The 1961 major league baseball season began on April 10, 1961. The regular season ended on October 1, with the Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 58th World Series on October 4 and ended with Game 5 on October 9. In the second iteration of this World Series matchup, the Yankees defeated the Reds, four games to one, capturing their 19th championship in franchise history, since their previous in . 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 with 54 home runs. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the Pittsburgh Pirates from the season.
For the third year, there were two separate All-Star Games played. The first, the 30th Major League Baseball All-Star Game, was held on July 11 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California, home of the San Francisco Giants. The National League won, 5âÂÂ4. The second, the 31st Major League Baseball All-Star Game, was held on July 31 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, home of the Boston Red Sox. The game ended in a 1âÂÂ1 tie, due to a rainout following the end of the ninth inning.
In response to the proposed Continental League, the American League expanded by two teams in the first MLB expansion since 1901, ushering in the expansion era. The original Washington Senators moved to the MinneapolisâÂÂSaint Paul metropolitan area in Minnesota and became the Minnesota Twins, being the sixth team since 1953 to relocate, and the third of American League teams since then. The American League therefore placed a new team in Washington, D.C., also called the Washington Senators. Also, the American League placed a team in Los Angeles called the Los Angeles Angels.
The 1961 schedule was the first time that the American and National Leagues did not follow the same scheduling format. Due to expansion of the American League, the AL schedule consisted of 162 games for all ten teams. Each team was scheduled to play 18 games against the other nine teams. Meanwhile, the National League, still consisting of eight teams, continued the 154-game format in place since the season (except for ). Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams. 1961 would mark the last 154-game season in professional baseball history, as the National League itself would copy the American League 162-game format following their own expansion the following season.
American League Opening Day took place on April 10, featuring the Chicago White Sox and newly enfranchised Washington Senators, while National League Opening Day took place the following day, featuring all eight teams. The final day of the regular season was on October 1, and saw sixteen teams play. The World Series took place between October 4 and October 9.
The 1961 season saw the following rule changes:
The postseason began on October 4 and ended on October 9 with the New York Yankees defeating the Cincinnati Reds in the 1961 World Series in five games.
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The 1961 season saw two new teams in the American League, and with it, one new venue and one returning venue:
The Minnesota Twins, newly relocated from their long-time home in Washington, D.C. as the Washington Senators, leave Griffith Stadium after playing there for 50 seasons, moving into Metropolitan Stadium where they would play for 21 seasons through .
Briggs Stadium, home of the Detroit Tigers, is renamed to Tiger Stadium.
The Los Angeles Dodgers would play their final game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 20 against the Chicago Cubs, moving into Dodger Stadium for the start of the season.
CBS and NBC continued to air weekend Game of the Week broadcasts, while ABC televised several games in prime time. One of ABC's prime time games occurred as Roger Maris was poised to tie and subsequently break Babe Ruth's regular season home run record of 60. As with all MLB games in those days, the action was totally blacked out of major league markets. As a matter of fact, as documented in the HBO film 61*, the Maris family was welcomed into ABC's Kansas City, Missouri affiliate KMBC-TV so they could watch the in-house feed of the game, which was blacked out of Kansas City.
The All-Star Game and World Series aired on NBC.