Roger Maris Hits Number 61

On October 1, 1961, Roger Maris hit his 61st home run of the season in the fourth inning of the Yankees' final regular-season game, breaking the record Babe Ruth set in 1927. The blast came off Boston Red Sox right-hander Tracy Stallard and landed in the right field seats at Yankee Stadium, where a crowd of just 23,154 watched a record fall that many fans did not want broken.

Maris had spent the final weeks of September under extraordinary pressure. Reporters packed around his locker after every game, asking the same questions about Ruth and whether the record would carry an asterisk. Commissioner Ford Frick had declared in July that any record needed to be set within 154 games to stand alongside Ruth's mark. The 1961 schedule ran 162 games, and Maris had only 59 home runs after game 154. The distinction haunted his pursuit even as he continued hitting.

Stallard threw a fastball on a 2-0 count. Maris connected, and the ball carried into section 33 of the lower right field stands. Sal Durante, a 19-year-old truck driver's son from Coney Island, caught the ball and eventually sold it for $5,000. Maris rounded the bases with his head down, as was his style. His teammates refused to let him stay in the dugout, pushing him back onto the field for a curtain call.

The record stood for 37 years until Mark McGwire hit 62 in September 1998. Maris never sought the spotlight and never felt comfortable in it. He had asked the Yankees to trade him after the 1966 season, and they sent him to the Cardinals. He retired after 1968 and died of lymphoma in 1985 at age 51. Major League Baseball quietly removed the asterisk distinction in 1991.