Roger Maris Jr Father: Who Is Roger Eugene Maris?
Right fielder Roger Eugene Maris was an American professional baseball player who played from September 10, 1934, to December 14, 1985. His 61 home runs in 1961 helped break the previous single-season home run record for Major League Baseball (MLB). The mark still stands as the American League record and was not broken until 1998. Until Aaron Judge tied it in 2022, he was the only person to hold the record.
From 1953 to 1956, Maris competed in the minor levels before making his main league debut in 1957 with the Cleveland Indians. During the 1958 season, he was dealt to the Kansas City Athletics, and during the 1959 campaign, he was dealt to the New York Yankees. In 1967 and 1968, Maris played his final two seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals. From 1959 to 1962, Maris participated in the All-Star Game for the American League (AL), was named the league’s Most Valuable Player in 1960 and 1961, and won the AL Gold Glove Award in 1960. Maris participated in seven World Series; he played for 1961 and 1962 World Series champion Yankees teams as well as a 1967 World Series champion Cardinals team.
Maris’s home run record was contentious because Babe Ruth’s previous mark (60, set in 1927) was established when MLB clubs played 154 games per season. The AL baseball season had been expanded to 162 games before Maris set Ruth’s mark. In the final game of the season, Maris hit his 61st home run, raising doubts about the validity of his record. In 1998, Mark McGwire established a new MLB record with 70 home runs; in 2001, Barry Bonds topped that mark with 73 home runs. It is widely accepted that both athletes utilized PEDs at some point in their careers.
The 61 home runs that make up the current AL record are the seventh-most home runs hit in a single MLB season.
Roger Maris’s Career in Minor League Baseball
In 1953, Maris began competing for the Fargo-Moorhead Twins, a minor league affiliate of the Indians. He spent the following season at Keokuk, Iowa after winning the Northern League’s rookie of the year award. From 1953 to 1956, Maris played in four minor league seasons, batting.303 with 78 home runs. While representing the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association (Triple-A league) in game two of the 1956 Junior World Series, Maris set a record by driving in seven runs. All five of the minor league teams for which Maris played saw an improvement in their win-loss records from the previous year. Read More
Roger Maris’s Career in Major League Baseball
In 1957, Maris played for the Cleveland Indians.
On April 16, 1957, Maris made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians. He hit his first career home run at Briggs Stadium in Detroit two days later, a grand slam off Tigers pitcher Jack Crimian.[10] He concluded his rookie season with 14 home runs. He was dealt to the Kansas City Athletics on June 15, 1958, along with Preston Ward, Dick Tomanek, and Vic Power for nine home runs and 51 games played for the Indians.
Athletics in Kansas City (1958–1959)
For Kansas City in 1958, Maris participated in 99 games and hit 19 home runs. He participated in 122 games and hit 16 home runs in 1959. Due to an appendix procedure, he missed 45 games in the second half of the season. In the second of the two All-Star Games played that year, he was chosen to participate. In the late 1950s, Kansas City routinely sold its top young players to the New York Yankees, a practice that earned them the moniker “major league farm team”. Maris was no exception. He was traded to the Yankees in December 1959 along with Kent Hadley and Joe DeMaestri for Marv Throneberry, Norm Siebern, Hank Bauer, and Don Larsen as part of a seven-player deal.The Maris Family Received 120 Million Dollars Settlement
Due to the legal dispute between Anheuser-Busch and the Maris family, the latter received a settlement of $120 million.
According to a file that the brewer sent to the government, the Maris family brought the legal action, and the payment put an end to a defamation trial and other cases.
Awards And Achievements:
1. Hickok Belt (1961)
2. Sporting News Player of the Year (1961)
3. World Series champion: 1961, 1962, 1967
4. AL leader in home runs runs scored, and total bases: 1961
5. AL leader in runs batted in and extra-base hits: 1960, 1961
6. NL leader in fielding average as right fielder: 1967
7. New York Yankees No. 9 retired / Monument Park honoree: 1984
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