61 Degrees of Roger Maris: The 46* Pitchers That Surrendered Home Runs to Roger Maris In 1961

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Without a doubt, the greatest baseball team of the 20th Century was the New York Yankees. Making more appearances in the Fall Classic than any other franchise and winning World Championships in bunches; the Yankees set the gold standard for the rest of the baseball world to follow.After losing in the World Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a thrilling seven game series in 1960, the Yankee's fired long standing manager Casey Stengel. Despite the number of championships won during his tenure, Stengel's actions in terms of handling the pitching rotation during that series drew heavy criticism. To this day, Whitey Ford still doesn't know why he did not start game 1; which would have positioned him to pitch 3 times if needed. Ford appeared in game 3 and 6, winning both contests with complete game shut outs. Ralph Houk was hired to replace Stengel as the manager of the club.In 1961 the Yankees raised that bar to even greater heights. Led by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, the M&M Boys, the Yankees set various records for slugging on way to the American League pennant and a World Series win over the Cincinnati Reds.One of the most precious records in all of professional sports was Babe Ruth's single season mark of 60 home runs from the 1927 season. The 1961 season saw Maris eclipse that record on the last day of the season. Maris's pursuit, along with that of Mantle, captivated the nation throughout the summer and into the fall. Mantle fell out of the chase due to injuries and ended his quest with 54 home runs. Maris hit his 61 home runs off 46 different pitchers during that historic season. This collection of hurlers and their relationship to other players in the game, including Maris, form the baseball equivalent of 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon. This book is the story of those pitchers and those relationships.

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