Sporting News staff reports
Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle at the old Yankee Stadium in 1961.
The Roger Maris vs. Mickey Mantle home run race of 1961 placed a lot of focus on statistics and the record books. Almost five decades after that historic season, those who compile baseball’s numbers and records have officially recognized changes to other parts of the M&M Boys’ stat lines from that year.
A researcher discovered 15 years ago that Maris had 141 RBIs, not 142, and that Mantle in fact scored 131 runs instead of 132 (the mistakes were made on separate plays).
Usually, that wouldn’t be a big deal; the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and other historians/researches have spotted errors over the years.
In this case, however, the ’61 flubs had a direct effect on who led the American League in those respective categories. Now that the corrections have officially been made, Maris no longer is considered the RBI leader (he now is tied with Jim Gentile), but he is considered the new runs leader (he and Mantle had been tied).
Maris, the American League MVP that year, is best known for the then-record 61 home runs he hit. That figure is not in dispute.
For more on how the changes were discovered, check out Sean Forman’s blog post at baseball-reference.com. (H/T: AOL FanHouse)
Sporting News staff reports
Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle at the old Yankee Stadium in 1961.
The Roger Maris vs. Mickey Mantle home run race of 1961 placed a lot of focus on statistics and the record books. Almost five decades after that historic season, those who compile baseball’s numbers and records have officially recognized changes to other parts of the M&M Boys’ stat lines from that year.
A researcher discovered 15 years ago that Maris had 141 RBIs, not 142, and that Mantle in fact scored 131 runs instead of 132 (the mistakes were made on separate plays).
Usually, that wouldn’t be a big deal; the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and other historians/researches have spotted errors over the years.
In this case, however, the ’61 flubs had a direct effect on who led the American League in those respective categories. Now that the corrections have officially been made, Maris no longer is considered the RBI leader (he now is tied with Jim Gentile), but he is considered the new runs leader (he and Mantle had been tied).
Maris, the American League MVP that year, is best known for the then-record 61 home runs he hit. That figure is not in dispute.
For more on how the changes were discovered, check out Sean Forman’s blog post at baseball-reference.com. (H/T: AOL FanHouse)
