1961 Major League Baseball season 18 times each for a total of 162 games. The National League played a 154 game schedule for the final time in 1961 before switching to 162 games when they also expanded to ten teams for the following 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
Babe Ruth League recognizes Marius D. Bonacci as the Founding Father of the program, along with the contribution of the following nine men, Samuel M. Welch, Ferdinand J. Wagner, Ed Jones, Ted Jasek, Cliff Fovour, Boots Snyder, William Dombrowski, Maskill Paxson and Willard Carson, Jr. Originally organized under the name Little Bigger League, Claire Merritt Ruth, the widow of Babe Ruth, met with the league's organizers in 1954 and authorized them to rename the league in Ruth's honor. In 1974, the 13-Year-Old Prep League was added. The Prep League allows 13-year-old players to make the transition to the regulation size diamond, while competing