loss in 10 games. For Washington, it is their first win in 8 games. Gene Green’s pinch grand slam off Luis Arroyo is the big blow for the Nats.

August 13, 1961

1961 – In the first of two with the Senators, Roger Maris belts his 44th homer to tie Mickey Mantle. An inning later, Mantle hits a Bennie Daniels offering for his 45th, but that’s all Daniels allows, winning, 12 – 2. Maris adds his 45th homer in the 1st inning in game two as the Yanks win, 9 – 4.

August 14, 1961

At Memorial Coliseum, the Cards’ Ernie Broglio allows just five Dodger hits in shutting out Los Angeles, 5 – 0. Don Drysdale takes the loss. For the Dodgers, this will be the start of a ten-game losing streak.

August 14, 1961

The Reds purchase Darrell Johnson from the Phils.

August 14, 1961

The Phillies drop their seventeenth consecutive game, a 9-2 defeat to the Cubs’ Dick Ellsworth, and, for the eleventh straight time, the opposing pitcher throws a complete game against the team. The last-place club will finish the season with a 47-107 record, 46 games behind the league-leading Reds.

August 15, 1961

Roger Maris hits his 46th homer, off Chicago’s Juan Pizarro, for New York’s only run in a 2 – 1 loss to the visiting White Sox.

August 15, 1961

Frank Malzone is 5 for 5 with a pair of homers in the Red Sox’s 8 – 0 shellacking of the Indians. Gene Conley throws the shutout and hits a homer. Jackie Jensen and Carroll Hardy hit back-to-back home runs in the 5th.

August 15, 1961

At Los Angeles, the 2nd-place Reds’ Joey Jay (17-7) gives up three singles and two runs in the 1st and just three hits after that in subduing the first-place Dodgers, 5 – 2. Losing pitcher Sandy Koufax (13-8) almost adds another hit but is thrown out at first base by RF Frank Robinson. Announcer Vin Scully says, “Sandy forgot to run.”

August 16, 1961

Cincinnati takes the National League lead for good with a shutout sweep, 6 – 0 and 8 – 0, at Los Angeles before 72,140, a record crowd for a NL doubleheader. Bob Purkey gives up four hits and Jim O’Toole just two in handing the Dodgers their first twinbill whitewash since July 18, 1935.

August 16, 1961

Roger Maris ties an American League record with his 7th home run in his 6th straight game, as New York beats Chicago, 5 – 4, in the 9th inning. His two blasts off Billy Pierce give him 48, three more than Mickey Mantle.

August 16, 1961

Just five outs shy of career shutout No. 53, Milwaukee starter Warren Spahn is denied when Dick Stuart delivers an RBI single, thus bringing home the bullet Spahn has just dodged. That bullet came off the bat of Roberto Clemente, a loud double just a few feet shy of clearing Milwaukee County Stadium’s left centerfield fence. Disappointed but undaunted, Spahn will settle for career win No. 301 – a complete-game 2 – 1 decision over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

August 17, 1961

Charles Finley denies he plans to move the Kansas City Athletics to Texas. “I have no plans to move. We are a Kansas City team, and besides, we have no place to move to.” He says he put out no feelers to other cities about moving the A’s.

August 17, 1961

Chuck Weatherspoon hits his 7th grand slam of the season for Wilson (Carolina League) in a game against Winston-Salem.

August 17, 1961

It takes the Phils 11 innings at County Stadium, but they finally lose to the Braves, 7 – 6 when Al Spangler singles home the winner. For Philadelphia, it is their 20th loss in a row, a modern major league record. The Phils lose a 6 – 4 lead in the 8th when Joe Adcock slams a 2-run homer off Art Mahaffey to tie the game.

August 17, 1961

The Indians edge the Red Sox in the 14th inning, 4 – 3, when Mike Fornieles walks in the winning run. Cleveland ties the game in the 9th on John Romano’s 2-run homer into the upper deck.

August 18, 1961

1961 – Ron Kline, purchased from the Angels on August 10, blanks the Red Sox on four hits to give the Tigers a 5 – 0 win. Bill Monbouquette fails for the 9th time to win his 9th, lasting just four innings and gives up homers to Billy Bruton and Rocky Colavito.

August 19, 1961

The Reds surge to a three-game lead in the National League by topping the Cards, 3 – 1, behind Joey Jay. The Reds get on the board in the 6th on Wally Post’s homer, his 16th. He has now homered this year in every NL park.

August 19, 1961

The Red Sox top the Tigers, 5 – 3, as the two teams combine to hit into eight double plays, tying the major-league record for nine innings.

August 19, 1961

The Phils rally in the 9th, but strand 11 and lose, 4 – 3 to Milwaukee. For the hapless Quakers, it is their 22nd loss in a row. For the Braves, it is their 9th win in a row. The Phils have 13 hits off Tony Cloninger, the winner, while Frank Sullivan allows just 7. The Braves score all their runs in the 3rd, the big blow being Frank Thomas’s two-run homer.

August 19, 1961

Maris steals a homerun and Yankees win in 10

August 20, 1961

Philadelphia Phillies set a modern day record by losing their 23rd consecutive game

August 20, 1961

Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris homer in the twinbill sweep.

August 20, 1961

The Cubs and Pirates tie a National League record by playing their third straight extra-inning game. The Cubs take this one, 1 – 0. Chicago wins two of the three 11-inning games.

August 20, 1961

In the second game of a doubleheader, the Phillies snap a 23-game losing streak when the Braves beat the Braves at Milwaukee’s County Stadium, 7-4. The winning pitcher John Buzhardt, who wears jersey #23, throws a complete game, ending the team’s skid at 23 straight losses, a major league mark for the most consecutive defeats by a team.

August 21, 1961

In their first appearance in Boston since moving to Milwaukee, the Braves defeat the Red Sox, 4 – 1

August 22, 1961

The hot Giants sweep a pair from the National League-leading Reds, winning 12 – 2 and 5 – 3. Visiting SF features 20 hits in the opener to back Mike McCormick. Orlando Cepeda’s 35th home run, NL high, starts the scoring in the nitecap, as Sam Jones and Stu Miller combine. Willie Mays has his 32nd and 33rd homers in the twinbill.

August 22, 1961

Roger Maris becomes the first player to hit his 50th home run in the month of August

August 22, 1961

Frank Lane’s short tenure as general manager of the A’s ends when Charlie Finley replaces him with Pat Friday.

August 22, 1961

At L.A.’s Wrigley Field, the Angels edge the Yankees, 4-3, in front of 19,930 fans, the largest home crowd of the season. The expansion team will have an average attendance of 6,620 patrons per game in its first season, but that total almost triples when the Bronx Bombers are the opponents.

August 23, 1961

Giants set total base record

August 23, 1961

Dave Philley ties Sam Leslie’s 29 year-old major league record with his 22nd pinch hit of the season. The historic moment occurs in an Orioles 7-5 extra-inning victory over the A’s as the 41 year-old singles in the top of the 7th pinch hitting for Hoyt Wilhelm at Municipal Stadium.

August 24, 1961

The Red Sox announce that they will not pay Jackie Jensen for any games he misses due to his fear of flying.

August 24, 1961

Ageless Satchel Paige signs with Portland (Pacific Coast League). In 25 innings for the Beavers, he will have a 2.88 ERA.

August 25, 1961

In the Orioles’ 5 – 2 win over the Twins, Oriole Dave Philley sets a major-league record for pinch hits. His swinging bunt down the third base line is his 23rd hit, breaking the record set by the Giants’ Sam Leslie in 1932. Phillips is 23 for 63 this season.

August 25, 1961

Jim Bunning (15-9) allows just two hits while blanking the Senators, 6 – 0, in a game called after eight innings because of rain. The win keeps the Tigers two games ahead of the Yankees.

August 26, 1961

Ed Short becomes general manager of the White Sox, replacing Hank Greenberg.

August 26, 1961

Roger Maris, hitting his 51st round-tripper of the season, has the most homers in major league history at this point in the season. The Yankees’ right fielder goes deep off right-hander Jerry Walker in the sixth inning of the team’s 5-1 victory over Kansas City at Municipal Stadium.

August 27, 1961

Detroit’s Rocky Colavito ties an American League record with four home runs – three in the second game, in a doubleheader pummeling of the Senators, 7 – 4 and 10 – 1 at Washington.

August 27, 1961

With first place on the line after the Dodgers have won two games from them, Cincinnati rallies from a 5 – 1 deficit to a 6 – 5 first-game win over Los Angeles. Gene Freese hits a 3-run homer in the 7th and Wally Post adds a 2-run double in the 8th. Rookie Ken Johnson is an 8 – 3 winner in the nightcap as the Reds pummel Don Drysdale. The sweep gives the Reds a 3 1/2 game lead in the National League.

August 27, 1961

The Orioles’ Milt Pappas is the whole show as he blanks the Twins, 3 – 0. He allows just two hits while belting two homers. Eddie Robinson adds a homer.

August 28, 1961

At LA’s Wrigley Field, Baltimore takes advantage of the friendly confines to hit five home runs and beat the Angels 11 – 5. Jack Fisher has a complete game win, despite allowing 12 walks. The game is the last for Paul Richards as the manager for Baltimore.

August 28, 1961

At Washington, Rocky Colavito and Al Kaline belt 1st-inning homers as Detroit wins, 7 – 3 to cut New York’s lead to 1 1/2 games. Rocky now has 39 homers and 120 RBIs. Jake Wood hits a 6th inning grand slam to complete the scoring for Detroit.

August 29, 1961

1961 – At Milwaukee, the Braves take over 3rd place from the Giants with a 13-inning, 7 – 6 victory. Eddie Mathews ends the game with his 26th homer. For San Francisco, Willie McCovey cracks his 16th homer for his third hit of the game, and the 20th hit in 45 at bats since his return to the Giants’ lineup. The Braves recognize a hot bat when they see one and, with first base open in the 11th, walk McCovey to get to Willie Mays. Mays earlier drove in his 100th run, but grounds out to end the inning.

August 29, 1961

1961 – 494 acres of land on the south end of Houston are bought by R.E. “Bob” Smith and Judge Roy Hofheinz. 180 acres are sold to Harris County as the site where the new domed stadium will be built.

August 30, 1961

1961 – Mickey Mantle connects for home run number 47, off the Twins’ Jim Kaat, as the Yanks win, 4 – 0.

August 30, 1961

A computer named Casey is used to predict Roger Maris’ chances of passing Babe Ruth’s record of 60 home runs in 154 games. The IBM 1481 believes the Yankee slugger has a 55 percent chance of hitting 61 round-trippers to establish a new single-season mark for homers.

September 1, 1961

1961 – The American League’s biggest crowd of the year‚ 65‚566‚ sees Whitey Ford and Don Mossi duel at Yankee Stadium as a week-end battle for first place begins. Two-out‚ 9th-inning hits by Elston Howard‚ Yogi Berra‚ and Bill Skowron give New York a 1 – 0 win over the Tigers.

September 1, 1961

Cuno Barragan, in his first major league at-bat, hits his only big league home run, taking Dick LeMay deep over the left-field fence at Wrigley Field in the second inning of the Cubs’ 4-3 loss to San Francisco. The 29 year-old catcher will play in 69 games for Chicago over three seasons.

September 2, 1961

Against Detroit’s Frank Lary, Roger Maris doubles and takes third base on a misplay. Mickey Mantle, hurting from a pulled muscle in his forearm, lays down a perfect drag bunt to score Roger. Maris then blasts homers his next two trips to the plate, and Elston Howard adds a three-run homer, for a 7 – 2 win.

September 2, 1961

Milwaukee manager Chuck Dressen (71-58) is axed and executive vice president Birdie Tebbetts becomes the new skipper.

September 3, 1961

Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris become the first teammates to each hit fifty home runs in the same season when ‘the Mick’ goes deep twice, including a round-tripper in the ninth to tie the score, in the Yankees’ 8-5 walk-off victory over Detroit at the Bronx ballpark. Roger Maris, who also blasted a pair of homers against the Tigers yesterday, has hit 53 homers in his pursuit of Babe Ruth’s single-season mark of 60.

September 4, 1961

In Minnesota, the White Sox and Twins split a pair of 9 – 5 decisions in a day-night doubleheader. Harmon Killebrew hits his 39th homer in the opener to back Al Schroll’s six innings of spotty pitching. Al Smith has four hits and four ribbies in the nitecap. Numberless rookie Joe Horlen makes his major league debut in relief and picks up the win. The only road uniform available has no number on it.

September 4, 1961

Roberto Clemente leads the Pirates to a 9 – 4 win over the Cardinals. After doubling and scoring the first of three 1st-inning Pirate runs, Clemente greets newly-inserted reliever Al Cicotte with a line-drive home run worth three more runs. Les Biederman writes in the Pittsburgh Press: “Clemente’s homer was one of the longest and hardest shots he ever delivered.” Jack Hernon of the Post Gazette adds: “The ball sailed into the second row in the center field bleachers, some 425 feet away. It is a rarity for a ball to be hit into that section of Busch Stadium.”

September 4, 1961

Mickey Mantle misses the Labor Day doubleheader with a painful and swollen forearm, but the Yanks don’t need him as they sweep a pair from the Senators, 5 – 3 and 3 – 2. The sweep moves the Yanks six games up on the slumping Tigers, who lose, 6 – 3, to the Orioles and trail, 4 – 1, in a game that is suspended. Mantle’s replacement, Johnny Blanchard, breaks a 3 – 3 tie in the opener with an 8th-inning homer.

September 4, 1961

At Los Angeles, Don Drysdale stops the Giants, 4 – 0, allowing just two hits. The Dodgers are now two games in back of the first-place Reds.

September 4, 1961

After losing, 4 – 3, the A’s outkick the Angels, 13 – 7, in the second game of a doubleheader, using an 11-run 6th inning. Kansas City collects seven hits, four walks, three errors and a stolen base for their big inning. Norm Siebern and winning pitcher Joe Nuxhall homer in the frame.

September 5, 1961

Los Angeles’s Lee Thomas ties the major-league record with nine hits in a doubleheader, five in the first game and 4, including three home runs, in the second. Thomas ties the American League record with 19 total basesin a doubleheader. But Kansas City wins both games from the Angels, 7 – 3 and 13 – 12.

September 5, 1961

The Yanks top Washington, 6 – 1, sending the Senators to their 20th defeat in their last 21 games. Mickey Mantle’s homers for his 51st. The Yanks win, coupled with a Detroit doubleheader loss, puts New York ahead by 7 1/2 games.

September 6, 1961

Roger Maris connects for home run #54‚ off Tom Cheney of the Senators‚ as the Yankees win‚ 8 – 0‚ behind Whitey Ford’s 5-hitter. Ford is now 23-3. Johnny Blanchard hits a pair of homers‚ each time following a walk to Mickey Mantle‚ and Moose Skowron and Bob Hale also homer.

September 6, 1961

The Dodgers come from behind to defeat the Giants for the 4th straight time‚ winning 8 – 5‚ and moving within a game of first place.

September 7, 1961

1961 – Roger Maris lays down a bunt and also belts his 55th homer of the year in the 3rd inning as New York beats the Senators, 7 – 3. All of Washington’s scores come in the 6th on an inside-the-park homer by Tito Francona, off Bill Terry. When asked by writers after the game why he bunted, a testy Maris replies, “Trying to win the game, you stupid cocksucker. Why do you think.”

September 8, 1961

1961 – The Yanks rout the Indians, 9 – 1, as Mickey Mantle hits home run #52, off Gary Bell. The Yanks win for their 9th straight while Detroit loses their 8th in a row to drop 10 games back. The Tigers purchase veteran Vic Wertz from the Red Sox to shore up their offense.

September 9, 1961

Yankees come back for a 8-7 on Whitey Ford Day at Yankee Stadium

September 10, 1961

At Chicago, the Phillies score seven in the 7th, including Don Demeter’s grand slam, and notch six more in the 8th to beat the Cubs, 14 – 6. There is some solace for the Cubs as they introduce a pair of gems: Ken Hubbsdebuts with two hits and two runs and Lou Brock has one hit, one run and a pair of errors.

September 10, 1961

The Reds’ Bob Purkey allows just two hits in beating the visiting Cards, 5 – 2.

September 10, 1961

The Yankees sweep the Indians, 7 – 6 and 9 – 3, their 12th win in a row at home, and the Indians’ 20th loss in a row at Yankee Stadium – Full Radio Broadcast

September 11, 1961

Colt .45s ink 17-year-old Daniel “Rusty” Staub to a contract, winning a bidding war for the New Orleans schoolboy with a $110,000 signing bonus. It’s the same day that Hurricane Carla smashes into the Texas Gulf Coast with winds over 120-MPH. While striking south of the Houston area, the local winds and rain are enough to inflict damage on Busch Stadium where the Houston Buffs play. The stadium is auctioned and demolished in the coming months, leaving a void for fans of the longtime minor league club.

September 12, 1961

At Milwaukee, the Reds’ Joey Jay beats his old team, 1 – 0, for his 20th victory of the year. He’s the Reds’ first 20-game winner since Ewell Blackwell in 1947.

September 12, 1961

Frank Lary wins his 20th game of the season, the second time he has accomplished the feat, when he goes the distance in the Tigers’ 3-1 victory over Kansas City. The 31 year-old right-hander will finish the season with a 23-9 record, which includes a league-leading 22 complete games.

September 12, 1961

The Phillies drive Sandy Koufax from the mound in a 9-run 2nd inning and go on to defeat the Dodgers, 19 – 10. The loss drops Los Angeles 4 1/2 games behind the Reds. The big gun for the Phils is ex-Dodger Don Demeter, who hits a 2-run homer in the 1st, singles in a run in the 2nd, adds a 3-run home run in the 7th and a solo in the 9th. Two other Phils homer while 4 Dodgers go deep.

September 14, 1961

The Cardinals and Cubs set a National League record by using 72 players in a doubleheader (more than 18 innings). St. Louis leads the way with 37 players and wins twice, 8 – 7 and then 6 – 5 in 11 innings. Ken Boyer climaxes a 7 for 11 day by cycling in the nitecap, completing it by belting his 22nd home run of the year in the 11th inning. The Cards have won all 11 games with the Cubs at Busch Stadium this year.

September 14, 1961

At Los Angeles, Duke Snider caps a 4-run 9th inning by drilling a dramatic 3-run homer on a 2-strike count. The home run gives the Dodgers a 7 – 6 win and cuts the Reds lead to five games.

September 15, 1961

The Yankees set a new American League record for most homers in a season as they split a doubleheader in Detroit

September 15, 1961

With 10 strikeouts in an 11 – 2 win against the Braves, Sandy Koufax has 243 strikeouts, most ever for a National League lefty.

September 16, 1961

At Detroit, Roger Maris connects for #57, off Frank Lary, to stay a game ahead of Babe Ruth’s 1927 home run pace. But Lary wins his 21st, 10 – 4, over Ralph Terry, with help from Norm Cash, who belts a homer, his 37th, and a triple. Al Kaline adds four hits and a sac fly.

September 16, 1961

The Senators acquire P Claude Osteen from the Reds for 1B Dave Sisler and cash.

September 17, 1961

1961 – In Detroit, Roger Maris triples off Terry Fox in the 7th to put the Yanks ahead. Detroit ties it and, then in the 12th, Maris faces Fox again with Tony Kubek on second base. Maris steps out of the box to watch a long skein of Canadian geese fly over Tiger Stadium, then steps in a belts the first pitch for his 58th homer of the year.

September 19, 1961

1961 – The Giants clobber Warren Spahn for four home runs, one of them a grand slam by Willie Mays, and then rally in the 8th and 9th to top the Braves, 11 – 10. The two teams combine for eight home runs and 57 total bases, but the short ball wins it – Harvey Kuenn’s tie-breaking single in the 8th, and Ed Bailey’s sacks-full single in the 9th.

September 20, 1961

New York Yankees clinch 26th Pennant – Maris clubs 59th homerun

September 20, 1961

Sandy Koufax beats the Cubs, 3-2, in the last regular season game played at the LA Memorial Coliseum

September 21, 1961

1961 – At New York, Roger Maris is held hitless in four at bats, as the Orioles win, 5 – 3, behind Jack Fisher’s 3-hitter. All the runs off him are unearned. Maris is the only Yankee regular to play the entire game.

September 22, 1961

Jim Gentile hits his fifth grand slam of the year to tie the major league record established in 1955 by Cubs shortstop Ernie Banks. Each of the Orioles’ first baseman’s four-run homers has come with Chuck Estrada pitching for Baltimore.

September 23, 1961

An ailing Mickey Mantle’s career-high 54th home run, his last of the regular season, helps New York beat Boston, 8 – 3. Whitey Ford leaves the game in the 5th inning, but wins his 25th.

September 23, 1961

The Phils’ Wes Covington hits a solo homer in the 16th inning to top Pittsburgh’s Elroy Face, 5 – 4. Face also gives up an extra-inning homer to Felipe Alou on the 11th. Bobby Malkmus earlier homered for the Phils. Jack Baldschun pitches 7 1/3 innings of shutout relief for the win.

September 24, 1961

Minnesota’s Joe Altobelli hits a one-out 7th inning homer, the only hit off Washington’s Dick Donovan, who wins, 4 – 1. Jim Kaat loses his 16th.

September 24, 1961

At Cincinnati, the Giants stage a 9-run 4th to rip the Reds, 12 – 5. Orlando Cepeda hits his 45th homer of the year, a grand slam, to climax the frame. Cepeda will hit one more home run this year and finish with 39 walks, the first National League player with more than 40 homers and fewer than 40 walks. Hal Trosky has done it in the American League.

September 24, 1961

A dropped fly ball by Ken Hunt in the 10th gives the Tigers two runs and a 7 – 5 win over the Angels. Hunt had tied the game in the 8th with a home run. Rookie Howie Koplitz wins his first major league game, after going 23-3 with a no-hitter for Birmingham (Southern Association). Koplitz will win his first seven decisions in the Bigs over four years but an arm injury will limit him to a 9-7 record.

September 26, 1961

Roger Maris of the New York Yankees ties Babe Ruth for most home runs in one season

September 26, 1961

Cincinnati clinches its first National League pennant since 1940. Homers by Frank Robinson and pinch hitter Jerry Lynch, a tie-breaker in the 8th, give the Reds a 6 – 3 win at Chicago.

September 26, 1961

The Reds, with an 8-3 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field, clinch their first National League pennant since 1940. Cincinnati will lose the World Series to the Yankees, 4 games to 1.

September 27, 1961

Sandy Koufax sets a National League record for strikeouts in a season: 269

September 27, 1961

In front of only 1,717 fans at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, Bob Sprout appears in his only major league game. The Angels starter, who once struck out 22 batters in a seven-inning no-hitter in the minor leagues, starts against the Senators, allowing four hits and two runs in four innings, and has no role in the decision of his team’s 8-6 victory over Washington.

September 29, 1961

Johnny Blanchard singles in the ninth, plating Roger Maris to give the Yankees a 2-1 walk-off victory over the Red Sox. The super-sub, playing right field today, hit his 21st home run of the season in the fourth inning off Boston’s complete-game loser Bill Monbouquette, accounting for New York’s other run.

September 29, 1961

Whitey Ford goes six innings for the victory in the Yankees’ 2-1 win over the Red Sox to finish the season with a 25-4 record. ‘Slick’ hurls 283 innings during the campaign without allowing a stolen base.

September 30, 1961

The Angels win their 70th and final game of the season when they defeat Cleveland at L.A.’s Wrigley Field, 11-6. The seventy victories are the most games ever won by an expansion team in their first year of existence.

October 1, 1961

Roger Maris of the New York Yankees blasts his 61st home run

October 1, 1961

Willie Mays becomes 8th player to join 40+ homerun mark in 1961 Season

October 1, 1961

West Coast Wrigley Field hosts its last game

October 2, 1961

Two days before the start of the World Series between the Reds and Yankees, the expansion Mets introduced Casey Stengel as the franchise’s first manager. The introduction takes place at the Savoy Hilton in the same room where the Bronx Bombers held a press conference at the end of last season to announce the 70 year-old Old Professor’s ‘mandatory retirement.’

October 4, 1961

1961 – Whitey Ford’s third straight World Series shutout, with home runs by Elston Howard and Bill Skowron, gives the Yankees a 2 – 0 win in Game 1 of the 1961 World Series against Cincinnati at Yankee Stadium.

October 7, 1961

The Yankees win Game 3 of the World Series, beating the hometown Reds at Crosley Field, 3-2. The decisive blow is Roger Maris’ home run leading off in the top of the ninth inning off Cincinnati starter Bob Purkey.

October 8, 1961

Whitey Ford breaks Babe Ruth’s record for consecutive scoreless innings in World Series play

October 9, 1961

With the help of a pair of five-run innings at Crosley Field, the Yankees win the World Series, beating the Reds in Game 5, 13-5. Johnny Blanchard, a reserve player who will collect ten hits in 29 at-bats in five Fall Classics, hits two home runs and bats .400 en route to the Bronx Bombers’ 19th World Championship.

October 9, 1961

Wally Post Homers in game 5 1961 World

October 10, 1961

The Houston Colt .45s and the New York Mets choose in the first National League expansion draft

October 13, 1961

Houston makes their debut as a major league franchise through an Arizona instructional league team based in Scottsdale dubbed the “Colt .22s”. 

October 15, 1961

1961 – An All-Star exhibition game is held at Busch Stadium (formerly Buff Stadium) in Houston as a prelude to major league play the next year. 5,600 fans turn out to see the National Leaguers triumph, 6-1, over the American League squad. Bill White of St. Louis rips a home run. Bob Aspromonte, one of the newly-drafted Houston players, also gets into the game.

October 16, 1961

The Yankees purchase Robin Roberts from the Philadelphia. The right-hander, who compiled a 234-199 record in 14 seasons with the Phillies, will be released in May without having appeared in a regular-season game for the Bronx Bombers.

October 18, 1961

1961 – Colts purchase righthander Hal Woodeshick from the Detroit Tigers. A starter his first year in Houston, Woodeshick develops into a closer the next two seasons and makes the All-Star team in 1963.

October 25, 1961

The Mets sign their first player with major league experience when the team inks free-agent Ted Lepico. The 32 year-old middle infielder, who compiled .245 batting average playing with five teams during his ten-year career, will be cut by the expansion team during spring training.

October 28, 1961

Three thousand spectators witnessed the ground-breaking ceremony for the $18,000,000 Municipal Stadium in the Queen’s Flushing Meadow Park. The future home of the Mets, as well as the NFL’s Titans, is expected to ready for Opening Day in 1963, will be known as Shea Stadium in honor of Bill Shea, the lawyer who helped to bring back the National League to the Big Apple.

October 31, 1961

A federal judge rules that Birmingham, Alabama laws against integrated playing fields are illegal

November 8, 1961

With only one Cy Young Award given for the two leagues Whitey Ford, wins the honor ahead of Warren Spahn

November 10, 1961

The Rheingold Brewery, in addition to purchasing 100,000 tickets to the new National League’s team games, agrees to pay six million dollars for the radio and television rights to 126 Mets games per year for five years. The deal, the largest of its kind, is approximately double the cost of the franchise and all its first-season players.

November 14, 1961

John Fetzer, a passionate fan of the game, becomes the lone owner of the Tigers when he buys out the estate of Fred Knorr. After the 1983 season, the media mogul will sell the team to pizza entrepreneur Tom Monaghan.

November 15, 1961

For the second consecutive year, New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris is named American League Most Valuable Player

November 16, 1961

The circular New York Mets logo, designed by sports cartoonist Ray Gatto, is unveiled. The design, which represents all five boroughs with various symbols, is blue and orange, the team colors of the Dodgers and Giants, the franchises which left the “Big Apple” and moved to the West Coast leaving New York without a National League representative.

November 16, 1961

The Cleveland Indians trade second baseman Johnny Temple to the Baltimore Orioles for first baseman Ray Barker, catcher Harry Chiti and minor leaguer Art Kay.

November 16, 1961

The Mets unveil the franchise’s new logo selected from over 500 entries submitted in the expansion team’s $1000 design contest. Sports cartoonist Ray Gatto’s winning entry, which displays a skyline representing all five boroughs with various iconic symbols, is a blue and orange, the team colors of the Dodgers and Giants, the clubs which left the Big Apple and moved to the West Coast, leaving New York without a National League representative.

November 22, 1961

Frank Robinson of the Cincinnati Reds is a near-unanimous selection as MVP

November 26, 1961

1961 – The Professional Baseball Rules Committee votes 8-1 against legalizing the spitball. Only National League supervisor of umpires Cal Hubbard votes in favor.

November 26, 1961

Eddie Bressoud, Houston’s first official draft selection, is traded to Boston for shortstop Don Buddin. Buddin would bat .163 in 40 games before being sold to Detroit. Bressoud, claimed from the Giants, comes alive for the Red Sox and becomes an All-Star by 1964.

November 27, 1961

Chicago White Sox trade outfielder Minnie Minoso to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Joe Cunningham.

November 27, 1961

Outfielders Mike White and Johnny Weekly are selected during the winter supplemental draft

November 28, 1961

The Philadelphia Phillies send pitcher John Buzhardt and infielder Charley Smith to the Chicago White Sox for first baseman Roy Sievers. The Sievers trade is announced by the Sox after the Joe Cunningham trade, as they don’t want to appear to need a first baseman.

November 28, 1961

The Milwaukee Braves trade slugger Frank Thomas to the New York Mets for a player to be named later (Gus Bell) and a reported $125,000.

November 30, 1961

Cubs outfielder Billy Williams (.278, 25, 86) is selected as the 1961 National League Rookie of the Year.

November 30, 1961

The White Sox trade pitchers Don Larsen and Billy Pierce to the Giants for pitchers Eddie Fisher, Dom Zanni, Verle Tiefenthaler and first baseman Bob Farley.

December 1, 1961

The Colts obtain pitchers Bob Bruce and Manny Montejo from Detroit for pitcher “Toothpick” Sam Jones

December 2, 1961

1961 – Major league clubs vote to curb bonuses. All first-year players not on major league rosters, except one minor leaguer, can be drafted by any other club for $8,000. Clubs are expected to be unwilling to pay large bonuses for players who will be subject to a draft for just $8,000.

December 8, 1961

The Mets purchase outfielder Richie Ashburn from the Cubs. The veteran outfielder, who will be the club’s first-ever representative on the National League’s All-Star team, will be given a boat after being named the Most Valuable Player of the last-place team, which unfortunately will sink before he uses it.

December 13, 1961

Mickey Mantle signs a 1962 contract for $82,000 becoming second highest paid Yankee in history

December 14, 1961

Roger Maris’s request for a $75,000 contract is denied by New York Yankees general manager Roy Hamey.

December 15, 1961

Comiskey family sells its interest in the Chicago White Sox

December 15, 1961

The Reds reacquire P Johnny Klippstein, along with OF Marty Keough, from the Senators. Washington gets C Bob Schmidt and P Dave Stenhouse.

December 15, 1961

The Mets continue spending, sending Lee Walls and $100,000 to the Dodgers for Charlie Neal. Neal, the 5th ex-Dodger on the roster, was downed by the measles in the spring and a knee spur later on.

December 15, 1961

The Braves send veteran minor league 3B Ed Charles, C Joe Azcue and OF Manny Jimenez to the Athletics for Bob Shaw and Lou Klimchock. With Eddie Mathews at 3B, Charles was expendable. He will hit .288 with 17 home runs in 1962, his rookie year.

December 15, 1961

Charles Comiskey, Jr., sells his 46 percent interest in the White Sox to a group of 11 investors.

December 15, 1961

the game’s most well-known deaf player, William “Dummy” Hoy, dies at the age of 99

December 18, 1961

Bill DeWitt is elected president of the Reds, and Stanley Kess, chairman of the board.

August 20, 1962

Roger Maris hits his 49th and Mickey Mantle his 46th as the Yankees sweep a pair from the Indians