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
Major League Baseball All-Star Game teams; in 1945, the scheduled All-Star Game was cancelled due to travel restrictions during World War II and no players were officially named. From 1959 through 1962, All-Stars played in two All-Star Games each season. On January 29, 1936, Babe Ruth became the first of the original thirty-six All-Stars to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame; twenty original All-Stars are enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Hank Aaron holds the record for the most All-Star namings (21) and the most All-Star Game appearances (25). In 2017, each All-Star team had 32 players, with fans voting for the