Roger Maris New Biography

Roger Maris: Baseball’s Reluctant Hero by Danny Peary and Tom Clavin

New York Baseball Digest recently aired a fantastic  interview with Danny Peary, one of the co-authors of the book.   I learned many things about this all-time great that I didn’t know or didn’t fully appreciate.

Peary describes a perfect storm of events coming together to create Maris’ less-than-stellar reputation.  First, Maris was a private figure who wasn’t into tooting his own horn. Combine that with a newly-aggressive press corps that was relentless in its pursuit.  In today’s 24/7 media frenzy, ball players would more easily deal with this type of press hounding.  However, given Maris’ inexperience dealing with the press, he was labeled aloof, distant, and prickly.

Maris was sometimes been referred to as a one-season wonder or as “just a home run hitter”.  However, Maris really had an excellent career with his team being in the playoffs in seven of nine years.   He came to the Yankees in 1960 from the Kansas City A’s, sometimes referred to as the Yankees other farm team. The Yankees had finished in 3rd place the previous year.  Similarly, when Maris joined the Cardinals, they had finished 3rd the year before.  With Maris, the Cards got to the World Series in 1967 and 1968.

Many of Maris’ teammates, both on the Yankees and the Cardinals believe that Maris belongs in the Hall of Fame.   Maris, not merely a home run hitter, was a two-time MVP and 7-time All Star. There is a rule-of-thumb criteria used for HOF: being a dominant player during a 10-year period.  By that standard, Maris’ performance from 1959 in Kansas City through 1968 with the St. Louis Cardinals meets that standard.

—->Listen to the interview here

Maris is currently a best seller among baseball books on amazon.com and has garnered a 4.875 star rating from Amazon’s reviewers.

Book Review; Library Journal

Maris remains an enigmatic figure notwithstanding the attention he received in large part for his 1961 home run season. Prolific writers Clavin and Peary reveal a complex and private individual, making plain not only his underappreciated talent in all aspects of the game but his humanity and love for family and friends. There is no greater praise than being a “gamer,” and Maris was that and much more. This book’s ultimate contribution may be its indictment of irresponsible reporters and image makers who failed to accord a hero his due. Without question an entertaining book for ball fans, but general readers of biography may also enjoy understanding the life of one who achieved greatness despite adversity.

Below is a newsreel film showing Maris’ 61st home run off of the Red Sox’ Tracy Stallard.  Even the newsreel narration casts a cloud over the validity of Maris’ record, making reference to him taking 162 games to Babe Ruth establishing his record in 154.