This was the Mother of all home run years (until 1998, that is, or 2001). Roger Maris hit 61 home runs, breaking Babe Ruth's 1927 record of 60. Maris won his second straight MVP Award; his home run record stood until 1998, when it was broken by both Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.
        Another Yankee, Mickey Mantle, chipped in with 54 home runs. As you might have guessed, the Yankees hit a record number of homers this year, a record that wasn't broken until 1996 (by the Baltimore Orioles).

        Did I mention that there were some other big seasons? Norm Cash had the Mother of all fluke years. Cash was 26 years old, and had one of the greatest seasons ever by a first baseman. He played 17 years in the majors, most of them with Detroit. Cash never again hit .300; his next highest average was .283. He never again hit 40 home runs, or drove in or scored 100 runs in a season. But he was always a good player, a lifetime .271 hitter who hit 377 homers in his career.
        "Diamond" Jim Gentile also had a great fluke season. A year later, Gentile hit .251 with 33 home runs; he was out of baseball only four years later. Rocky Colavito was another slugger who had a big year; Harmon Killebrew had the highest average of his career, and chipped in with 46 home runs as well. But when all was said and done, the year belonged to Maris and Mantle.
        Roger Maris never drew a single intentional walk, in this year that he hit 61 homers. This is attributed to the presence of Mantle, who hit behind him in the batting lineup; the logic is then extended further, that having Mantle hit behind Maris gave Roger lots of good pitches to hit, thus increasing his home run total.
        Hogwash. Maris drew 94 walks, easily the highest total of his career. His walk rate was also a career high. So he was being pitched around — just not intentionally. This makes sense, since Maris' batting average was only .269. Intentional walks are always given with runners in scoring position (2B and 3B); in these situations, high-average hitters are especially dangerous, because a single can potentially drive in two runs. That's why Wade Boggs led the American League in intentional walks six straight years.
        Whatever the reason for Maris' home run explosion, you can forget the protection argument. Maris could have had Yogi Berra or Elston Howard hitting behind him, and his intentional walk total would not have changed. Roger was the real deal as a home run hitter; the previous season (when he won his first MVP Award), Maris was on pace to challenge Ruth's record at mid-season, but an rib injury slowed him down. This year, Maris stayed healthy and broke the record.
        Maris' new home run mark made him famous but did not make him healthy or wealthy. First, there was the controversy over whether Maris had really broken the record; Maris hit 61 home runs in a 162-game schedule, while Ruth hit 60 homers in a 154-game schedule. Commissioner Ford Frick put an asterisk into the record next to Maris' mark, tarnishing the legitimacy of the record. Maris took a lot of abuse from fans who didn't want to see the Babe's record broken (a far cry from the experience of McGwire and Sosa in 1998!). His career went into decline after 1961, probably due to a combination of injuries and mental fatigue. He played 12 years, hit 275 career homers, and won two MVP Awards.
        Roger Maris died of cancer in 1985, still baseball's single-season home run champion. Time has been kind to Maris' legacy; the asterisk was scorned by most fans and was eventually removed from the record books. When McGwire and Sosa assaulted the record in 1998, there was no doubt that it was Maris' record they were trying to break and no one else's. Many fans argue that he should be in the Hall Of Fame; because of his short career, I would not endorse his selection, and I don't think that it should matter. From 1961 to 1998, Roger Maris held baseball's greatest record, and in that time no one came even close to breaking it. That alone is a remarkable achievement that should be remembered by generations of baseball fans.
        Having said all that, I think Mickey Mantle was the league MVP this season. Maris is perhaps the sentimental favorite for the award, and he really did have a great year. But this is Mickey Mantle we are talking about. Maris hit only seven more homers than Mantle, who otherwise had a vastly superior year. Mantle's batting average was 48 points higher, his OPS was 142 points higher. It was one of the greatest seasons in Mantle's career, and worthy of the MVP.
         Elston Howard joined the Yankees in 1955, becoming the first black player in franchise history. He was kept in a part-time role for six years, then finally got the everyday catching job, at age 32. This season, he proved himself to be a very good player. Howard had three more big seasons (including an MVP Award in 1963), then slowed down and returned to part-time duty.
        Dick Howser had a terrific rookie season; he never played very well again, though, and had a short career. Howser became manager of the Kansas City Royals, and led them to their first World Series in 1985.