Total Page : 432
Publisher : Touchstone
Publication Date : 2010 03 16
>> Roger Maris Baseball s Reluctant Hero
Just finished reading this great new book Roger Maris Baseball s Reluctant Hero by Tom Clavin Danny Peary No baseball fan will be the same or view Roger Maris in the same way after reading this excellent summary of his career and life To the authors credit they have detailed in an unsentimental fashion Roger s career its ups and downs and the world around him To this day Roger s greatness is not fully appreciated Read this book and then write a letter to the Veteran s Committee at the Cooperstown Hall of Fame to elect Roger There is also an online petition
An online petition to the Veteran s Hall of Fame Committee
Nothing will bring back Roger from his untimely death and nothing can make up for the mistreatment that he endured But George Steinbrenner and the Yankees did some things in the late 1970s and early 1980s to make amends and now the whole Baseball Community could benefit from Roger s election to the Hall of Fame
>> Cooperstown s Missing Member
Nearly 50 years have passed since that glorious for the fans and torturous for Roger Maris season when baseball s reluctant hero broke Babe Ruth s record with 61 home runs To this day the record still stands despite the tainted steroids induced numbers 73 70 66 registered by players who will probably never be inducted into baseball s Hall of Fame despite their impressive numbers
Does Roger Maris belong in Cooperstown Certainly Will he ever get there Eventually Hopefully this wonderful biography written by Tom Clavin Danny Peary will hasten the process This is a man who had to endure more stress than few could bear during that amazing season when it seemed the whole world was against him Certainly a hostile New York media made life miserable for the intoverted Maris who could have made things easier on himself by being more apporoachable and easy going but that wasn t in his make up He was quiet and he was proud and he was his own worst enemy Still he accomplished his heroic feat 61 in 61 The asterisk has long since been removed but the fact that it was imposed to begin with is a travesty all the more reason to celebrate what Maris did for baseball This is the true single season record and it was established under the harshest of circumstances for this great player
This book is a wonderful tribute to a reluctant hero you don t have to be a fan of the game to appreciate its significance I only hope the members of baseball s Hall of Fame s Veteran s Committee re evaluate the accomplishments of Roger Maris on the field and give him his rightful place among the game s other legendary heroes
Roger Maris belongs in Cooperstown and this book supplies the evidence to support that claim
>> The REAL Home Run Champion
Back before the home run chase of 1998 featuring steroid enhanced players Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa two Yankee teammates staged an epic chase of their own against Babe Ruth s hallowed 60 home runs in a season These two men were Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris Mickey was loved and adored by Yankee fans while Maris was viewed as an outcast because he wasn t an original Yankee like Mantle was In this one defining season Maris would endure more hatred ridicule and threats than any other player in recent memory
Maris and his older brother Rudy were born in Minnesota and moved to Fargo North Dakota while they were still young Upon entering junior high and high school the boys excelled at sports Both played baseball football and basketball Rudy was the one that others thought would become a professional athlete but polio took away his chance Roger continued to excel and eventually was drafted by the Cleveland Indians Roger spent a couple of years in Cleveland and was eventually traded to Kansas City where he played for the A s During these early years Roger became known as an aggressive base runner superior fielder and strong hitter He didn t get a real chance to show his power until he was traded to the Yankees before the 1960 season
Upon arriving in new York Roger was inserted into a powerful line up consisting of Mickey Mantle Moose Skowron and Yogi Berra Roger had an MVP season in 1960 belting 39 home runs Despite his achievements on the field the New York press corps found Roger to be somewhat aloof and surly This unfair perception would follow Roger throughout his Yankee career but it was at its worst in 1961
1961 saw the greatest home run chase ever as Mantle and Maris staged a season long assault on Ruth s magical 60 home runs Throughout the season Mantle and Maris remained neck in neck as they both approached 60 However Mantle missed the final weeks of the season and ended up with 54 home runs Roger dealt with reporters who would misinterpret interviews and write whatever they wanted about him He received death threats his hair began to fall out and he was treated miserably by the Yankees organization Commissioner Ford Frick realizing that Ruth s record was in jeopardy made the stunning statement that any record broken in more than 154 games would have an asterisk placed next to it 1961 was the first year of the 162 game schedule Maris ended up with 59 home runs after 154 games But he hit his 61st on the last day of the season
Roger endured several more years of torment from the New York press before getting traded to St Louis where he won 2 more pennants and a World Series He retired in 1968 After retiring he and his brother operated a successful Budweiser distributorship Roger died of complications from cancer in 1985 at the age of 51
This is an outstanding book I ve been a baseball fan my whole life and I ve never read as an informative and revealing book as this one Authors Clavin and Peary do a masterful job of describing Roger s rise to stardom and the unbelievable pressure he faced while in New York The coverage of the 1961 season is exceptional I especially liked how Maris and Mantle s friendship was covered throughout the book No person was more saddened by Roger s death than Mickey was
I give this excellent book my highest recommendation Roger Maris is the true home run champion and his record should be restored Baseball fans will love this masterful book
