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Roger maris 19616/21/2023 When all was said and done, Maris did get his 61st, and the new record, asterisk be damned. When the commissioner announced that a new record wouldn’t count if it didn’t happen within 154 games, Maris kept at it.Īnd when he came into the Yanks’ 163rd game still tied with Ruth, Maris kept hacking. When Maris’s own pace fell off, he kept plugging away. When Mantle fell off due to injury, Roger kept going. In that long-ago, season-long home run derby that has become part of baseball lore, Maris kept pushing, no matter what. This 1961 Topps issue shows a primetime Hank rearing back with a baseball in his hand and the old tomahawk jersey shining through.Ĭheck prices on Amazon (affiliate link) 1961 Topps Roger Maris (#2) Of course, 13 years later, it would be Aaron taking aim at Ruth’s all-time career record for homers. With three cards in the top three, there’s no doubt that Mantle is the king of 1961 Topps baseball cards.Ĭheck prices on Amazon (affiliate link) 1961 Topps Hank Aaron (#415)Īlthough Hank Aaron wasn’t considered a slugger in the same ilk as Mantle and Maris in 1961, the young Milwaukee Braves superstar had already captured a National League dinger title and the 1957 NL MVP award. In 1961, Topps addressed the situation by including an MVP subset, and one of those cards celebrated Mantle’s hardware from 19. Sometimes, even two cards of a legend aren’t enough splash for a baseball card set, so manufacturers have to find ways to pump in more. The All-Star issue is second only to The Mick’s base issue among 1961 Topps baseball cards.Ĭheck prices on Amazon (affiliate link) 1961 Topps Mickey Mantle MVP (#475) It’s another beloved Mantle card that trumps everything this set has to offer except the base Mantle card. In 1961, Topps adopted the first of their newspaper background All-Star card designs, and Mantle looks downright newsworthy breaking out of the center of his card as the American League center fielder. Though Mantle came up short in that sprint to history, his base card from their magical season sits at the top of the mountain all these years later.Ĭheck prices on Amazon (affiliate link) 1961 Topps Mickey Mantle All-Star (#578) Somehow, the M & M Boys rose to the challenge and treated America to its first great home run race. In 1961, with teammate Roger Maris having won the American League MVP award in his first season with the New York Yankees (1960), speculation ran wild that maybe at least one of the dynamic duo could make a run at Babe Ruth‘s single-season home run record. Mickey Mantle may have considered 1956 to be his favorite summer, but there is little doubt which of The Mick’s seasons drew the most national attention … ( Note: The following sections contain affiliate links to eBay and Amazon listings for the cards being discussed.) 1961 Topps Mickey Mantle (#300) This list of the dozen most valuable 1961 Topps baseball cards is culled from PSA 7 listings in the PSA Sports Market Report Price Guide, and it’s sure to dazzle you with its starlight. The result is a “most valuable” list that looks like a 1960s Dream Team of power and leaves little room for mere mortals. Sandwiched between the colorful, horizontal 1960s and the polarizing wood grain borders of the 1962, the 1961 Topps cards look tame by comparison.īut thanks to a gold rush of subsets, Topps managed to squeeze in multiple cards of the game’s biggest names, which included monster sluggers who rewrote the record books. If you want a cardboard snapshot of diamond history, you’ll have a hard time finding a better representation of an era than 1961 Topps baseball cards.
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