Books and articles about Roger Maris

When Maris hit his record 61st home run of the 1961 season, he became the owner of the most glamorous of all baseball standards, a mark he has held for nearly as long as his predecessor Babe Ruth did before Maris broke it. A great outfielder with a fine arm, an adept baserunner, and a team player willing to move baserunners and slide hard to break up double plays, Maris was a winner in two cities, appearing in more World Series than any other player in the 1960s and establishing himself as one of the dominant players of the first half of the decade.

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RELATED LINKS » 1959: Team Scores 11 Runs in One Inning on One Hit » 1961: Maris Slugs #61 » 1973: Red Smith on Babe Ruth Photos » Photo: Roger Maris' 58th home run (1961) Book Excerpts » 1960: The Last Pure Season by Kerry Keene » Bill James: Does Maris belong in the Hall of Fame? » Babe: The Legend Comes to Life by Robert W. Creamer Greatest Teams » 1961 Yankees Submissions » Major League Leaders Who Weren't: 1961's Unbalanced Schedule by Fred Worth » The Most Impressive Single-Season Home Run Records by Fred Worth » Maris Hits Home Run #61 to Set New Record by Frank Wasiowicz Jr. Ask The Experts » Who is the only man to K McGwire, Sosa, and Maris? » When Roger Maris was traded from Cleveland to Kansas City, what other players were involved? » What sort of bat did Roger Maris use? » On what date did Roger Maris hit his first home run of the 1961 season? » What AL player drew four intentional walks in a game? Around the Web » League of their own from dfw.com Jump directly to Library content from any website!

In 1953 Maris signed with the Indians out of high school for a $5,000 bonus after turning down an athletic scholarship from the University of Oklahoma. He hit .325 at Fargo-Moorhead. Fargo today houses a Roger Maris museum. At Keokuk in 1954 manager Jo Jo White taught him to pull, and Maris hit 32 home runs. Using a 35-inch, 33-ounce bat, he broke into the major leagues with the Indians by going 3-for-5 on Opening Day 1957 against the White Sox, and the next day he hit his first big league home run, a grand slam game winner, in the top of the 11th inning. His 14 rookie homers were followed by 28 in his second season, which he started with Cleveland and finished with Kansas City. The Athletics acquired him along with Preston Ward and Dick Tomanek for Vic Power and Woody Held.

Seeking to restructure their team after finishing third in 1959, the Yankees, who had traded frequently with the Athletics in the late 1950s, obtained Maris from Kansas City with Kent Hadley and Joe DeMaestri for Don Larsen, Hank Bauer, Marv Throneberry, and Norm Siebern. In his first game as a Yankee, he hit two home runs, a double and a single, and he wound up with 39 home runs for the year, one behind Mantle's league-leading 40. He topped the league with a .581 slugging percentage and beat out Mantle for MVP honors by three points in the weighted voting. Although New York lost the 1960 World Series on Bill Mazeroski's home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of the seventh game, prompting the firing of manager Stengel, a new Yankee dynasty marked by five consecutive AL crowns had begun.

Under new manager Ralph Houk in 1961, the Yankees fielded a set lineup, usually batting Maris third and Mantle fourth. The two preyed on American League pitchers, including the weak-armed staffs of Los Angeles and Washington, the league's two expansion franchises. Neck-and-neck with Mantle through September until Mantle was felled by an injury, the nation watched as Maris hit his 59th homer in the 155th game of the year, his 60th in game 159, and his 61st in the final and 163rd game of the season at Yankee Stadium off Tracy Stallard of the Red Sox in a 1-0 Yankee victory. The home run ball was caught by a 21-year-old truck driver, Sal Durante, who sold it to Sam Gordon, a Sacramento restaurant owner. Gordon displayed it for a while, then gave it to Maris.

Controversy surrounded the feat. There were those who claimed that Maris's achievement was tainted, because Maris, who played in 161 of the Yankees' 163 games that season, had more games to break the total of 60 that Ruth had accumulated in 1927 playing in 151 of the team's 155 games. (Each team played one tie game.) Commissioner Ford Frick ordered an asterisk attached to the record. With time, however, his ruling has been dwarfed by the feat itself and survives only as a piece of trivia surrounding the lore of Maris's chase of the record. Maris's great season included AL-leading totals of 142 RBI and 132 runs scored, and it led the Yankees to a World Series victory over Cincinnati. In addition to winning his second consecutive MVP award, Maris was awarded the Hickock Belt as best professional athlete of the year, and was named Catholic Athlete of the Year. He won numerous other plaques, as well as a Gold Glove.

The quest for the home run record weighed heavily on Maris, and the hair of his famed crew cut began to fall out from tension in the stretch run of the chase. The pressure he felt was exacerbated by his accurate assessment that he was never as popular with fans as he thought he should have been. A private man who seldom showed emotion, he irritated many reporters with his angry stubbornness and his fierce, combative integrity. "I'm impatient," he said of himself. "When I think something isn't right, I want it to be made right then and there. I don't believe in holding things in. When I'm impatient or dissatisfied I say something." Much of his impatience was aimed at himself. "You can always do better than you're doing," he said. "You have to try all the time." Shortly before his death from lymph-gland cancer in 1985, he said, "I always come across as being bitter. I'm not bitter. People were very reluctant to give me any credit. I thought hitting 60 home runs was something. But everyone shied off. Why, I don't know. Maybe I wasn't the chosen one, but I was the one who got the record."

The four intentional walks Maris drew in a 12-inning game in 1962 were indicative of the respect accorded him around the league following his 1961 season. Maris had his last great season as a Yankee in 1962. He had more than 30 homers and more than 100 RBI for the third year in a row, and the Yankees defeated San Francisco in the World Series. A hand injury plagued him in 1963 and robbed him of his power, and he never fully regained his home run form, despite making a partial comeback in 1964. Batting in a game in June 1965, he took a swing and felt something pop in his right hand. He was sidelined the rest of the year, but did not submit to surgery until the season was over. His 1965 injuries were a portent of the future for an aging Yankee team, which slid to a last-place finish in 1966. Maris played in only 95 games, pinch hitting in 20 more, and hit 13 homers.

In December 1966 Maris was traded to the Cardinals for Charley Smith, a much-traveled third baseman with a .240 career average. St. Louis moved Mike Shannon from the outfield to third base and played Maris in right field. The change was the only alteration of the lineup the Cardinals fielded in 1966 when they finished in sixth place, 12 games behind the Dodgers, but it was a significant one, as they won consecutive National League championships in 1967 and 1968 with Maris. He batted .385 for their 1967 World Championship team. (NLM/CR)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » August 16, 1947: Ralph Kiner hits three successive home runs for the host Pittsburgh Pirates, in a 12–7 win over the Cardinals in a game in which the two clubs bang out major-league record (since topped) 10 homers. Two other Bucs, Hank Greenberg and Billy Cox, and one Cardinal (Whitey Kurowski) each contribute two home runs to set a major-league record for most players with 2+ homers in a game. Kiner matches the ML mark of seven home runs in four games, six in three games, five in two games, and four in consecutive at bats. By the end of the month, Big Ralph will still trail Mize 39 to 43 in a head-to-head home run competition that will only be matched by Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle in 1961. Starters Roger Wolff and the Cards Ken Burkhart exit in the first inning. » May 18, 1958: The Indians' Carroll Hardy pinch-hits for Roger Maris and smacks a 3-run home run off Billy Pierce to pace the Tribe's 7–4 win. Hardy will pinch-hit for Ted Williams in 1960. » June 15, 1958: The Indians trade OF Roger Maris, 1B Preston Ward, and LHP Dick Tomanek to the Athletics for 1B Vic Power and SS Woodie Held. Insiders fear the worst: that A's president Arnold Johnson will follow script and put Maris in Yankee pinstripes. » September 18, 1958: For the second time in a month, the first two leadoff hitters homer. This time it is KC's Bill Tuttle and Roger Maris connecting off Boston's Ted Bowsfield as the A's win, 4–1. Bob Cerv hits #37 for the A's and Pete Daley homers off winner Bud Daley for Boston's score. » December 11, 1959: The A's Arnold Johnson gives the New York Yankees an early Christmas present when he gift wraps Roger Maris in pinstripes. The Yankees acquire the slugger in a 7-player deal that sends P Don Larsen, RF Hank Bauer, 1B Marv Throneberry, and LF Norm Siebern to the Athletics. » April 19, 1960: On Patriot's Day at Fenway Park, Roger Maris makes his debut with the Yankees a smash as he goes 4-for-5, including two home runs, and drives in four runs. The Yanks spoil Boston's opener with an 8–4 win as Jim Coates goes all the way for New York. Tom Brewer is the loser. Red Sox catcher Haywood Sullivan has his first ML hit after five seasons and 16 at bats. Mayor John Collins, wheel-chair bound because of polio, tosses out the first ball. » May 28, 1960: Casey Stengel is hospitalized with a virus and high fever and will miss 13 games. New York goes 7-6 under interim manager Ralph Houk. Today the Yanks top the Senators, 5–1, behind Jim Coates' 5th straight win. The game is scoreless until Mickey Mantle cracks a 5th inning opposite field homer off Jim Kaat, who then walks three, hits two batters, and a serves up a Gil McDougald 2-run triple good for three runs. Later Mantle homers again, and Roger Maris, leading the American League, also homers, the first time the two have hit round trippers together in a game. » June 5, 1960: The Yankees sweep two from the Red Sox, taking the opener on homers by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Roger's blow is a three run shot to give New York a 5–4 victory. Art Ditmar is the CG winner in the nitecap, winning 8–3. » June 8, 1960: Bob Turley tosses a 3-hit shutout against the White Sox, and Mickey Mantle adds his 9th and 10th homers of the season. His 2nd homer, in the 8th, is followed by Roger Maris's 16th of the year, matching his season total last year with KC. It is the first time the M Boys have hit back-to-back homers. » June 13, 1960: The Indians trade C Russ Nixon and OF Carroll Hardy to the Red Sox for Marty Keough and P Ted Bowsfield. Nixon had been traded in March to the Red Sox for Sammy White, but the deal fell through when White refused to report. Hardy once pinch hit for Roger Maris in Cleveland, and will do the same for Ted Williams this year, the only time Williams will ever have a pinch hitter. » June 14, 1960: New York beats KC, 6–2 behind Jim Coates and Roger Maris. Maris drives in five runs with a home run, double, and single. The Yankees have now 7th straight, all since Stengel returned from the hospital, and now are in a virtual tie with the Indians and Orioles for 1st place. » June 18, 1960: New York continues the fireworks in Chicago with long home runs by Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Skowron to win 12–5 and sweep the 4-game series in Chicago. The Mantle home run is over the CF fence and is followed by Maris's clout to the upper deck in right. » June 30, 1960: New York beats up on their cousins from Kansas City by banging out five homers to win 10–5. Skowron leads with two home runs, with one each from Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Kubek. » July 19, 1960: The Yankees outslug the Indians, 13–11, behind the slugging of Bill Skowron. Skowron's follows a Berra blast with his 2nd homer in the 8th but Cleveland answers with two in the bottom of the 8th for an 11–8 lead. Moose then hits a bases-loaded double in the 9th to win it. Roger Maris hits his 30th home run and Piersall homers for the Tribe. » August 14, 1960: The Yankees lose a doubleheader to Washington and fall to 3rd place in the American League, a half game behind the Orioles and White Sox. P Camilo Pascual's grand slam is the difference in a 5–4 first-game win. In the 2nd, Mickey Mantle, believing there are two outs, jogs to 1B on a grounder to 3B. The Senators turn a DP, with New York's Roger Maris suffering bruised ribs trying to break it up at 2B. Maris will miss 18 games as a result. Mantle is heavily booed, and Casey Stengel replaces him with Bob Cerv. The clubs set a major-league record by using 17 pinch hitters—9 by the Yankees—in the doubleheader (more than 18 innings), while playing a major-league record 24 errorless innings. » September 16, 1960: The Orioles (83-58) and Yankees (82-57) open a crucial four games series with the O's just .002 in back of New York. But Lopez and Roger Maris crack homers to back Whitey Ford's 4–2 win over the Birds. The two runs off Ford were the first the Birds have scored off him at the Stadium in 33.2 innings. Shantz rescues Whitey in the 9th. » September 20, 1960: Boston OF Carroll Hardy pinch-hits for Ted Williams, who is forced to leave the game after fouling a ball off his ankle and grounds into a DP. It is the only time Williams has been pinch hit for; Hardy also pinch hit for Roger Maris when both were at Cleveland. The Orioles win 5–4 when Brooks Robinson pulls away from a pitch and accidentally bloops an RBI single in the 8th. » September 28, 1960: The Yanks win their 12th of 15 straight, taking a 6–3 victory over the Senators. Mickey Mantle swats homers 39 and 40, off Chuck Stobbs, to insure his home run title over Roger Maris. Since August 15th, Mick has hit 13 to Roger's 4. » October 1, 1960: The Yankees win their 14th straight, beating the Red Sox, 3–1 behind three pitchers. Jim Coates (13–3) is the winner. Nichols is the loser for the Bosox, while Tracy Stallard, in relief, fans Roger Maris. Maris's next at bat against Stallard will be a momentous one a year from now. » October 3, 1960: The Yankees head into the World Series with a 15-game winning streak, the 8th longest streak in the American League this century, after Dale Long's 2-run 9th-inning home run gives them an 8–7 win over the Red Sox. New York's 193 home runs are an AL record, three better than the 1956 Yanks. RBI leader Roger Maris drives in three runs, but falls one home run short of Mickey Mantle's league-high 40. » November 2, 1960: Roger Maris nips Mickey Mantle for the American League's Most Valuable Player award, 225-222, the 2nd-closest vote ever, after the DiMaggio-Williams race in 1947. » April 26, 1961: Roger Maris hits his first home run of 1961 off Paul Foytack of Detroit, and Mickey Mantle adds home runs from both sides of the plate (for the 8th time), as New York wins 13–10 at Tiger Stadium. Mantle's 2nd homer, a 2-run shot off Hank Aguirre, snaps a 10–10 tie in the 10th. » May 17, 1961: Roger Maris connects for his 4th homer, and his first of the year at Yankee Stadium, against the Senators. Roger will hit an incredible 24 homers in his next 38 games. » May 28, 1961: After losing the first game 14–9 at home to Chicago, the Yankees take the nightcap 5–3 with the help of a Roger Maris home run. Maris's 9th home run of the season is one of 27 hit in today's seven American League games—a record. Twelve more in four National League games make a total of 39, a one-day major-league record for 11 games in the two leagues. » May 30, 1961: Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, and Moose Skowron each belt two home runs, tying the major-league record for most players (one club) with multiple home runs in a 9-inning game. Berra adds a homer as New York wins at Fenway Park 12–3. » May 31, 1961: Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris again homer as New York edges Boston, 7–6. Mantle's is #14, two ahead of Roger. In the 8th inning, Carroll Hardy pinch hits for rookie Carl Yastrzemski: last year he pinch hit for Ted Williams, making him the only player to go in for both future Hall of Famers. » June 5, 1961: In the first of two games at the Stadium, Mickey Mantle hits an 8th inning homer to help New York top the Twins 6–2. Mantle, Roger Maris, and Rocky Colavito each have hit 15. » June 9, 1961: In a rain-interrupted game in New York, Mickey Mantle's 3-run homer in the 3rd is the difference in a 8–6 win over Kansas City. Roger Maris also homers, the third time this year the two have gone deep in the same game. » June 11, 1961: The Yankees sweep two the Angels, winning the opener, 2–1 behind Ralph Terry's 5-hitter. Yogi Berra clouts a pair of solo homers. In the nitecap, Mickey Mantle's 1st inning homer, #19, gives him the American League lead, but Roger Maris adds a pair of home runs, his 19th and 20th, as New York wins 5–1. The Yanks have won 10 of 11 games. » June 22, 1961: Roger Maris leads the Yankees on an 8–3 thrashing of the A's by belting his 27th homer of the year. He adds two doubles and a single. Maris has now hit 20 homers in the past 30 days (May 24 - June 22) to tie the mark set by Ralph Kiner in 1947. » June 30, 1961: Whitey Ford (14–2) tops the Senators 5–1 to give the 2nd place Yankees their 22nd win of the month. Roger Maris drives in three runs and Mickey Mantle lines shot over CF Willie Tasby's that rebounds for an inside-the-park home run. » July 1, 1961: The Senators stake rookie Carl Mathias to a 3–0 lead over New York, but a Mickey Mantle solo shot, a few feet left of the 456-foot sign in left at Yankee Stadium, puts New York on the board. The Nats up the score to 5–1, but Mantle then bangs a 3-run homer to make it 5–4 and knock out Mathias [who in his 11 ML games will give up three homers to Mantle]. In the 9th, Roger Maris poles a 2-run homer, his 28th, to give New York a 7–6 victory. » July 2, 1961: The Yankees hit five homers -- #28 by Mickey Mantle and #'s 29 and 30 by Roger Maris -- to easily beat the Senators 13–4. » July 5, 1961: At Yankee Stadium, Roger Maris cracks a 7th inning solo home run against the Indians, and also is credited—erroneously, as it turns out—with a 3rd inning RBI on a single. The two RBIs are officially recorded, though just one appears in the game's box score, and the error will not be noted until 1995. With the correction, Maris and Jim Gentile become co-leaders in RBIs for the season. » July 13, 1961: Chicago's Early Wynn gets an early departure as he retires just two Yankees in the first inning. Then Mickey Mantle (30th) and Roger Maris (34th) belt back-to-back homers to send the vet to the showers. For Mantle, it is the 13th homer in his career off Wynn, his favorite target. New York wins, 6–2 » July 17, 1961: The Yankees top the O's, 5–0, behind Whitey Ford's 13th straight win. Mickey Mantle (#33) and Skowron hit long home runs at Baltimore. The nitecap goes into the 5th when, with two outs and the Yanks up 4–1, a thunderstorm strikes. The umps wait 65 minutes before calling the game, thus washing out homers by Roger Maris and Mantle. » July 19, 1961: Ford Frick, an old friend of Babe Ruth's, announces that should Ruth's record be beaten after 154 games, the record will carry an asterisk. When asked about the ruling, Roger Maris replies, "A season is a season." » July 21, 1961: Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris slam back-to-back home runs in the first inning for New York, but it takes a 2-out, 9th-inning pinch-hit grand slam by Johnny Blanchard to finally subdue the Red Sox, 11–8, at Fenway. The pinch slam is the American League's 6th of the season, a new record. » July 25, 1961: Roger Maris hits four home runs, tying the American League record for a twin bill (at least one in each game), as New York beats Chicago 5–1 and 12–0. Mickey Mantle also homers off Frank Baumann in the first game. He ends the day with 38 home runs to 40 for Maris. » August 2, 1961: New York beats Kansas City 12–5 with Mickey Mantle walloping a first inning homer off Art Ditmar. Mantle and Roger Maris are both at 40 homers. » August 11, 1961: Mickey Mantle (44) and Roger Maris (42) belt homers off reliever Pete Burnside to lead New York to a 12–5 pasting of the Senators. » August 12, 1961: At Griffith Stadium, Roger Maris belts his 43rd homer, off Dick Donovan, but its New York's only score as they lose, 5–1, the Yanks first loss in 10 games. For Washington it is their first win in eight games. Gene Green's pinch grand slam off Luis Arroyo is the big blow for the Nats. » August 13, 1961: In the first of two with the Senators, Roger Maris belts his 44th homer to tie Mickey Mantle. An inning later, Mantle, hits a Bennie Daniels offering for his 45th, but that's all Daniels allows, winning 12–2. Maris adds his 45th homer in the 1st inning in game two as the Yanks win, 9–4. » August 15, 1961: Roger Maris hits his 46th homer, off Chicago's Juan Pizarro, for New York's only run in a 2–1 loss to the visiting White Sox. Pizarro allows just four hits. Whitey Ford loses in his bid for his 21st win. » August 16, 1961: Roger Maris ties an American League record with his 7th home run in his 6th straight game, as New York beats Chicago 5–4 in the 9th inning. His two blasts off Billy Pierce give him 48, three more than Mickey Mantle. » August 20, 1961: At Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, both Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris homer in the twinbill sweep. Mantle's first inning three run homer, and Maris ' 9th in the 3rd inning to make it easy for Ralph Terry. In the nitecap, Bill Skowron hits his 21st in the 2nd inning and the Yanks win 5–2. In the 6th, after Bell allows a single and then hits Gardner and Maris, Mantle collects his 101st walk to force home a run. » August 22, 1961: Roger Maris becomes the first player to hit his 50th home run in the month of August, as the Yankees lose to the Angels 4–3 (Ruth and Foxx hit #50 on September 4th). Ken McBride tees up the gopher ball in the 6th inning with one on. » August 26, 1961: Roger Maris belts #51, off KC's Jerry Walker. Roger's homer in the 6th follows a Tony Kubek blast. Bill Stafford allows just one hit till the 9th inning as the Yanks win, 5–1. » September 2, 1961: Against Detroit's Frank Lary, Roger Maris doubles and takes 3B on a misplay. Mickey Mantle, hurting from a pulled muscle in his forearm, lays down a perfect drag bunt to score Roger. Maris then blasts homers his next two trips to the plate, and Elston Howard adds a three-run homer, for a 7–2 win. » September 3, 1961: After taking the first two games against Detroit, New York is down 5–4 in the 9th when Mickey Mantle ties the game with his 2nd homer of the day. Elston Howard wins it with a 3-run drive into the LF stands and Detroit leaves town four 1/2 games in back of New York. Mantle is now at 50 home runs, with Roger Maris at 53, the first teammates in history to hit 50. » September 6, 1961: Roger Maris connects for #54, off Tom Cheney of the Senators, as the Yankees win, 8–0, behind Whitey Ford's 5-hitter. Ford is now 23–3. John Blanchard hits a pair of homers, each time following a walk to Mickey Mantle, and Moose Skowron and Bob Hale also homer. » September 7, 1961: Roger Maris lays down a bunt and also belts his 55th homer of the year in the 3rd inning as New York beats the Senators, 7–3. All of Washington's scores come in the 6th on an inside-the-park homer by Tito Francona, off Ralph Terry. When asked by a writer after the game why he bunted, a testy Maris replies, "Trying to win the game, you stupid cocksucker. Why do you think." » September 9, 1961: On Whitey Ford Day at Yankee Stadium, Roger Maris hits his 56th homer, off Cleveland's Mudcat Grant, as the Yanks come from behind to win, 8–7, New York scores four in the 9th to enable Luis Arroyo to pick up his 12th relief win in a row. » September 10, 1961: The Yankees sweep the Indians, 7–6 and 9–3 , their 12th win in a row at home and the Indians 20th loss in a row at Yankee Stadium. Mickey Mantle gets number 53 in the nitecap, while Roger Maris, homerless, stays at 56. The official scorecard credits Mantle with two runs scored: it will be discovered in 1995 that one of the runs should go to Bill Skowron. In the 2nd game, Clete Boyer sends a Jim Perry pitch into the LF corner that hits the lower deck of the grand stand and bounces back into play. While home plate ump Joe Linsalata calls it a home run, the other two umps agree with Tribe CF Jimmy Piersall who contends the ball is in play. Boyer's home run trot is interrupted at 3B with a tag out. Piersall's contribution in Game One is fighting with a fan who climbed onto the field. » September 16, 1961: At Detroit, Roger Maris connects for #57, off Frank Lary, to stay a game ahead of Ruth's 1927 pace. But Lary wins his 21st, 10–4, over Ralph Terry, with help from Norm Cash, who belts a homer, his 37th, and a triple. Al Kaline adds four hits and a sac fly. » September 17, 1961: In Detroit, Roger Maris triples off Terry Fox in the 7th to put the Yanks ahead, Detroit ties it and, then in the 12th, Maris faces Fox again with Tony Kubek on 2B. Maris steps out of the box to watch a long skein of Canadian geese fly over Tiger Stadium, then steps in a belts the first pitch for his 58th homer of the year. » September 20, 1961: The Yankees' 154th game of 1961 (including a tie) is Roger Maris' last chance to beat Babe Ruth, in compliance with Commissioner Ford Frick's statement that, for the record to be broken, Maris must do it in the same number of games as Ruth. Maris' 59th home run of the year, off Milt Pappas, is short of the record, but helps New York beat Baltimore 4–2, clinching its 26th American League pennant. In 1998, Pappas will state that he told Maris the night before that, if the game's outcome is not on the line, he would throw him nothing but fastballs. » September 21, 1961: At New York, Roger Maris is held hitless in four at bats, as the Orioles win, 5–3, behind Bill Fischer's 3-hitter. All the runs off him are unearned. Maris is the only Yankee regular to play the entire game. » September 26, 1961: In New York's 159th game, Roger Maris rips a Jack Fisher fastball into the RF seats at Yankee Stadium for his 60th home run. New York beats Baltimore 3–2. There are fewer than 8,000 fans on hand to view this historic event. » September 29, 1961: Johnny Blanchard singles and homers to drive in both runs in the Yanks, 2–1 win over the Red Sox. The Bomber handyman hits his 21st homer and singles in Roger Maris in the 9th to pin the loss on Bill Monbouquette. Whitey Ford pitches four scoreless innings for New York, and finishes the year having no stolen bases off him in 243 innings, a record. » October 1, 1961: Roger Maris' torturous, season-long race against Babe Ruth ends in a dramatic at bat against Boston's Tracy Stallard. Maris' classic lefthanded swing sends home run number 61 into the RF stands in "The House That Ruth Built." (Sal Durante, one of 23,154 fans in attendance, grabs the historic home run ball which he sells for $5,000). New York's 1–0 win gives the Yanks 109 wins, one short of the club's 1927 record. It is New York's major-league record 240th homer of the year. » October 7, 1961: John Blanchard's pinch-hit home run ties the game in the 8th, and Roger Maris' 9th-inning home run off Bob Purkey is the difference in a 3–2 New York win for Luis Arroyo in game three of the World Series. » November 15, 1961: Roger Maris is voted American League MVP with 202 votes to 198 for Mickey Mantle and 157 for Jim Gentile. » December 14, 1961: Roger Maris' request for a $75,000 contract is denied by Yankee GM Roy Hamey. Hamey trades C Jess Gonder to the Reds for lefty Marshall Bridges. » January 26, 1962: Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle sign contracts with Columbia Pictures to star in Safe at Home!, a movie that is to be shot during spring training. » April 10, 1962: At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Bill Skowron, the three Yankees who combined for 143 homers last season, hit Opening Day homers to lead New York to a come-from-behind 7–6 win over Baltimore. Moose's is a 2-run shot to dead center that he legs out for an inside-the -park homer, while Mantle hits his in the 8th inning to tie the game, Maris hits a 3-run shot in the 5th. Johnny Temple, in his first game for the O's, has three hits, including a home run. Starters Billy Hoeft and Whitey Ford are gone after six innings, and the win goes to Ralph Terry, while Skinny Brown takes the loss. » May 6, 1962: Mickey Mantle hits home runs right- and lefthanded for the 9th time, in the 2nd game of a doubleheader, as the Yankees win 8–0 over the Senators at the Stadium. His first homer follows a Roger Maris round-tripper. The shutout is Jim Bouton's first win the majors. In the opener, a 4–2 Nats win, Mantle accounts for both Yankee runs with a lefthanded homer. » May 22, 1962: Roger Maris, who went all of 1961 without receiving an intentional walk, gets four in a 12-inning 2–1 win against the Angels to set an American League record. Maris receives five walks in all. Four Yankee pitchers (Whitey Ford, Jim Coates, Bud Daley, and Bob Turley) combine to give up just one hit in 12 innings. Ford leaves after seven innings because of back spasms, and Coates gives up the lone hit, a one-out 9th-inning single to Bob Rodgers. » June 28, 1962: Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle break a 0–0 tie in the 4th with back-to-back home runs to lead the Yanks to a 4–2 win over the Twins. » July 3, 1962: The Yankees need all five home runs -- 2 each by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, plus one by Bobby Richardson -- to edge the A's 8–7. Mantle's 2nd homer, in the 8th, is the tie breaker. » July 6, 1962: The Yankees edge the Twins 7–5 in Bloomington, as Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris each hit a pair of home runs. The M&M boys hit back to back homers in the 1st inning, off Camilo Pascual (12–4), the 3rd time in four games they've hit back-to-back shots. New York is a half-game in back of Cleveland. » August 20, 1962: Roger Maris hits his 49th and Mickey Mantle his 46th as the Yankees sweep a pair from the Indians, 6–0 and 5–2. Both come in Game One as Terry pitches a 4-hitter. Skowron homers in the nitecap and Mantle notches an RBI with his 101st walk, following a single and two HPBs load the bases. » October 4, 1962: At Candlestick Park, in Game One of the World Series, Roger Maris stakes Whitey Ford to a 2-run lead with a first-inning, 2-run double. Only RF Felipe Alou's leaping effort keeps Maris' drive in the park. Ford's record consecutive-shutout-inning streak ends at 33 2/3 innings when a surprise bunt by Jose Pagan brings Willie Mays home. Clete Boyer's 7th-inning home run gives the Yankees a 6–2 win, the last of a record 10 World Series victories for Ford. » October 16, 1962: New York scores the game's only run, as Tony Kubek grounds into a 5th-inning DP. In the 9th, with two outs and Matty Alou on 1B, Willie Mays rips a double to right off Ralph Terry, but great fielding by Roger Maris keeps Alou from scoring. Willie McCovey then hits a screaming liner toward right, but 2B Bobby Richardson gloves it, giving the Yankees a 1–0 win and a 2nd straight World Series victory. Terry is named World Series MVP. » May 11, 1963: The Yankees trounce the Orioles, 111, beating Milt Pappas. Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris each homer, the first time this year they've done it together. » May 21, 1963: At Kansas City, Mickey Mantle homers in the first inning off Orlando Pena, then adds another in the 5th. Roger Maris follows with another homer and New York wins, 7–4. » May 6, 1964: The Yanks hit four home runs -- two by Hector Lopez and one apiece by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris -- to back Jim Bouton's 9–2 opening win over the Senators. Washington comes back from a 4–0 deficit to win the nitecap, 5–4, despite a three-run Mantle homer off starter Claude Osteen. » May 23, 1964: At New York, the Angels score four in the first, and the Yankees counter with five in the bottom of the inning off Bo Belinsky. That's all the scoring for the pinstripers as the Angels win 9–5. This is the 2nd game this season that the injury-plagued Yanks have started their regular outfield of Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Tom Tresh. Mantle will pull a muscle on the 26th, keeping him out of the lineup for two weeks. » August 22, 1964: The Yankees lose the first game to Boston, 5–3, extending their losing streak to six games. Boston scores three runs in the 8th inning to win it. In the nitecap, New York wins, 8–0, as Mickey Mantle and John Blanchard both homer, and Roger Maris drives in three runs. Mel Stottlemyre wins his 3rd game in a row since being recalled from Richmond. The Yanks end the day five 1/2 games behind the Orioles, with the White Sox in 2nd place, one 1/2 games back. » August 29, 1964: On Elston Howard Night, the Yankees take two from Boston 10–2 and 6–1. Joe Pepitone's three home runs, including a grand slam, and Roger Maris's six singles lead the offense. Mickey Mantle hits home run number 447 in the opener and ties Babe Ruth's career strikeout record (1,330) in the nightcap. » September 17, 1964: The Yankees whip the Angels 6–2 to lock on to first place for good with a 2-percentage-point lead over the idle White Sox and Orioles. Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle each have three hits. Mantle's include his 2,000th career hit and his 450th home run, his 31st of the year. The Yankees have won two in a row and will run their win streak to 11 games. » September 19, 1964: The Yanks move a half game ahead of the rained-out O's by defeating the A's, 8–3. Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris homer and Ralph Terry pitches effectively in relief of Al Downing. » September 22, 1964: The Yankees sweep Cleveland, winning 5–3 and 8–1. In the doubleheader, the Yanks get home runs from Mickey Mantle, Pepitone, Roger Maris, and Phil Linz. » October 14, 1964: Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle hit home runs on back-to-back pitches from Curt Simmons, and Joe Pepitone belts Gordie Richardson for a grand slam. New York wins 8–3 at St. Louis and evens the World Series. » April 17, 1965: In Kansas City, the Yanks top the A's, 5–2, with all of New York's scoring coming via home runs. With NY ahead, 2–1, in the 8th, Roger Maris walks and Mickey Mantle follows with his 1st homer of the year. » June 29, 1965: The Yankees lose Roger Maris for 49 games with bone chips in the heel of his right hand. » May 9, 1966: At Minneapolis, the Yankees (6–20) edge the Twins, 3–2. Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, and Joe Pepitone, with the game-winner in the 9th inning, hit homers for New York. » December 8, 1966: Five years after breaking Babe Ruth's record, the Yankees trade OF Roger Maris to the Cardinals for journeyman 3B Charlie Smith. In two days, the Yanks send Pedro Ramos the Phils for P Joe Verbanic. » October 8, 1967: Bob Gibson is overpowering again in a 5-hit 6–0 win in Game 4. Roger Maris and Tim McCarver each have two RBI for St. Louis. » October 9, 1967: Roger Maris homers for the Cardinals in the 9th, but Jim Lonborg's 3–1 win sends the World Series back to Boston. » September 15, 1968: The Cardinals clinch the NL pennant with a 7–4 win at Houston. Roger Maris hits his 275th, and last, regular-season home run, off Don Wilson in the 3rd, and Curt Flood racks up five hits. » September 4, 1991: After 30 years, the asterisk attached to Roger Maris' 61 home runs in 1961 is removed by an 8-man Committee for Statistical Accuracy. Regarding the expunging of the asterisk, historian Bill Deane later points out, "It was an easy job: the asterisk never existed. Maris's record was, from 1962 until 1991, listed separately from Ruth's and was never actually defined by 'some distinctive mark.'" The committee also defines a no-hit game as one which ends after nine or more innings with one team failing to get a hit. This removes 50 games from the list that had previously been considered no-no's, mostly shortened games, but also including Harvey Haddix's 12 perfect innings against the Braves in 1959 and Jim Maloney' 1965 1–0 loss in 11-innings. Another casualty is Ernie Shore's 27 straight outs in 1917, a game in which he relieved Ruth with a runner on and no outs in the 1st. It is now a combined no-hitter. » May 12, 1995: Against the Pirates, Matt Williams hits his 7th and 8th home runs of the season, and in the process breaks, in a manner of speaking, Roger Maris' 162-game home run record. Williams hit 62 home runs in 161 games spread over three seasons: 11 home runs in the last 30 games of 1993, 43 homers in 115 games in 1994, and eight home runs in the first 16 games of 1995. » September 14, 1997: Mark McGwire notches his 51st homer, and St. Louis Cardinals score seven runs in the eighth to win, 10–4. McGwire, the first player with consecutive 50-homer seasons since Babe Ruth in 1927-28, connects off Joey Hamilton (11-6) in the sixth. He has 17 homers in 37 games since St. Louis acquired him from Oakland on July 31 and has 14 games remaining to chase Roger Maris' season record of 61. » September 22, 1997: Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 54th and 55th homers, overtaking Mark McGwire for the major league lead, as Seattle clinches a tie for the American League West title, defeating Oakland 4-2. Griffey now has the seventh-highest homer total in ML history, trailing only Roger Maris (61 in 1961), Ruth (60 in 1927), Babe Ruth (59 in 1921), Foxx (58 in 1932), Hank Greenberg (58 in 1938) and Hack Wilson (56 in 1930). Griffey's 55 homers are the most in the majors since Maris set the record in 1961. He has five games left, all at the Kingdome, to match Maris' mark. With three home runs, Seattle has 257 this season, tying the major league mark set by Baltimore last year. » June 20, 1998: The Cubs Sammy Sosa cranks out his 21st homer in the last 30 days, something no other slugger has ever done. The previous high was 20, set by Ralph Kiner in 1947 and tied by Roger Maris in 1961. Sosa's 30 days go from May 22 through June 22, as noted by the Elias Sports Bureau. » September 8, 1998: Mark McGwire breaks Roger Maris' single–season home run mark by clouting his 62nd of the year off Steve Trachsel in the 4th inning of the Cardinals' 6–3 win over the Cubs in St. Louis. » June 5, 2001: The Red Sox edge the Tigers, 4-3, in 18 innings on Shea Hillenbrand's home run over the Green Monster. Tim Wakefield, with a scoreless inning, is the winner. Sox DH Manny Ramirez is handed four intentional walks, tying the AL mark set by Roger Maris, on May 22, 1962. Maris did it in a 12 inning game. The major-league record is 5, by Andre Dawson, in a 16 inning game, on May 22, 1990. » August 3, 2001: A jury orders Anheuser–Busch to pay the family of the late Roger Maris $50 million for improperly taking away a beer distributorship. Both sides plan to appeal the ruling, as attorneys for the Maris family said the panel meant to award the family $139 million, but were confused by the judge's instructions to the jury. » September 9, 2001: The Giants squeak by the Rockies, 9–4 in 11 innings. Barry Bonds hits three home runs in a game for the 2nd time this season, giving him 63 for the year, besting Roger Maris' mark of 61 for lefthanded hitters.