Update: Now that Mark McGwire has admitted juicing when he broke Roger Maris’ record (which was obvious at the time, by the way), do I think he should be elected to the Hall of Fame? Yes, absolutely. 37 years after Maris gets in.
When I was a young man, I swore I would not visit the Baseball Hall of Fame until Roger Maris was properly enshrined.
I retreated on the vow after making another vow. My oldest son, Mike, was a Johnny Bench fan. When Bench retired in 1983, Mike asked if he would make it to the Hall of Fame. I assured him that Bench would be voted in on the first ballot. Mike asked what year that would be. I said 1989. Mike asked if we could go to the induction ceremonies. I said sure. What kid remembers a promise like that five-plus years later?
Mike did. And we spent a marvelous weekend in Cooperstown watching Bench, Carl Yastrzemski, Red Schoendienst and Harry Caray inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The museum was fabulous, even crowded with induction-weekend fans. I didn’t spend much time in the hall itself. Maris wasn’t there and his absence cheapens the honor for those who are. If the selection process and the electors are obviously biased and skewed, how much can it mean to get in?
If that museum in Cooperstown were the Hall of Longevity or the Hall of High Batting Averages, then fine, leave Maris out. Those are the only two legitimate knocks against him. But it’s the Hall of Fame. And Maris is more famous than most of the players there.
First Maris broke the most famous record in baseball. Then he held it for 37 years, losing it only to players who clearly used performance-enhancing drugs. During that 37 years, you never had to explain what record Maris held. Whoever hit a lot of homers in April was on pace to pass Roger Maris and every baseball fan knew what that meant because Maris and his record were that famous. His record was so famous that when Billy Crystal made an HBO movie about that season, all he needed was the number and the unjust asterisk: 61*. Everyone knew who the movie was about. And for 37 years, all those guys who were on pace to pass Maris didn’t make it and his fame grew.
Maris set the record in 1961, an expansion year for baseball. So the Maris haters who wanted to diminish his record said he broke the record only because of watered-down pitching. But baseball expanded again in 1962 and ’69 and ’77 and no one came close to 61*. They even juiced the ball in 1987 and no one came close. Finally people started coming close in the ’90s when baseball expanded again. But of course, expansion had nothing to do with all the homers hit in the 1990s.
Roger Maris is not in the Hall of Fame because he didn’t suck up to baseball writers during his chase of Babe Ruth. Period. Commissioner Ford Frick hated him for breaking Ruth’s record and baseball writers hated him for not being their buddy and not being Mickey Mantle or Babe Ruth. Every other excuse anyone gives for him not being in the Hall of Fame is fiction.
He was not a one-hit wonder. Maris was a Most Valuable Player the year before he broke Ruth’s record. He was a winner, playing in five World Series for the Yankees and two more for the Cardinals, winning three championships altogether. Injuries (and negligence by Yankee doctors trying to keep him in the lineup) cut short his career, so he didn’t rack up big career numbers. He was a Gold Glove outfielder. His batting average, .260, was low, but not too low for the Hall of Fame (four points higher than Harmon Killebrew, two points higher than Rabbit Maranville, two lower than Luis Aparacio, Gary Carter and Ozzie Smith, seven lower than Bench and Mike Schmidt.)
Maris’ 275 career homers were not too few for a Hall of Fame slugger. Hack Wilson, who holds the single-season RBI record, hit only 244. And he’s in the Hall of Fame.
But statistics aren’t the reason Maris has to be in the Hall of Fame. It’s quite simply because it’s the Hall of Fame and Maris was one of baseball’s most famous players ever. Let’s go back to 1998, back when most fans were pretending that the surge in homers was genuine. Remember what a great year that was — Big Mac and Sammy chasing Roger Maris. The Hall of Fame gets hung up on lots of arbitrary magic lines — 300 wins, 3,000 hits, 500 homers. Cross those lines (pre-steroid era, at least) and you’re in the Hall of Fame. Maris didn’t cross any of those magic lines that dozens of players have crossed.
But here’s a line that only a few have crossed: If your ghost and your record dominate a magical baseball summer decades after you retired and years after you died, you are not one of a few dozen baseball immortals. You are one of a few. Only Ruth and Lou Gehrig did that. And Maris. DiMaggio will do it if anyone ever comes close. No other record or player is so special.
Without such players, the Hall of Fame lacks credibility.
1961 was an incredible season,especially for this (then) 13 year old.Roger was a stubborn son of a gun,i.e. refusing a higher minor league assignment in order to stay home in Fargo with his future wife,refusing to take extra practice in the outfield because he felt he was unfairly singled out,his disregard for the media,and so on.A rifle arm,good baserunner,and if he eschewed the short porch,he would have had a much higher BA. Also, check out the Series saving play against the Giants with the winning runs on base.HOF…HELL YES!
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[…] Thurman Munson belongs in the Hall of Fame, too, along with Don Mattingly, Ron Guidry, Roger Maris, Graig Nettles, Tommy John and Allie Reynolds (I’ll write about John and Reynolds someday). […]
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Since a child I have been a Roger Maris fan, there is nothing in this article that I havent heard and/or didnt know or suspect. The reality that my childhood baseball idol, will sit out the Hall of Fame is a bit of a challenge. . .I also thought that Ronnie Hansen was a killer player. . .who is he. . .doesnt matter. All of my gloves with Roger Maris, the bats the pictures all of them are still a part of my life. . .Maybe one day we will hear the announcement that the Rahjah is in. . . Hey the HAWK made it. . .by the way in 1963 I traded a Mickey Mantle for a 60-61 and 62 Topps Roger Maris. . .and I am still proud of it. . .and still have them. . .E1*
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Re: “Without Roger Maris, the Hall of Fame isn’t complete”, right on, Steve! Questions I hope someone can address:
Who are the members of the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee and can fans like me write or email them to advocate for Maris?
When is the next election by the Veterans Committee and will Maris name appear on their list of nominees?
What can Maris supporters do to help get him in the Hall? I have signed and am promoting the online petition.
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[…] Guidry took a while to make it to the major leagues as a reliever and didn’t become a starter until he was 26. And when injuries caused a decline in his performance, he retired at age 37, rather than try to come back and add some mediocre 8-win or 12-win seasons at the end of his career. But over a nine-year stretch, Guidry was hands-down the best pitcher in the American League and second only to Steve Carlton, a first-ballot Hall of Famer even though he was a jerk (and you know how baseball writers hate a player who doesn’t suck up to them). […]
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[…] should but he probably won’t. Yankees who should be automatic Hall of Famers (see Ron Guidry, Roger Maris, Thurman Munson and Don Mattingly) get rejected from Cooperstown, so a borderline candidate like […]
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Maris was very good….for two seasons. That does not merit HOF induction.
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Maris was “very good…for two seasons.” ?????
Wrong. He was “very great” for two seasons and pretty darn good for many others. Remember, Maris’s career was a relatively short 12 years. In those 12 years he was twice MVP (one of only 11 in history to win it back to back), played on four All-Star teams, and won a Gold Glove for defensive skills (his career Fielding Percentage of .983 is higher than that of Willy Mays, Brooks Robinson, Joe DiMaggio and Hank Aaron to name a few). And Maris’s career .476 Slugging Percentage is better than Dave Winfield, Roberto Clemente, Carl Yastremski, Wade Boggs and other Hall of Fame hitters. Yes, Roger Maris deserves a place in Cooperstown.
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Actually, Maris was the best in baseball for two seasons and had one more very good season and several pretty good seasons before injury (and malpractice by team doctors) cut short his career (and he still contributed to a couple championships in his diminished state). Most Hall of Famers did not have peak years that approached what Maris did. And only a few are famous decades after they retire (remember, it’s the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Longevity).
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When someone says that Roger Maris only had 2 great seasons, which two are they speaking of. . .60 and 61 or 67 and 68. . .he was a LEADER on the Cardinals team, and by all evidence the Cardinals would not have been as succesful, he was celebrated and I believe he was the MVP for the 67 series. . .but then again, I also know that team was loaded with talent. . .1968 was the last year of my childhood. . .I entered High School the next year, and girls became more important than baseball, I have always regretted that. . .By the way, this summer I go to Fargo for one reason to see the Roger Maris Museum.
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[…] make the full case here for why Maris belongs in the Hall of Fame. I did that two years ago on my Hated Yankees blog. As I noted earlier this year when the 50th anniversary of his 61st homer of 1961 approached, few […]
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Bill Mazeroski is in the Hall Of Fame for 1 famous home run he hit in 1960 yet Maris hit 61 famous ones in 1961 and is not enshrined. Enough said.
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Mazeroski was the best defensive second baseman of his time. I think he belongs in the Hall of Fame. But so does Maris, who has a much better case.
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[…] why does he merit a spot on both teams? Well, he went from the Yankees to Kansas City in the Roger Maris trade, and that worked out pretty well. And “Marvelous Marv” came to symbolize the […]
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[…] you went with a top five or 10, Yankees Reggie Jackson and Dave Winfield be in the discussion and Roger Maris probably should […]
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[…] trivia that I remembered came from the 1961 season — not from the record home run chase of Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, but from the homers hit by the Yankees’ three catchers. Howard (28), Berra […]
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[…] Yankee fan the next year, they were two of the six Yankees who hit more than 20 homers, led by Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, of […]
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[…] Cobb’s career stolen-base record (Brock) and Ruth’s single-season home run record (Roger Maris, who isn’t in the Hall of Fame, but should be. He’s another MVP teammate of […]
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[…] Bagwell was hurt by having his best year cut short by the 1994 strike. He had a shot to catch Roger Maris‘ record of 61 homers before McGwire did four years […]
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[…] that were important in Yankee history: 1927, the year of Murderer’s Row, and 1961, the year Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle chased (and Maris broke) the home run record Babe Ruth set in […]
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[…] Famers who played right field for the Yankees in their prime. As I’ve noted again and again, Maris belongs in the Hall of Fame. But his placement here is based on performance, not bias. None of the right fielders below him on […]
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[…] Roger Maris, Allie Reynolds and Elston Howard are Yankees of this era who should be in Cooperstown but aren’t yet. […]
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[…] 2009 I started my baseball blog, Hated Yankees. Twice on Hated Yankees, I have made the case that Maris belongs in the Hall of Fame. And I did it once on The Buttry Diary, blasting the clear biases of these […]
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[…] 2009 I started my baseball blog, Hated Yankees. Twice on Hated Yankees, I have made the case that Maris belongs in the Hall of Fame. And I did it once on The Buttry Diary, blasting the clear biases of these […]
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[…] my writing came in October, when I received a gift from Pat Maris, the widow of Roger Maris. I have written repeatedly for years about why Maris belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame. And this fall, I learned that a […]
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