On Roger Maris, Single Season Home Run Record Holder
Via rogermaris.com, here are some excerpts from Maris' four-team major league baseball career:
During his first year in the major leagues, Roger hit 14 home runs and drove in 51 RBI's for the Cleveland Indians. Midway through his second year, Roger was traded to the Kansas City Athletics and finished the season with 28 home runs and 81 RBI's. Roger received attention and in his third year, was elected to the 1959 All-Star team.
After the 1959 season, Roger Maris was traded to the New York Yankees. In 1960, his first season with the Yankees, Roger led the major leagues with 27 home runs and 69 RBI's by the halfway point and was again named to the All-Star team. An injury sliding into second to break up a double play caused him to miss 17 games. However, Roger still finished the season first in RBI's with 112, second in home runs with 39 (one behind Mickey Mantle who led the majors with 40), won the Gold Glove Award, and was named the American League's Most Valuable Player....
In 1961, Roger and teammate Mickey Mantle received national attention as they chased the single season home run record of 60 set by Babe Ruth in 1927. Although Roger got off to a slow start hitting only 1 home run in April, he quickly made up ground hitting 11 home runs in May and 15 home runs in June. The two Yankee sluggers went back and forth leading the majors in home runs during the summer. Roger became the first player in history to hit 50 home runs by the end of August. Mantle had 46. The Yankees continued to win and were playing to sellout crowds both at home and on the road. An unfortunate illness to Mantle in September caused him to miss games at the end of the season, but he still finished with a career high 54 home runs.
Roger tied Ruth on September 26th, hitting his 60th home run of the year. Then, on October 1, 1961, the final day of the season, Roger hit his 61st home run, against the Boston Red Sox, to set the new home run record. The Yankees won the game 1 to 0 on Roger's home run, and went on to win the World Series that year. Roger was named the Most Valuable Player in the American League for the second straight year, as he led the league in home runs and RBI's. Roger and Mickey also set the home run record for teammates hitting 115 home runs between them.
In 1962, Roger hit 33 home runs. He also drove in 100 RBI's and was selected to the All Star team for the 4th straight year....The Yankees repeated as World Series Champions.
In 1963, Roger missed almost half of the season with injuries playing in only 90 games, but still hit 23 home runs and drove in 53 RBI's and the Yankees returned to the World Series.
In 1964, Roger hit 26 home runs and 71 RBI's and the Yankees again won the pennant and a trip to the World Series.
Roger sustained a wrist injury in 1965 and was only able to play in 46 games for the Yankees. After the 1966 season, the Yankees traded Roger Maris to the St. Louis Cardinals, where he played his last two years.
In 1967, Roger helped lead the Cardinals to the World Series, where he then homered and drove in a Cardinal record 7 RBI's as St. Louis won the World Series.
In 1968, Roger helped the Cardinals return to the World Series and then announced his retirement. In all, Roger Maris played in seven World Series in the Sixties (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968), hitting six World Series home runs and driving in 18 World Series RBI's. He finished his career with 275 home runs.
From mickeymantle.com:
Mickey praised Roger Maris' home-run record as "the single greatest feat I ever saw." Later he said, "I watched the last one on television. I just stared at the set and cried."
"I don't know why he hasn't been elected for the Hall of Fame. To me, he's as good as there ever was. I have four boys of my own, and if I could pick somebody for those boys to grow up to be like, it would be Roger [Maris]."
Here is the Hall of Fame roster. No, Roger Maris is not listed. But it's not for lack of trying:
A legend of the game, the name Roger Eugene Maris is synonymous with baseball's most monumental and historic single-season record. Thirty-nine years later, baseball fans still measure home run hitters by comparison to Roger Maris. Yet, as unbelievable as it might seem, Roger Maris has not been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame....Only 11 players have won consecutive MVP awards -- all of the others (who are eligible) have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame -- Jimmy Foxx, Hal Newhouser, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Ernie Banks, Joe Morgan & Mike Schmidt....
It's time to put Roger Maris in the Hall of Fame. We've made him wait long enough. His critics point to his relatively unimpressive (by HOF standards) career numbers: .260 batting average, 275 home runs, and 851 RBI, but numbers alone do not measure his contributions to the game. Maris remains one of the most recognizable names in baseball, he held the games most revered record for 37 years, won back-to-back MVPs (1960 & 61), and played the game with a quiet dignity that seems lost on many of todays stars....
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