Roger Maris made baseball history on October 1st, 1961 at Yankee Stadium against the Red Sox. His 61st home run passed Babe Ruth for the most in a single season. It was a year in which the stars aligned for Maris, one that he sometimes wished had never happened. It wasn't until later that he appreciated it a lot more.
I'm not sure I've ever seen this video, taken from the broadcast on channel 11 (WPIX). Red Barber makes the professional, low-key call (joined by Mel Allen at the end, not a common thing at the time given that analysts weren't common yet). Of course we've all heard Phil Rizzuto's radio call ("Holy cow! Sixty-one for Maris!"). It's very cool to see the TV broadcast.
Maris was a classy, wonderful man, who died far-too-young, in 1985.
Congratulations, Roger, 50 years later.
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