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By now you’re well aware that 50 years ago today, Roger Maris came to bat against Tigers starter Paul Foytack in the fifth inning. After going the first nine games without a home run, Maris, the reigning AL MVP, went yard to trim the Yankees’ deficit to 7-5 in a game they went on to win 13-11. Joe Auriemma looks back on how the Tigers rallied from down 5-0 against Whitey Ford before Mickey Mantle’s two homers sealed the deal. And as told in an interesting piece by Steven Goldman, it took special circumstances for the Yankees to acquire Maris from the Kansas City Athletics in December 1959.

That Yankees team dusted the rest of the AL, finishing eight games ahead of the Tigers and defeating the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. Mantle was on course to break Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record before an abscessed hip short-circuited his run at 54. Maris, of course, hit the magical No. 61 on the final day of the season.

The 1961 Yankees is a popular argument in any discussions over what was the greatest baseball team of all time. Many point to Murderer’s Row in 1927 as the finest lineup ever assembled. Modern-day fans bring up the 1998 Yankees that won 114 regular season games and nine more in the postseason. A closer examination lends credence to the ’27 team, which took the top spot in a top-10 poll we did last year. Ruth, Lou Gehrig, et al, edged the ’98 squad. In fact, the 1961 team ranked fourth on the list.

Back in ’27, the season was 154 games. The year of ’61 was an expansion season, with the AL increasing from eight to 10 teams, and the infamous introduction of the 162-game schedule that commissioner Ford Frick – Ruth’s ghostwriter back in the day – used to flaunt his argument of an asterisk had to differentiate Ruth’s and Maris’ records if Maris failed to break 60 within 154 games. Unless you were a Ruth loyalist – which became a cult once Hank Aaron pursued his all-time home run record – Frick’s ruling made no sense. Those unhappy with Frick’s thinking let him have it, with “Frick, up your asterisk” as one of the milder complaints.

Moving along, the 1927 Yankees slugged 158 home runs. The ’61 team hit 240, which was a Major League record until the Orioles slugged 257 in 1996 – 23 years into the DH era. (The 240 homers hit in ’61 remained a franchise record until the 2009 team belted 244.) The 1998 Yankees (114) and 2001 Mariners (116) set records for most wins in a single-season well after the Marlins and Rockies were brought into the league, which as a result created watered-down pitching. The home run became en vogue thanks to Ruth, so it was a rare sight to behold like the coming of Halley’s Comet. Combine that with Gehrig’s 47 homers and whopping 175 RBIs, the ’27 Yankees get the benefit of the doubt due to the timing of its remarkable accomplishments.

However, the show the Yankees put on in 1961 will also be discussed for generations. Maris and Mantle combined for more home runs than any two teammates in history. Bill Skowron (28), Yogi Berra (22), Elston Howard (21) and Johnny Blanchard (21) each exceeded 20 homers. Blanchard, third on the catching depth chart behind Howard and Berra, did so with only 273 plate appearances. Looking beyond the long ball, the ’61 group truly had it all: A Cy Young Award winner in Ford (25-4, 3.21) and every starter behind him winning at least 10 games. Out of the bullpen, Luis Arroyo won 15 and saved 29. Besides starring at the plate, Maris played a deft right field and the Yankees’ infield defense was air tight.

Collectively, the Yankees were two seasons removed from their last World Championship and still steaming over their seven-game loss to Bill Mazeroski and the Pirates in 1960. By May 5 they were 13-5, 21 games over .500 by July 4 and 30 over July 26. A 13-game winning streak September 1-12 left the Tigers in the dust and all eyes on Maris. Stories have been told and re-told again and again. But in this, the 50th Anniversary season (also a season of milestones between Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak in 1941, Joe Torre’s Yankees winning it all in ’96, and the pursuit of cherished milestones by Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera), poetic will receive fresh coats of wax. The hope here is that generations are bridged and what’s old remains great while presented in new packages.

Follow Jon Lane on Twitter: @JonLaneNYC