1961 Major League Baseball season 1961 Major League Baseball season The 1961 Major League Baseball season was played from April 10 to October 12, 1961. That season saw the New York Yankees defeat the Cincinnati Reds in five games in the World Series. The season is best known for Yankee teammates Roger Maris' and Mickey Mantle's pursuit of Babe Ruth's prestigious 34-year-old single-season home run record of 60. Maris ultimately broke the record when he hit his 61st home run on the final day of the regular season, while Mantle was forced out of the lineup in late-September due to a hip infection and finished
Frank Welch (baseball) off Babe Ruth in a major league game; the homer was the 10th and last the Babe would ever allow as a pitcher. Welch died at the age of 59 in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. Frank Welch (baseball) Frank Tiguer Welch (August 10, 1897 – July 25, 1957) was an outfielder in Major League Baseball who played from through for the Philadelphia Athletics (1919–1926) and Boston Red Sox (1927). Listed at 5' 9", 175 lb., Welch batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama. In a nine-season career, Welch was a .274 hitter (634-for-2310) with 41 home