Maris had a total of 58 home runs when the Yankees' played their 154th game of the season against the Baltimore Orioles. He homered just once in the game, falling two short of setting a new and recognized single-season home run record. Ironically, Maris hit his 60th home run in fewer plate appearances (684) than Babe Ruth (689). This made Frick's ruling nonsensical, since games played "matter less" than the number of opportunities presented to a batter. On October 1, the final day of the season, only 23,154 people were in attendance at Yankee Stadium to see Maris hit his 61st home run of the season against Tracy Stallard of the Boston Red Sox. Frick's ruling back in July, coupled with the Yankees' reluctance to highlight the event, are cited as reasons for the surprisingly low attendance.