It took almost 50 years, and there was no interest added. But a promise is a promise, and Jim Gentile finally got his $5,000 bonus from the Baltimore Orioles.

Gentile had the best season of a nine-year career for the Orioles in 1961, hitting .302 with 46 home runs and 141 runs batted in to finish third in the voting for the American League most valuable player, behind Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. For years, Maris had been credited with 142 R.B.I. that season, narrowly edging Gentile for the league lead.

When the Orioles raised Gentile’s salary the next spring, General Manager Lee MacPhail told him he would have paid an extra $5,000 if Gentile had led the league in R.B.I. Last month, when the Elias Sports Bureau officially recognized a scoring change from that season, Gentile gained a share of the crown.

Analysis by the Society for American Baseball Research found that Maris had erroneously been credited with an R.B.I. during a game on July 5, 1961; the run, in fact, had scored on an error, as was reported in five published accounts of the game and in the Yankees’ play-by-play sheets. By officially changing the scoring, Maris was deducted a run batted in — giving him only 141, the same as Gentile.

The Orioles honored Gentile, now 76, for his achievement before their game at Camden Yards on Friday. Andy MacPhail, the Orioles’ president of baseball operations whose father made that long-ago promise, presented him with a $5,000 check.