Life was never better than being a ten year old Yankee fan in 1961. EVERY player on that team was like a god to me, and none more so than Mickey and Roger. I would love to think ten year old kids can still have heroes like mine.
I was only 7 years old in 1961 and that was the year my dad introduced me to baseball. He was a huge Yankees fan and we went to Yankee stadium a few times. What a thrill! I can still remember my dad telling me in an excited voice, “He did it! Maris broke Ruth’s record!”
They beat my Tigers by 8 games. Truly a great Yankee team, probably their best since 1927. I never hated the Yankees as a Tiger fan, I respected them. Loved both Mantle and Maris, and they treated Maris badly, even his own fans. Roger deserved better!
I was eight years old in 1961 and one of only six Yankee fans in the small town of Jacobus, PA. Mickey Mantle was my baseball hero back then and still is today.
I was 13 years old in '61 and lived in Jersey just across the Hudson from NYC. To this day I feel the '61 Yankees were the greatest team I ever saw. They won 109 games and the American League Pennant by 8 games over the Tigers, 6 players with over 20 HR's including all 3 players listed as catchers on the roster, 6 pitchers had double didget win totals. Mantle hit over 300 with 128 RBI's and that was still SECOND on the team! As noted over the years, Roger Maris never gets enough credit for the great player he was. Back to back MVP awards and after leaving the Yankees won another series with the Cardinals and hit .385. Maybe best of all was growing up listening to Mel Allen, Red Barber and Phil Rizzutto call the games on tv and radio. Holy Cow!!!!
I lived in Ridgewood NJ and shared this same experience as a 13 year old as you were. It is indelibly printed in my mind as one of the most memorable summers and years in my lifetime. There's no question that the 1961 Yankees were the best baseball team to ever play the game.
Hello Bob: Thanks for the wonderful memories. I was also 13 at the time and living in the Bronx while you were in Jersey. Everything you say about the time, and the team, was absolutely spot on. Not to mention the great times listening to Mel Allen, Phil Rizzuto and Red Barber. If i could, I'd go back to 1961 in an instant. Take care of yourself. Stay healthy.
@@bobkhalpern I remember sitting in my room watching the Yankees on my 13 inche black and white tv on WPIX! I'm probably thinking more about those days during these tough times. It was great being a Yankees fan. On a side not, '61 was also when I went to my first NY Giants game at Yankee Stadium.
I wasn't born till '63, but I'm a diehard Yankee fan. Would you say it was almost worth the disappointment you felt in 1960, what they did in '61? That's about how I feel.
0:48 Johnny Blanchard. One day I went into our local Goodwill store and I found a VHS tape called Pinstripe Power. I loved all the interviews from the guys like Tony Kubek, Johnny Blanchard... anyway, I began looking up the players on the internet, looking for fan club addresses hoping to get some autographs. First man I looked up was Johnny Blanchard. Sadly, I saw that he had passed away. Discouraged, I didn't look up any others. About a week later, I go back to the Goodwill store and I immediately spot 4 baseballs in clear square cases sitting on the counter. I focused right away on one in particular. I saw the autograph, "Johnny Blanchard World Champs 1961-1962". Man, I almost fell over. The price...$5.00 The other baseballs were signed by Tom Tresch and Tommy John. The 4th one was unrecognizable so, I don't know. Later on, I located Bobby Richardson in South Carolina and he signed two baseballs for me, "Bobby Richardson #1 Yankees 55-66 60 WS MVP" What a thrill. Gotta love the 1961 Yankees. Rest in Peace Johnny Mike Pardue
That was the best team that I ever saw. My wife and I saw Bobby Richardson speaking at a National day of prayer meeting in Lake Charles, La. We took a picture with Bobby that day. We will never forget that day.
yeah, I took Richardson's picture, too! in YANKEE STADIUM!! he will never remember it; I will never forget it!! what a man!!! WHAT A FINE EXAMPLE OF WHAT CHRIST JESUS CAN DO WITH A LIFE!!!!!
I was just seven years old in 1961 and just getting introduced to baseball. A Yankees fan, I remember the excitement surrounding Mantle and Maris chasing Ruth’s record and Maris finally breaking it on the last day of the season.
I agree with you wholeheartedly! The other guys were cheats who dishonored themselves and the game. I will take it a step farther though. The Bambino is still the king to me. Until someone that isn’t on steroids hits 61 in 154 games, the Babe is still the record holder. (petty, I know. I’m only half serious!)
@@alvinmendez09 The schedule when Ruth was playing was 154 games. 1961 was the first year they played 162 game schedule. Maris had 8 more games than Ruth and didn't hit 60 until game 159. And he hit 61 in game 162. Which is why I say Ruth holds the record in my mind. 60 in 154 games.
Great video,brings back a lot of memories. I was 12 years old and during 1961 we played ball all day long pretending to be Roger and Mick belting homers with wiffle.tennis ,and rubber balls in our backyard. Thanks for the post!
I did the same with the wiffle-ball bat and a tennis ball that we punctured and used to play a game we invented called "Lefty" in tribute to Mantle & Maris. We would play at the school and slam that tennis ball up onto the roof of the school from down in the playground.
I was 9 that year, and my dad pitched fast pitch softball, and watching Mantle and Maris going after Ruth, just went through my blood, and that’s when I knew I wanted to be a Major League Baseball player.!!
Yanks had a great team with numbers inflated by first modern (two teams) expansion, but there was no player draft and they could buy their way thru amateur signings and quantity and quality of prospects.. In the 1950's the Yanks won 8 of ten pennants, and 6 OF 10 WORLD TITLES.. They were better than any National League team, but the A.L. as a whole was inferior. The N.L. had five teams, and four of them won the Series in the fifties, capable of winning the pennant every year. The A.L. had four or five lousy teams every year back then. Wash., Phil/KC A's(in KC a guy who owned ten percent of the Yanks, owned most of the A's= glorified QUADRUPLE-A FARM TEAM FOR NY), CHISOX, except for one season='59, St.Lou.Browns/Balty, and Detroit&Boston up and down. Cleveland was the only consistent YANKS..competition in the A.L.
jeffrey lebowski Kubek was a very good shortstop. It’s a shame his career ended much too soon. Aged only 29 when he retired. Injuries, I guess. He and Richardson were a terrific combination.
Thanks for sharing. I had owned the VHS of this when it was first released! 180 double plays! They did have a great defense! The catchers actually hit 62 homers.
In 1961, the Yankees were my team. I was there for every game they played and watched every home run by the M & M boys and all the other great players on this magnificent team It was nothing short of thrilling as a young teenage kid of 13 years old watching his baseball heroes become world champions and watching Mantle & Maris hit back to back homers time after time with Maris finally breaking Babe Ruth's record. Whitey Ford was amazing pitching lights out quality pitching every time he took the mound and all the other players adding to the winning equation with their superb fielding and hitting skills. Stand outs were Clete Boyer, Kubek & Richardson, Elston Howard and Johnny Blanchard with an all start cast contributing to their winning season.The summer of '61....priceless!! The World Series championship........well deserved. This Yankees team was the best team in baseball history.
2 amazing stats: The CATCHERS hit 60 hit 60 homers between them... Whitey Ford had 8 starts in June - that's one start every 3 1/2 days..went 8-0 that month..Best month for a pitcher ever..
Didn't know for the Greatest Yankee pitcher...and would have won 300 had not for52&53 in Korean service and Casey's ignorance and look what happened Cy Young. A great champion and humorous fellow. Also quit in 65 had less than 100 loses possibily. Saw him play his last game and my father saw his first and last played. ..& H of Fame induction that was a real thrill. As the local papers sports page stated Vernon's Tobin knows ALOT about a model named Ford.peace Toby ( Ct.)
One of the great Yankee teams ever Maris record breaking 61 mantle with 54 hr s whitey ford 26 wins sweeps the cincy reds in the world series what a year
By the All-Star game in July (the traditional half-way point of the season) Ford had nineteen wins and two defeats. He later revealed that Warren Spahn asked him, "How the hell can you have 19 wins by the All-Star game?" Had Ford kept up that pace for the second half of the season, he would have had 38 wins for the season.
I wasn't even alive then, but the Yankees may have won the previous World Series as well if Casey Stengel had started Ford in games 1 and 4, or perhaps 2 and 5. For that matter, he perhaps could have used him in relief in Game 7. But the season they had in '61 (109 wins and 53 losses and a 4 games to 1 win in the World Series) almost made the '60 disappointment worthwhile.
That's the year a 10 year L.A. kid fell in love with baseball and the Yankees. Even though the first game I would go to was to be in 1962 at Dodger Stadium. Sitting in the blue seats it was great. Thank's for the post. Sill a Yankees fan.
The 1961 Yankees should earn more respect like the 1927 Yankees and the 1998 Yankees. In my opinion those three teams are the best in franchise history!
1932 was another breathtaking year for the Yankees, going 107-45 and of course, winning the World Series. Those four years would be their best 4, IMHO.
i was all of 6 years old during that dream season. my dad had been a lifelong yankees fan and he taught me much about baseball that year. baseball is still my favorite game and the yankees are still my favorite team ( despite cashman, hal, donaldson, hicks, torres, and a few other bums the yanks keep on their roster...hoping for another WS win before I die, but as long as Hal is the owner and cah his GM, i guess i'll die before the yanks win another WS.
I went to a bunch of games at Yankee Stadium that year. I specifically remember a twi-night doubleheader against the White Sox where Maris hit four homers. Naturally, the Yankees swept the two games. Clete Boyer also homered twice and Mantle and Howard added one each.
Couple of great quotes....Casey " I was told I was too old at 70, I won't make that mistake again"--------JFK on his lack of experience "well the Yankees just let Casey Stengel go so I guess experience isn't everything"--------
I idolized Mickey Mantle and was a fanatical Yankee fan at the time. I was so disappointed when he couldn't finish the season. Nothing against Roger, but I still think Mickey could have beat him if he was not hospitalized. I still think it was the greatest team of all time.
Funny thing about the powerhouse 1961 New York Yankees: they finished the season 109-53-1 with a tie game 5-5 (7th inning) in game 2 of an April 22nd double-header where they lost the 1st game.
As a Yankees fan since I was a child in the 60's (born in 1959) my Dad took us to Yankee Stadium in 1967 for my 8th birthday. I knew of this great year from a visit to Cooperstown NY and having Yankees games on our local NYC WPIX channel 11 television. There should be no asterisk beside anything near Roger Maris. That baseball commissioner was wrong and Mickey put it plainly. Furthermore, there should be an asterisk next to McGuire and Bonds. Using those SEG's was wrong and they know it. Mantle and Maris played CLEAN and used their God Given talents and abilities to play the game. Period. In 1972 I met The Mick. He was very polite and congenial. Roger is the All Time Single Season Home Run Champion. 61.
Here is something to consider. The last 15 homers Roger Maris hit were under extreme pressure . The Babe did not have that pressure . No athlete has ever faced this sustained scrutiny. Not taking anything away from the Babe
Scott Aznavourian Great as Casey was, he cost them the 1960 Series all because he had a hard on for Whitey Ford and refused to pitch him in game one which meant he couldn't start 3 games in the series. How well did Ford pitch vs Pittsburgh? Two games, 2 shutouts. Ford never understood Caseys problem with him or he just wouldn't say ..Casey a stranger one for sure.
I used to have a recording of Rizzuto calling the same play. If Barber and Allen called it for Channel 11, what was Ruzzuto calling it on. (As I'm listening I hear them playing it) I guess radio?
While Mel Allen+Red Barber announced the game on TV (WPIX, Channel 11), Scooter announced it on radio (WCBS). Quite different calls. I'd choose the Scooter, but admittedly I'm biased there...
Every day in our home in NY was WPIX NYC channel 11 television. Rizzuto and Jerry Colman were the announcers. Phil's voice was always the greatest. "Holy Cow"!
I was a Reds fan beginning in 61,and it was a disappointing finish,but the Yankees were tough.Ironically I like the Yankees during that season,mainly Maris and Mantle.
Coming from him, that is indeed a strange statement. What more did he want? A 109-53 regular season record, 4 games to 1 World Series championship. Those two things alone would put them in the top 5 teams of all time. IMHO, of course, but still superb, I'm sure most thinking people will agree.
The Detroit Tigers won 101 games and didn't make the playoffs in 1961. The only other times that a 100 win team didn't get to participate in a playoff series were the 1954 Yankees, 1942 Dodgers, 1915 Tigers, and 1909 Cubs.
1961 Yankee power resulted from American League expansion to 10 teams. All AL teams feasted on the severely weakened pitching throughout the league, caused by the elevation of minor leaguers to the majors to fill in the team rosters. Add in the short right field fence at Yankee Stadium that gave left handed hitters (including Babe Ruth) an easy shot at home runs half of every season, and you get both Mantle and Maris with 50+ home runs in 1961, and the Yankees a league record 240 home runs. "Yankee Power" = a public relations pantload.
@@joemanpjg I disagree, brother BB fan, and here's why. Today, the quality of BB players is much better because of scientific advances in training. Bigger, stronger, faster men who all are required to weight train, adhere to yearly personalized training, throwing, and running schedules, and so on. IF you took past players and put them through today's regimens, THEN you have an argument I could side with, player by player. Can you imagine Mickey Mantle today = Mike Trout? All we have to do is look at what steroids, extreme supplementation, etc. did to pitching speed, foot speed, throwing distance, bat speed, and increased physical strength from muscle gain and BB AFTER PED's, and my argument is even stronger. I was a drugfree powerlifter, discus thrower, and baseball player, which gives me practical experience with these issues. ADD ON: I saw Mickey hit a home run vs the Angels in Anaheim at a game my dad took us to in 1968. Mantle's knees were shot; he played first base that day.
If expansion caused the uptick in offense in the American League in 1961, why did offense decline in the National League when it expanded in 1962 to ten teams and a 162 game schedule?
With all the respect to The greatest Babe Ruth , Maris has the record for HR in a season. McGuire, Sosa and Bonds are juice heads . You don’t believe me just look at their transformation of their physique ‘s . Baseball knows this that’s why they are not in the hall of fame .
amazing the red sox's had a poor record but fenway was always packed, the yankee's had a lot of empty seats in a lot of games at yankee stadium even though they were playing great, spoiled fans? maybe
Mantel was most likely on some morphine while playing that game. I would of played if that was the case. Nothing better than baseball with a dozen beers in you It was probably how he played that game with Morphine instead of beers Until the end of course. We all know how Mickey loved his beers and on top he had some opium. Wow, I bet he felt just fine. Let's play ball.
Life was never better than being a ten year old Yankee fan in 1961. EVERY player on that team was like a god to me, and none more so than Mickey and Roger. I would love to think ten year old kids can still have heroes like mine.
It was for me I was 25
I was only 7 years old in 1961 and that was the year my dad introduced me to baseball. He was a huge Yankees fan and we went to Yankee stadium a few times. What a thrill! I can still remember my dad telling me in an excited voice, “He did it! Maris broke Ruth’s record!”
Great comment
I was 11
They beat my Tigers by 8 games. Truly a great Yankee team, probably their best since 1927. I never hated the Yankees as a Tiger fan, I respected them. Loved both Mantle and Maris, and they treated Maris badly, even his own fans. Roger deserved better!
I was fortunate to see this team in person in 61 as a young boy.
Super Team ! Roger Maris should be in the Hall of Fame
I was eight years old in 1961 and one of only six Yankee fans in the small town of Jacobus, PA. Mickey Mantle was my baseball hero back then and still is today.
I was 13 years old in '61 and lived in Jersey just across the Hudson from NYC. To this day I feel the '61 Yankees were the greatest team I ever saw. They won 109 games and the American League Pennant by 8 games over the Tigers, 6 players with over 20 HR's including all 3 players listed as catchers on the roster, 6 pitchers had double didget win totals. Mantle hit over 300 with 128 RBI's and that was still SECOND on the team! As noted over the years, Roger Maris never gets enough credit for the great player he was. Back to back MVP awards and after leaving the Yankees won another series with the Cardinals and hit .385. Maybe best of all was growing up listening to Mel Allen, Red Barber and Phil Rizzutto call the games on tv and radio. Holy Cow!!!!
I lived in Ridgewood NJ and shared this same experience as a 13 year old as you were. It is indelibly printed in my mind as one of the most memorable summers and years in my lifetime. There's no question that the 1961 Yankees were the best baseball team to ever play the game.
Hello Bob: Thanks for the wonderful memories. I was also 13 at the time and living in the Bronx while you were in Jersey. Everything you say about the time, and the team, was absolutely spot on. Not to mention the great times listening to Mel Allen, Phil Rizzuto and Red Barber. If i could, I'd go back to 1961 in an instant. Take care of yourself. Stay healthy.
@@bobkhalpern
I remember sitting in my room watching the Yankees on my 13 inche black and white tv on WPIX! I'm probably thinking more about those days during these tough times. It was great being a Yankees fan.
On a side not, '61 was also when I went to my first NY Giants game at Yankee Stadium.
I wasn't born till '63, but I'm a diehard Yankee fan. Would you say it was almost worth the disappointment you felt in 1960, what they did in '61? That's about how I feel.
0:48 Johnny Blanchard. One day I went into our local Goodwill store and I found a VHS tape called Pinstripe Power. I loved all the interviews from the guys like Tony Kubek, Johnny Blanchard... anyway, I began looking up the players on the internet, looking for fan club addresses hoping to get some autographs. First man I looked up was Johnny Blanchard. Sadly, I saw that he had passed away. Discouraged, I didn't look up any others. About a week later, I go back to the Goodwill store and I immediately spot 4 baseballs in clear square cases sitting on the counter. I focused right away on one in particular. I saw the autograph, "Johnny Blanchard World Champs 1961-1962". Man, I almost fell over. The price...$5.00
The other baseballs were signed by Tom Tresch and Tommy John. The 4th one was unrecognizable so, I don't know. Later on, I located Bobby Richardson in South Carolina and he signed two baseballs for me, "Bobby Richardson #1 Yankees 55-66
60 WS MVP" What a thrill. Gotta love the 1961 Yankees. Rest in Peace Johnny
Mike Pardue
That was the best team that I ever saw. My wife and I saw Bobby Richardson speaking at a National day of prayer meeting in Lake Charles, La. We took a picture with Bobby that day. We will never forget that day.
Great story. Usually the great athletes we've met have been very grateful to admirers. It's a kid's dream that never leaves them in adulthood.
yeah, I took Richardson's picture, too! in YANKEE STADIUM!! he will never remember it; I will never forget it!! what a man!!! WHAT A FINE EXAMPLE OF WHAT CHRIST JESUS CAN DO WITH A LIFE!!!!!
I’m a pirates fan and watching this video makes it even more miraculous we beat the yanks in one of the biggest upsets ever just a year earlier!
I was just seven years old in 1961 and just getting introduced to baseball. A Yankees fan, I remember the excitement surrounding Mantle and Maris chasing Ruth’s record and Maris finally breaking it on the last day of the season.
Roger is still the season home run leader with 61 as far as I am concerned.
That makes two of us!
I agree with you wholeheartedly! The other guys were cheats who dishonored themselves and the game. I will take it a step farther though. The Bambino is still the king to me. Until someone that isn’t on steroids hits 61 in 154 games, the Babe is still the record holder. (petty, I know. I’m only half serious!)
Concur
@@kurtsokolik1398 why
@@alvinmendez09 The schedule when Ruth was playing was 154 games. 1961 was the first year they played 162 game schedule. Maris had 8 more games than Ruth and didn't hit 60 until game 159. And he hit 61 in game 162. Which is why I say Ruth holds the record in my mind. 60 in 154 games.
Great video,brings back a lot of memories. I was 12 years old and during 1961 we played ball all day long pretending to be Roger and Mick belting homers with wiffle.tennis ,and rubber balls in our backyard. Thanks for the post!
I did the same with the wiffle-ball bat and a tennis ball that we punctured and used to play a game we invented called "Lefty" in tribute to Mantle & Maris. We would play at the school and slam that tennis ball up onto the roof of the school from down in the playground.
My favorite team of all time.
I was 8 in 1961.....what a year for bsseball
'61 was a magical year.
Unforgettable players in the 1961 Yankees: Whitey Ford,Mantle,Maris,Skowron,Richardson,Kubek...wow
You missed Boyer, Lopez, Howard, Blanchard, Cerv
Berra?
I was 9 that year, and my dad pitched fast pitch softball, and watching Mantle and Maris going after Ruth, just went through my blood, and that’s when I knew I wanted to be a Major League Baseball player.!!
Yanks had a great team with numbers inflated by first modern (two teams) expansion, but there was no player draft and they could buy their way thru amateur signings and quantity and quality of prospects..
In the 1950's the Yanks won 8 of ten pennants, and 6 OF 10 WORLD TITLES..
They were better than any National League team, but the A.L. as a whole was inferior.
The N.L. had five teams, and four of them won the Series in the fifties, capable of winning the pennant every year. The A.L. had four or five lousy teams every year back then.
Wash., Phil/KC A's(in KC a guy who owned ten percent of the Yanks, owned most of the A's= glorified QUADRUPLE-A FARM TEAM FOR NY), CHISOX, except for one season='59, St.Lou.Browns/Balty, and Detroit&Boston up and down. Cleveland was the only consistent YANKS..competition in the A.L.
M & M - Most thrilling summer!
7 &9 forever.
Tony Kubek...my idol as a kid #10 at SS....Great game caller too.
jeffrey lebowski Kubek was a very good shortstop. It’s a shame his career ended much too soon. Aged only 29 when he retired. Injuries, I guess. He and Richardson were a terrific combination.
Thanks for sharing. I had owned the VHS of this when it was first released! 180 double plays! They did have a great defense! The catchers actually hit 62 homers.
Thanks for sharing! Brings back lots of memories.
In 1961, the Yankees were my team. I was there for every game they played and watched every home run by the M & M boys and all the other great players on this magnificent team It was nothing short of thrilling as a young teenage kid of 13 years old watching his baseball heroes become world champions and watching Mantle & Maris hit back to back homers time after time with Maris finally breaking Babe Ruth's record. Whitey Ford was amazing pitching lights out quality pitching every time he took the mound and all the other players adding to the winning equation with their superb fielding and hitting skills. Stand outs were Clete Boyer, Kubek & Richardson, Elston Howard and Johnny Blanchard with an all start cast contributing to their winning season.The summer of '61....priceless!! The World Series championship........well deserved. This Yankees team was the best team in baseball history.
I was 10 years old in 61-but the best Yankees team I ever saw was 1998
2 amazing stats: The CATCHERS hit 60 hit 60 homers between them...
Whitey Ford had 8 starts in June - that's one start every 3 1/2 days..went 8-0 that month..Best month for a pitcher ever..
In fairness, they all played in the outfield that season, too.
Yes, Yogi and Blanch played left field.
Didn't know for the Greatest Yankee pitcher...and would have won 300 had not for52&53 in Korean service and Casey's ignorance and look what happened Cy Young. A great champion and humorous fellow. Also quit in 65 had less than 100 loses possibily. Saw him play his last game and my father saw his first and last played. ..& H of Fame induction that was a real thrill. As the local papers sports page stated Vernon's Tobin knows ALOT about a model named Ford.peace Toby ( Ct.)
@@syourke3
Well yeah. What other team could do that?
It's almost like comparing apples and oranges, but what Tom Brady is to the NFL today Whitey Ford was almost (if not fully) his equal in 1961.
I had this on vhs. damm well almost snapped it i watched it so much great job ian
1961 Yankees one of the best teams ever
One of the great Yankee teams ever Maris record breaking 61 mantle with 54 hr s whitey ford 26 wins sweeps the cincy reds in the world series what a year
Roger still holds the record 61 no steroids
sorry the record still stands 73 by Barry Bonds👑of homeruns
Roger Maris is still the regular season home run champ...NO STEROIDS and he was one hell of a defensive player ..
@@jimmykuang9279
💉💉💉💉💉💉💉💉💉💉💉
Jimmy Kuang Barry roidman
PED's have nothing to do with hand/eye coordination. Strength alone isn't enough to hit a home run
By the All-Star game in July (the traditional half-way point of the season) Ford had nineteen wins and two defeats. He later revealed that Warren Spahn asked him, "How the hell can you have 19 wins by the All-Star game?" Had Ford kept up that pace for the second half of the season, he would have had 38 wins for the season.
Thomas Jefferson Houk went to a four man rotation and that gave Ford a lot more starts than he got under Stengel.
I wasn't even alive then, but the Yankees may have won the previous World Series as well if Casey Stengel had started Ford in games 1 and 4, or perhaps 2 and 5. For that matter, he perhaps could have used him in relief in Game 7. But the season they had in '61 (109 wins and 53 losses and a 4 games to 1 win in the World Series) almost made the '60 disappointment worthwhile.
That's the year a 10 year L.A. kid fell in love with baseball and the Yankees. Even though the first game I would go to was to be in 1962 at Dodger Stadium. Sitting in the blue seats it was great. Thank's for the post. Sill a Yankees fan.
Great movie by Billy Crystal too
Roger Maris will Always be my favorite player. Love to own his cards and one the Lord willing be able to afford his signed PSA Ball
The 1961 Yankees should earn more respect like the 1927 Yankees and the 1998 Yankees. In my opinion those three teams are the best in franchise history!
1932 was another breathtaking year for the Yankees, going 107-45 and of course, winning the World Series. Those four years would be their best 4, IMHO.
i was all of 6 years old during that dream season. my dad had been a lifelong yankees fan and he taught me much about baseball that year. baseball is still my favorite game and the yankees are still my favorite team ( despite cashman, hal, donaldson, hicks, torres, and a few other bums the yanks keep on their roster...hoping for another WS win before I die, but as long as Hal is the owner and cah his GM, i guess i'll die before the yanks win another WS.
Not so much as a mention that Maris was AL MVP in 1961, making it back-to-back MVPs in '60-'61.
Rog was AL MVP in 1960, also.
Maybe watch 5 mins at beginning. THEY DO MENTION HIS 1960 MVP
Secretarian Not to Knock Roger but Mantle was the best player in all of baseball , 1960 &1961 .
@@DanielLDees Maris was also MVP in 1961...he he he
Primetime, yes they do.
I went to a bunch of games at Yankee Stadium that year. I specifically remember a twi-night doubleheader against the White Sox where Maris hit four homers. Naturally, the Yankees swept the two games. Clete Boyer also homered twice and Mantle and Howard added one each.
I was at that game just before my 12th birthday, sitting in right field lower level. Marie was my hero
Couple of great quotes....Casey " I was told I was too old at 70, I won't make that mistake again"--------JFK on his lack of experience "well the Yankees just let Casey Stengel go so I guess experience isn't everything"--------
I idolized Mickey Mantle and was a fanatical Yankee fan at the time. I was so disappointed when he couldn't finish the season. Nothing against Roger, but I still think Mickey could have beat him if he was not hospitalized. I still think it was the greatest team of all time.
I was born in 1958. So by 1964 I thought the Yankees on TV in October was a regularly scheduled annual event!
Aaron Judge now has the American League record and the Yankees record of 62 home runs in a season
Tony K was one fine player. Love ya #10.
Funny thing about the powerhouse 1961 New York Yankees: they finished the season 109-53-1 with a tie game 5-5 (7th inning) in game 2 of an April 22nd double-header where they lost the 1st game.
As a Yankees fan since I was a child in the 60's (born in 1959) my Dad took us to Yankee Stadium in 1967 for my 8th birthday.
I knew of this great year from a visit to Cooperstown NY and having Yankees games on our local NYC WPIX channel 11 television. There should be no asterisk beside anything near Roger Maris. That baseball commissioner was wrong and Mickey put it plainly. Furthermore, there should be an asterisk next to McGuire and Bonds. Using those SEG's was wrong and they know it.
Mantle and Maris played CLEAN and used their God Given talents and abilities to play the game. Period.
In 1972 I met The Mick. He was very polite and congenial. Roger is the All Time Single Season Home Run Champion. 61.
Best team ever
touche''
125-50 will never be sniffed again! EVER!!
@@kurtsokolik1398 What are you talking about?
All ballplayers great and small, secretly wish they were NY Yankees.
Casey Stengel also said I'll never make the mistake of being 70 again
"I think I would have been happier if I would not have hit all those home runs."
Great YR 7yrs old
Here is something to consider. The last 15 homers Roger Maris hit were under extreme pressure . The Babe did not have that pressure . No athlete has ever faced this sustained scrutiny. Not taking anything away from the Babe
If Mickeys dad hadn’t died in 1952 he wouldn’t have been twisting the night away and would have become the best player of all time.
I grew up a Yankee Fan.
stengal delivered 7 world titles and 10 pennent in 12 years and got fired. and steinbrenners wasn't even the owner.
Scott, Del Webb was owner during Casey's reign.
Scott Aznavourian Great as Casey was, he cost them the 1960 Series all because he had a hard on for Whitey Ford and refused to pitch him in game one which meant he couldn't start 3 games in the series. How well did Ford pitch vs Pittsburgh? Two games, 2 shutouts. Ford never understood Caseys problem with him or he just wouldn't say ..Casey a stranger one for sure.
"I'll never make the mistake of being 70 again," said Stengel after he was let go following the WS upset in '60.
Casey made the mistake of turning 70,
well maybe if the Yankees offense averaged 14 runs for anyone not named whitey it wouldn't have been an issue.....
I was not alive in 61 but what a year
The season was 162 games 8 more than 154.
He did not hit his 1st till the 9th game so he hit 61 in 61
Go Yankees!
No juice is juice alcohol was the PED back when these boys played
I used to have a recording of Rizzuto calling the same play. If Barber and Allen called it for Channel 11, what was Ruzzuto calling it on. (As I'm listening I hear them playing it) I guess radio?
While Mel Allen+Red Barber announced the game on TV (WPIX, Channel 11), Scooter announced it on radio (WCBS). Quite different calls. I'd choose the Scooter, but admittedly I'm biased there...
Every day in our home in NY was WPIX NYC channel 11 television. Rizzuto and Jerry Colman were the announcers. Phil's voice was always the greatest. "Holy Cow"!
Agree
I was a Reds fan beginning in 61,and it was a disappointing finish,but the Yankees were tough.Ironically I like the Yankees during that season,mainly Maris and Mantle.
I would point out , they added 2 new teams to the league that year . Which may have watered down the pitching some , too ?
Yogi: ILL DIRECT THE PROGRAMMING.
YOU ACTUALLY DO IT.
#REMARKABLEFEAT
The New York fan’s treatment of Maris awful, the media did too.
👍👍👍👍
FAKE NEWS! Mick and Roger weren't at war.
I can't believe there is any dislikes
If you measure power by runs scored, Detroit was more powerful- 841 runs scored to 827 .
Bill James said the '61 Yankees weren't all that good. Never understood that.
Coming from him, that is indeed a strange statement. What more did he want? A 109-53 regular season record, 4 games to 1 World Series championship. Those two things alone would put them in the top 5 teams of all time. IMHO, of course, but still superb, I'm sure most thinking people will agree.
They were a great team but the 98 yanks were the best ever
@@robertpaciullo1540
I was deployed during the summer of '98. When I got news about the Yankees being 89-29, I thought it was a typo.
The Detroit Tigers won 101 games and didn't make the playoffs in 1961. The only other times that a 100 win team didn't get to participate in a playoff series were the 1954 Yankees, 1942 Dodgers, 1915 Tigers, and 1909 Cubs.
Imagine rooting for a team that wins 100 and is still home in October? You can add the 1993 Giants and 1980 Orioles to that list too.
There were no playoffs in 1961 !!!!!
The 1993 giants won 103 games and finished one game behind the Braves
The Disco Stu I thought the 1974 Reds finished with 100 wins just 2 games behind the Dodgers in the western division.
@@cumulus1234 My list is only the old school teams before there were divisional playoffs. sorry
#Trump2020!
YES SIR
24/7/365
1961 Yankee power resulted from American League expansion to 10 teams. All AL teams feasted on the severely weakened pitching throughout the league, caused by the elevation of minor leaguers to the majors to fill in the team rosters. Add in the short right field fence at Yankee Stadium that gave left handed hitters (including Babe Ruth) an easy shot at home runs half of every season, and you get both Mantle and Maris with 50+ home runs in 1961, and the Yankees a league record 240 home runs. "Yankee Power" = a public relations pantload.
baseball then not watered down like now...no comparison todays bb players all greed and couldn't shine the shoes of the players back then
@@joemanpjg I disagree, brother BB fan, and here's why. Today, the quality of BB players is much better because of scientific advances in training. Bigger, stronger, faster men who all are required to weight train, adhere to yearly personalized training, throwing, and running schedules, and so on. IF you took past players and put them through today's regimens, THEN you have an argument I could side with, player by player. Can you imagine Mickey Mantle today = Mike Trout? All we have to do is look at what steroids, extreme supplementation, etc. did to pitching speed, foot speed, throwing distance, bat speed, and increased physical strength from muscle gain and BB AFTER PED's, and my argument is even stronger. I was a drugfree powerlifter, discus thrower, and baseball player, which gives me practical experience with these issues. ADD ON: I saw Mickey hit a home run vs the Angels in Anaheim at a game my dad took us to in 1968. Mantle's knees were shot; he played first base that day.
Sour grapes from a typical non-yankee fan
You go hit a baseball traveling 90 MPH moving around. What a moron you are.
Ignorant uneducated statement.
If expansion caused the uptick in offense in the American League in 1961, why did offense decline in the National League when it expanded in 1962 to ten teams and a 162 game schedule?
its funny how they assumed houk was gonna be tougher then casey cause he was a former marine, and yet houk was easier then casey.
Houk was an Army Ranger sir.
With all the respect to The greatest
Babe Ruth , Maris has the record for
HR in a season. McGuire, Sosa and Bonds are juice heads . You don’t believe me just look at their transformation of their physique ‘s . Baseball knows this that’s why they are not in the hall of fame .
1961 Mantle and maris comparable to Ruth and Gehrig in 1927?
yep, for sure
Ryan Games Home runs yes, RBI's and average. not even close.
people call today's yankee stadium's right field the short porch? back then it was up to your waist!
It was about the distance.
Great seats too!
Ebbets field....
amazing the red sox's had a poor record but fenway was always packed, the yankee's had a lot of empty seats in a lot of games at yankee stadium even though they were playing great, spoiled fans? maybe
The video is fine, but please kill the cheesy music.
Mantel was most likely on some morphine while playing that game. I would of played if that was the case. Nothing better than baseball with a dozen beers in you
It was probably how he played that game with Morphine instead of beers Until the end of course. We all know how Mickey loved his beers and on top he had some opium. Wow, I bet he felt just fine. Let's play ball.
Big Douchebag...
@@TheBatugan77 The Yankees are the real douchebags. Red Sox are that divisons Leaders now.
What a stupid ignorant uneducated statement to make.
Mantle wasn't using opium. Where did you hear that from.
Roger could have been a .300 spray hitter had he not adjusted his swing to pull every pitch into the short porch.
He never hit for a high average ever. He never even approached .300. He was a power hitter.
Yes, because of the reason I state above.
Dylan, Rog hit .283 in 1960 Does that not approach.300?
.260 in 1961 with 61 H Rs is pretty outstanding.
Actually, .269 in 1961.