1960s Timeline

Apr. 9, 1962 - The Washington Senators, whose 61-101 record last season prompted the adoption of “a better view in ’62” as their slogan for the year, will find it hard to improve on the vantage point they earned today. Impressing 44,383 fans, including President Kennedy, the Senators opened the 1962 American League season with a 4-1 victory over the Tigers. Bennie Daniels, a sinkerball pitcher, gave only five hits in moving the Senators into first place in the league — a posi

Oct. 19, 1961 - Al Kaline (pictured right with Mickey Mantle and Norm Cash) of the Detroit Tigers, who increased his batting average 46 points after having had his poorest season in 1960, was named the American League’s comeback player of 1961 today. Kaline hit .324 in 1961, with 19 homers. He had a 22-game hit streak from July 6 through Aug. 1. In Detroit today, Kaline said of the award: “I’m happy I won it, but I didn’t think I had that bad a year in 1960.” #MLB #baseball #

Sept. 17, 1961 - What was Roger Maris thinking as he rounded the basepaths following his game-winning homer in the 12th inning at Tiger Stadium today? "Honestly," the slugger said afterward, "my first thought was that these were two runs that put us ahead of the Tigers. When I stepped on home plate, I thought about having hit my 58th homer. Now, here in the dressing room, I'm thinking about what a great thrill it is to know that I'm second to Babe Ruth." By that, Maris meant

Sept. 17, 1961 - Roger Maris hit his 58th home run of the season today. He did it in the 12th inning of the Yankees' game in Detroit after missing a homer by a foot in the 7th. But Roger's blast in the 12th had No. 58 written all over it. It crashed against the lower facing of the upper deck in right center 400 feet away. It put him within two of the Babe Ruth record of 60, and it gave the Yankees a 6-4 victory. Since this was the Yankees' 151st game, Roger now has three game

Sept. 13, 1961 - Probably more than anyone else, Hank Greenberg (pictured in 1938) knows what Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle are going through. Greenberg walloped 58 homers for the Tigers in 1938. With five games remaining, he looked like a cinch to crack Babe Ruth's record of 60. He did not. Today he told why: "Mainly, it was the pressure. That same pressure is now on Maris and Mantle. Your fear that time is running out. You become impatient. You become paralyzed at the plate

Sept. 5, 1961 - Mickey Mantle's 53rd homer was the first salvo of a Yankee attack that crushed the Washington Senators today, 6-1. Mantle's wallop in the second inning created a 1-1 deadlock, which Elston Howard demolished with his 16th homer off the base of the upper deck in the fifth. Yankee hurler Jim Coates's 10th triumph coincided with New York's 6th in a row. Since Detroit was beaten twice last night, the Yankees widened their American League lead to seven and a half ga

Sept. 3, 1961 - Mickey Mantle treated himself, the Yankees, and 55,676 fans to a pair of homers today. They were his 49th and 50th of the season, and they helped nail down an 8-5 Bomber victory over the Tigers. Mantle was a surprise starter after straining a muscle in the left forearm Saturday. Roger Maris, leading the chase for Babe Ruth's record, was held to a single in four trips to the plate. He is eight games ahead of Ruth's record pace of 1927. Mantle is three games ahe

Aug. 1, 1961 - Ty Cobb (pictured "sliding" into home during his playing days), the first to enter Baseball's Hall of Fame, completed his autobiography several months before he died on July 17. Written in collaboration with Al Stump, the book is called "My Life in Baseball - The True Record." It covers the Georgia Peach's career from the time he was a boy playing with a homemade baseball to his retirement after 24 years with a batting average of .367. He still held 16 major-le

July 15, 1961 - Ty Cobb (pictured with Babe Ruth in 1927), the former baseball star who has been hospitalized several times in recent years, was reported in very poor condition today in Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. The Georgia Peach, who thrilled baseball fans with his batting and base running for nearly a quarter century, entered the hospital a month ago. He is suffering from diabetes and other ailments and is unconscious at times. Many of the 90 records Cobb set st