Roger Maris

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Roger Maris
Roger Maris 1960.png
Rightfielder
Born: September 10, 1934
Hibbing , United StatesUnited StatesUnited States 
Died on: December 14, 1985
Houston , United StatesUnited StatesUnited States 
Suggested: Left Threw: Right
Debut in Major League Baseball
April 16,  1957  with the  Cleveland Indians
Last MLB assignment
September 29,  1968  with the  St. Louis Cardinals
MLB statistics
(until end of career)
Batting average    , 260
Home runs    275
Runs Batted In    850
Teams
Awards

Roger Eugene Maris (born September 10, 1934 in Hibbing , Minnesota , † December 14, 1985 in Houston , Texas ) was an American baseball player in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Cleveland Indians (1957/58), the Kansas City Athletics (1958/59), the New York Yankees (1960-66) and the St. Louis Cardinals (1967/68). He played seven times in the final of the MLB, the World Series (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968), and won them three times (1961, 1962 and 1967). He hit 275 home runs in his career .

Roger Maris' stick he used on his 61st home run (2nd from left)

Roger Maris became famous for his 61 single-season home runs in 1961, beating Babe Ruth's old record with 60 home runs from 1927 and being honored with the Associated Press' Sportsman of the Year award . Maris competed very much with his teammate Mickey Mantle , who, although arguably the better player overall, was never able to achieve this number of home runs in one season due to injuries . For contemporaries, it was important in 1961 that Maris benefited from an increase in the total number of games compared to Ruth by increasing Major League Baseball . Ruth had the opportunity to home run 154 games, Maris 162 games. In the 154th game of the season, Maris scored his 59th home run, leaving Ruth's record untouched from the point of view of purists.

Only in 1998 did Mark McGwire beat Maris' record with the 62nd of his 70 single-season home runs . Of course, there is a shadow over this new record (and the others by Barry Bonds ), as performance-enhancing agents ( steroids ) can probably be made partly responsible for these records.

Roger Maris' jersey number # 9 will no longer be awarded to New York Yankees players . His jersey was hung in a ceremony at Yankee Stadium on July 21, 1984.

Maris is one of the few baseball record holders who has not been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame ; a decision that causes incomprehension among many fans. Maris died of cancer and is buried in his hometown of Fargo , North Dakota . The city of Fargo has named a street after him and set up a Roger Maris Museum .

The story of Roger Maris' 61 Home Runs was filmed in 2001 in the TV feature film 61 * by Billy Crystal based on the script by Hank Steinberg . Roger Maris was played by Barry Pepper .

Web links

Commons : Roger Maris  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David S. Neft, Richard M. Cohen, Michael L. Neft: Baseball 2004 . New York 2004, p. 346.
personal data
SURNAME Maris, Roger
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Maris, Roger Eugene (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American baseball player
DATE OF BIRTH September 10, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Hibbing , Minnesota , United States
DATE OF DEATH December 14, 1985
Place of death Houston , Texas , United States