1961 New York Yankees
1961 was, by all accounts, an incredible year for the New York Yankees as well as baseball in general. 1961 was an expansion year, not only in teams (increasing from 8 to 10 teams) but in the length of the season as well (moving from 154 to the now standard 162). That year was also the race between Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris to break Babe Ruth's homerun record. Maris finally hitting his 61st and record breaking homerun on the final day of the season, creating controversy because of the 8 extra games Maris had to break the record. On the way to breaking individual records, the Yankee club also broke the single season record for homeruns by a team (240), showing the all around power by the whole lineup. Unsung heros like Bill Skowron and Elston Howard hit for solid average as well as hitting 28 and 21 homeruns respectively. Even a 36 year old Yogi Berra, in his last season playing significant time, knocked 22 out of the park. It doesn't hurt having two players named Maris and Mantle combining for 115 homeruns, 270 R.B.I.'s and a combined .291 batting average. While Whitey Ford would go on to win 25 games the '61 Yankees didn't beat you with pitching on most days, rather, would pummel opponents offensively over the course of nine innings. The Yanks cruised to a 109-53 record in the regular season and onto a 4-1 drubbing of the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. The 1961 Championship would be their 19th, which is still more than any other team has even appeared in the World Series.
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