1961 Post Roger Maris

So this isn't necessarily a poor old baseball card, but it is a pretty neat one.

This 1961 beauty was probably cut off the side of a cereal box. And who was pictured on the side of that box in '61? The reigning American League MVP – Roger Maris.

As the card says, Maris hit 39 homers and 112 RBI as the Yankees won the A.L. pennant in 1960. But the kid who owned this card in 1961 couldn't even begin to imagine Maris' encore.

Roger Maris and teammate Mickey Mantle were in a battle to see who could out-homer the other and eventually break the single-season home run mark of 60 hit by Babe Ruth.

It was Maris, on the final day of the 1961 season, that would break the record.

Maris was not exactly beloved for doing so. Everyone in New York wanted Mantle to accomplish the feat. Mantle was a Yankees icon. Maris was only in his second season in pinstripes.

While Maris' record has been broken twice, by Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds, he is still considered the single-season home run king by many.