Posted by Flattop Jeff
on 11/7/2009, 12:00 am
"I'm talkin' baseball.
Yogi, Moose and Jerry.
Yankees baseball.
Pepitone and Terry.
Ellie, Kubek, Munson never quit.
Over the fence was Maris' bailiwick.
Like The Bambino, The Clipper and The Mick."
In honor of the World Series Champion New York Yankees tradition and Roger Maris' birthday,
I'm honoring the Steroid-Free Single Season Home Run King as my Flattop Friday Flattopper of the Week.
Roger Maris spent his childhood in the Grand Forks/Fargo, North Dakota area...attending Shanley Catholic High School.
He was a gifted athlete and excelled at football, basketball, track & baseball.
One of Roger's early accomplishments was scoring four touchdowns (kickoff, punt, interception) in one game, which is still a high school football record.
Mr. Maris' skills earned him a football scholarship to the University of Oklahoma.
However, Roger exhibited a no-nonsense independent personality...and when he arrived at the university for his scholarship & found no one there to greet him,
he immediately took the bus back to Fargo to never return again.
As a member of the Fargo American Legion baseball team, he was voted Most Valuable Player for the 1950 season with a .367 batting average.
The year after he graduated from high school, Mr. Maris was recruited to play minor league baseball for the Cleveland Indians Class C farm team.
In his first season, his .325 batting average, 9 home runs & 13 triples earned him the league's Rookie of the Year Award.
Three years later, Roger's .293 batting average, 17 home runs & 75 RBIs helped carry his team to the Little World Series Championship.
By 1957, he was elevated to play for the Cleveland Indians' Major League Baseball team.
After a period of three years, in Mr. Maris' first season with the New York Yankees...he led the league in slugging percentage, RBIs & extra base hits
and finished second in home runs (one less home run than teammate Mickey Mantle) & total bases (four behind Mantle).
In that 1960 season, Roger was named the American League Most Valuable Player and also earned a Gold Glove Award for his defensive performance in right field.
1961 would become the most famous season for Mr. Maris.
Known as the "M&M Boys", Roger Maris & Mickey Mantle would be very successful in slugging home runs for the New York Yankees...
...challenging Babe Ruth's 34 year old single season home run mark.
Unfortunately, the New York press was very protective over Mr. Ruth, belittled Roger in challenging for this home run statistic...
...and the stress of the situation sadly had caused Mr.Maris' flattopped hair to fall out in clumps at times.
Proudly, Mr. Maris hit that elusive 61st home run and earned the distinction of having hit the most home runs in a single season...
...and still holds the American League record.
A happy ending to the 1961 season was his contribution to the New York Yankees World Series Championship that year,
and earning his second consecutive American League Most Valuable Player Award...after leading the league with 142 RBIs for the second consecutive year also.
In 1962, Roger's defensive efforts helped the New York Yankees earn a consecutive World Series Championship.
After the 1966 season, the Yankees traded Mr. Maris to the St. Louis Cardinals...where he helped them win two pennants & earn a World Series Championship in 1967
(with his .385 batting average, 1 home run & 7 RBIs in the post season).
Roger retired from Major League Baseball in September 1968 with 275 home runs, 851 RBIs , a lifetime 5.39 home run percentage, 1,325 hits
and serving as a member of the American League All-Star Team for four consecutive years (1959-1962).
Mr. Maris has the distinction of being the only New York Yankee to be named "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated magazine,
and the only player to earn the MVP Award for each of his first two seasons with a ball club.
In 1983, Roger was sadly diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma...and our very own LADon worked with Roger on his cancer treatment.
Don was even able to accompany Mr. Maris to the barber shop, and watch Roger being flattened out.
On July 21, 1984, the New York Yankees retired Mr. Maris' #9 uniform number and dedicated a plague in Roger's honor to display in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium.
Upon request from LADon...below are 26 photographs and a link to 329 pictures of Roger Maris that should certainly be a grand slam home run with you.
Have a ball at the barber shop this weekend, and request for a barber to give you a "Major League Crewcut...the kind that is flat on top!". [:-)
Buzzed Wishes & Flattop Dreams!
llllllllll
JEFF
Link To 329 Roger Maris Photographs
Roger Maris & Family, Fort Lauderdale, FL February 1962 
Home run champ Roger Maris, National Campaign Co-Chairman of the Multiple Sclerosis Society for 1962,
signs a baseball for President John F. Kennedy during a visit to the Oval Office. 
Link To 329 Roger Maris Photographs
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