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An injury sliding into second to break up a double play caused him to miss 17 games. 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. Roger received attention and in his third year, was elected to the 1959 All-Star team.Īfter the 1959 season, Roger Maris was traded to the New York Yankees. 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 spent four years in the minor leagues playing for Fargo-Moorhead, Keokuk, Tulsa, Reading and Indianapolis before making it to the major leagues in Cleveland.ĭuring his first year in the majors, Roger hit 14 home runs and drove in 51 RBI's for the Cleveland Indians. He signed a $15,000 contract to play for the Cleveland Indians organization.
#ROGER MARIS PROFESSIONAL#
But with a professional baseball contract looming, Roger gave up his scholarship at the University of Oklahoma to pursue a career in baseball. Roger was recruited by legendary coach Bud Wilkinson to play football for the University of Oklahoma. In one game against Devil's Lake during his senior year, he scored four touchdowns on kickoff returns to set a national high school record. With his excellent speed, Roger was a standout in football as well. Roger led his American Legion team to the state championship. Roger played baseball in the American Legion program during the summers, since the North Dakota high schools with the cold weather did not have a program. It was in the 10th grade when Roger met Patricia, his future wife, at a high school basketball game. The Maris brothers played sports and attended Shanley High School in Fargo, North Dakota, where Roger and Rudy excelled in football and basketball.
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His father, who worked for the Great Northern Railroad, moved the family to North Dakota in 1942, where Roger and Rudy, his older brother by one-year, grew up. Fans today continue to lobby for the induction of Roger Maris into the Baseball Hall of Fame.Roger Eugene Maris was born in Hibbing, Minnesota on September 10, 1934. Maris’s home run record stood for 37 years before Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa both broke it in 1998. Years later, shortly before his death, Jon’s dad told him, “We saw a man become a hero that day.” As the chaos came to an end and Jon’s dad returned to his seat, he presented Jon with the baseball. Policemen converged from three directions and gradually pulled apart the mass. The crowd squeezed in around Jon, shoving and pushing, with Jon’s dad in the very center.
#ROGER MARIS CRACK#
Jon didn’t see it, but during Roger’s second at-bat, Jon knew by the crack of the bat and the reaction of the crowd that the Babe’s record was breaking. Being a young child, he had trouble seeing Roger Maris when he came to bat, because everyone in the bleachers around them stood in anticipation. In a 1998 article, writer Jon Young recounted a personal memory of the event when his dad took him to see the Yankees on that fateful Oct. But he continued hitting home runs, with his record breaking 61st happening on the final day of the season. The Babe was a legend for Yankees fans, and many openly rooted against Maris, even though he, too, was a Yankee. When an injury took Mantle out of the running, Maris was left alone in the spotlight, and he struggled with the attention. Mantle enjoyed the focus and became a media darling, but Maris was uncomfortable with the limelight. But it was the following year that Maris became a household name when he and teammate, Mickey Mantle, each looked they had a shot at beating Babe Ruth’s record. He won a Gold Glove and the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award.
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In 1960 he hit 39 home runs and led the league in RBIs. Maris came to the Yankees in a trade after the 1959 season. Roger Maris hit his 61st home run, breaking the record set by Babe Ruth for the most home runs in one season. It was on this date in 1961 that a shy baseball player from Fargo stunned the sports world in one of the most anticipated games ever played.