Roger Maris

Roger Maris began his Major League Baseball career in 1957, playing for the Cleveland Indians before moving to the Kansas City Athletics and then the New York Yankees in 1960. It was during the 1961 season with the Yankees that Maris achieved widespread fame by hitting 61 home runs, surpassing Babe Ruth's long-standing single-season record of 60. This achievement was met with controversy, as the MLB schedule had expanded to 162 games from the 154 games Ruth played. Commissioner Ford Frick ruled that if Maris took more than 154 games to break the record, his total would be noted with an asterisk, which was applied despite Maris achieving his 61 home runs in fewer plate appearances than Ruth's 60. Maris was known for his quiet and private demeanor, a contrast to the public personas of contemporaries like Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle, and he often found the intense media scrutiny challenging.Despite the pressure and public scrutiny, Maris continued to excel, winning two consecutive Most Valuable Player Awards in 1960 and 1961 and appearing in seven World Series throughout his career. He was recognized as a superb all-around performer. After his tenure with the Yankees, Maris was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1966, where he played for two seasons before retiring prematurely after the 1968 season. Following his retirement from baseball, he became a successful beer distributor in Gainesville, Florida. Roger Maris passed away on December 14, 1985, at the age of 51, due to lymphatic cancer. His legacy as a record-breaking slugger and a private individual in the public eye remains a significant part of baseball history.