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This Day in Baseball History

Focus On Sport / Getty

1961 - Roger Maris breaks single-season HR record

New York Yankees slugger Roger Maris sets a new record for most home runs in a season by smacking his 61st of the year off Boston Red Sox right-hander Tracy Stallard in a 1-0 win.

Maris's fourth-inning solo shot breaks Babe Ruth's 34-year-old record with a deep liner to right, setting a new mark that would hold up for another 37 seasons.

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

Maris finished the season with a league-leading 141 runs batted in and 132 runs scored, while winning the second of back-to-back American League MVPs.

2004 - Ichiro sets hits record

Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki breaks George Sisler's 84-year single-season hits record with a third-inning single off Texas Rangers right-hander Ryan Drese.

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

Suzuki's milestone hit is his second of the game, and he finishes 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored. The 30-year-old collects three more hits in his final two games of the season to extend his major-league record to 262.

It's the fourth straight year Suzuki reaches 200 hits in a season, a feat he would go on to accomplish a record-setting 10 consecutive years.

Birthdays

1945 - Rod Carew
1955 - Jeff Reardon
1963 - Mark McGwire

 

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