Background
Roger Maris was born on September 10, 1934, in Hibbing, Minnesota, United States. He was the youngest of two sons of Rudy Maris, a railroad engineer, and Connie (Sturbitz) Maris, a homemaker.
1961
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Outfielder Roger Maris, of the New York Yankees, holds up uniform number 61 after he hit his 61st home run of the season off Tracy Stallard, of the Boston Red Sox, as the Yankees won, 2-0 on October 1, 1961 at Yankee Stadium in New York.
1960
Player Roger Maris signing on a baseball.
1960
Roger Maris wearing the Yankees uniform.
1960
Roger Maris standing on the stairs.
1960
Gold Glove Award
1960
Roger Maris poses with Mickey Mantle in their New York Yankees uniforms.
1961
Roger Maris with his wife Pat and two of their children, Roger Jr. and Susan.
1961
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Outfielders Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees pose for a portrait prior to a game at Yankee Stadium in New York in 1961.
1961
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Outfielder Roger Maris, of the New York Yankees, holds up uniform number 61 after he hit his 61st home run of the season off Tracy Stallard, of the Boston Red Sox, as the Yankees won, 2-0 on October 1, 1961 at Yankee Stadium in New York.
1961
2121 Trumbull Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, United States
Outfielder Roger Maris of the New York Yankees strides into a pitch during a game on September 16, 1961 against the Detroit Tigers at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit, Michigan.
1961
Roger Maris of the New York Yankees swings at a pitch during an MLB game in 1961.
1961
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Roger Maris at Yankee Stadium as he hits his 52nd homer of the year in his pursuit of Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in one season, New York City, New York, September 2, 1961.
1961
New York City, New York, United States
Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris perform on Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall in October 1961 in New York City, New York.
1961
Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle
1961
Roger Maris surpasses Ruth's record.
1961
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Roger Maris, wielding the big bat that accounted for 61 home runs in 1961, prepares for the opening game of the World Series at batting practice in Yankee Stadium.
1961
Roger Maris watching the pop fly ball during the game.
1961
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, both of the New York Yankees, as they pose together before a game at Yankee Stadium, New York City, New York.
1961
Yankees' slugger Roger Maris won the AL MVP Award after establishing a new single-season home run record with his historic 61 homers during the 1961 season.
1961
Roger Maris crossing home plate after hitting 59th home run of season reaching for the outstretched hand of manager Yogi Berri waiting for him at the plate.
1962
Roger Maris
1962
Maris signs a baseball for then-President John F. Kennedy in the 1962 season.
1966
New York City, New York, United States
Yankee right fielder Roger Maris signs his 1966 contract with General Manager and later that year Team Manager Ralph Houk on January 6, 1966 in New York City, New York.
1967
700 Clark Ave, St. Louis, MO 63102, United States
Roger Maris sits with his six children before a father-son game at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Maris played his final two seasons with the Cardinals and was part of their 1967 team that won the World Series.
1967
4 Jersey St, Boston, MA 02215, United States
Roger Maris, pictured in action for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the 1967 World Series at Fenway Park in Boston on October 4, 1967.
1967
St. Louis Cardinals' Roger Maris and Orlando Cepeda in the clubhouse after the game against Cubs.
Roger Maris of the St. Louis Cardinals sits in the dugout before an MLB game circa 1967.
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, retired New York Yankees, talk for the NBC TV cameras prior to the start of a Major League Baseball game circa 1984 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx borough of New York City.
Fargo, North Dakota, United States
Maris entered Fargo Central High School in 1948.
5600 25th Street South, Fargo, North Dakota 58104, United States
In 1950, Maris transferred from Fargo Central High School to Bishop Shanley High School and graduated from there in June 1952.
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Outfielder Roger Maris of the New York Yankees poses for a portrait circa 1960-66 in Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York.
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Outfielder Roger Maris of the New York Yankees steps into the pitch circa 1960-66 in Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York.
Roger Maris of the New York Yankees poses for a portrait circa 1960-1966.
Roger Maris holds up the baseball that hit for homerun number 60 in the third inning of the game with the Baltimore Orioles.
Roger Maris waiting for a pitch during the baseball game.
Roger Maris holding a baseball bat.
1 East 161st Street, The Bronx, New York, United States
Roger Maris plaque in Yankee Stadium's Monument Park
(The story of Roger Maris's record-breaking 1961 season du...)
The story of Roger Maris's record-breaking 1961 season during which he broke Babe Ruth's home run total.
https://www.amazon.com/Roger-Maris-Bat-Ogle-Jim/dp/B000OIT28Y/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=Roger+Maris&qid=1610015934&sr=8-10
1962
(A handsome and eligible tycoon (Grant) and a beautiful wo...)
A handsome and eligible tycoon (Grant) and a beautiful working woman (Day) meet over a curbside mud puddle. He's enchanted by her small town ways; she's captivated by his debonair manner. But when it comes to marriage, they have decidedly different views - she wants it and he doesn't!
https://www.amazon.com/That-Touch-Mink-Cary-Grant/dp/B019NW59YC/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=That+Touch+of+Mink&qid=1609966278&s=instant-video&sr=1-1
1962
(An unusual and funny love story about a modern woman who ...)
An unusual and funny love story about a modern woman who realizes she's looking for an old- fashioned kind of romance. Mathematics professor Kate Gunzinger (Jill Clayburgh) has everything the modern woman is supposed to want: a successful career, financial security and an active social and sex life - but somehow it's not enough.
https://www.amazon.com/Its-My-Turn-Jill-Clayburgh/dp/B003Y5WPCY
1980
Roger Maris was born on September 10, 1934, in Hibbing, Minnesota, United States. He was the youngest of two sons of Rudy Maris, a railroad engineer, and Connie (Sturbitz) Maris, a homemaker.
Baseball was not Maris' only sport. Growing up in North Dakota, it was never warm enough in spring to play baseball during the school year. Maris entered Fargo Central High School in 1948. In 1950, he transferred to Bishop Shanley High School. There Maris excelled in football, basketball, and track. During his senior year, he set a national high school record in football when he scored four touchdowns on returns in one game.
Maris was able to pick up a bat in the summer, though, when the American Legion ran a summer league. Upon graduation from high school in 1952, he considered playing football for the University of Oklahoma but left the school during his entrance exam. He then opted to sign with a Cleveland Indians farm team.
Playing in the Class C Northern League in 1953, Maris was named the league's Rookie of the Year, and the following season was promoted to the Class B Three-eye League. By 1956 he had been promoted to the Class AA farm team in Indianapolis and helped carry the team to the Little World Series Championship.
In 1957, Maris was promoted to the major leagues, although he played only one season with the Indians. He was traded to the Kansas City Athletics during the 1958 season and, in 1960, he was traded to the Yankees. Maris made a mark on the team even before it appeared he would break Ruth's long-standing record. In his first year with the Yankees, he hit thirty-nine home runs, was named the American League's Most Valuable Player and received a Gold Glove award.
For most of the 1961 season, Maris ran neck-and-neck with teammate and friend Mickey Mantle for the new home run record. While the media played up stories of a rivalry between the competing Yankees, the "M & Boys" laughed at the hoopla.
When Mantle suffered an injury after his 54th home-run it became clear that Maris would be the one to break Ruth's record. Maris did not receive the same unwavering adoration the Babe enjoyed thirty-four years earlier, however, in his race toward number sixty-one. His typically blunt responses to reporters led them to portray him as gruff and unlikable, whereas Mantle was a perennial favorite with fans and the press alike.
There was little support from above, either. In July of 1961, Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick had announced that the home run record would be qualified since the season had been expanded from 154 games in Ruth's day to 162. Indeed, both players had gone to bat nearly the same number of times. Maris believed Yankee management, like many fans, was rooting for Mantle.
Still, the crowd cheered Maris on October 1, 1961, when, in the Yankees' last game of the season, he hit that 61st homer. Always modest and shy, Maris headed straight for the dugout after rounding the bases and only returned for a bow at his teammates' urging. The sizable number of Ruth devotees among the Yankees fans, however, only stepped up their taunting of Maris following his accomplishment. His subsequent, less stellar seasons with the Yankees (he never hit more than thirty-three home runs in one season again) became increasingly unbearable and, in 1966, he asked to be traded.
Maris spent his last two seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and, although he never came near his own record, he did help his new team reach the World Series for both seasons he was with them. Maris retired after the 1967 season, although his poor treatment at the hands of fans and baseball officials haunted him for many years after that.
After retiring from baseball, Maris ran a beer distributorship given to him by Anheuser-Busch, then-owners of the Cardinals. Although he had vowed never to step foot in Yankee Stadium after he left for St. Louis, he and Mantle both returned in 1978 to raise the 1977 pennant. He returned again for Old-Timers' Day and once more in 1984 when the Yankees retired his number. By that time, Maris was enduring bouts of chemotherapy to treat lymphatic cancer.
(The story of Roger Maris's record-breaking 1961 season du...)
1962(Legendary Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle stars with his Yank...)
1962(An unusual and funny love story about a modern woman who ...)
1980(A handsome and eligible tycoon (Grant) and a beautiful wo...)
1962After Maris was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, he organized the annual Roger Maris Celebrity Golf Tournament to raise money for cancer research and treatment.
Quotations:
"Candlestick was built on the water. It should have been built under it."
"You hit home runs not by chance but by preparation."
"Every day I went to the ballpark in Yankee Stadium as well as on the road people were on my back. The last six years in the American League were mental hell for me. I was drained of all my desire to play baseball."
"I don't want to be Babe Ruth. He was a great ballplayer. I'm not trying to replace him. The record is there and damn right I want to break it, but that isn't replacing Babe Ruth."
"I think the most privacy I had was when the game was going on."
"It would have been a helluva lot more fun if I had not hit those sixty-one home runs."
"It's a business. If I could make more money down in the zinc mines I'd be mining zinc."
"It's like obituaries, when you die they finally give you good reviews."
"Maybe I'm not a great man but I damn well want to break the record."
The baseball writers blamed Maris for being a shy, reticent, modest individual. The New York sportswriters called him aloof, rude and a hick.
His Yankees teammates respected Maris. They had great affection for him and accepted the fact that when he came into the dugout after batting practice or shagging fly balls, he took a seat on the dugout steps and kept to himself. He was never surly or curt, but he rarely talked baseball or joked around.
Physical Characteristics:
Roger Maris was 6 ft 0 inches (183 cm) tall and weighed 197 lb (89 kg).
In 1983, Maris was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Roger Maris met his future wife, Patricia Carville, in the tenth grade at a high school basketball game. They married on October 13, 1956 and had six children.