The High Court

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The Man Behind the Mark

What do you know about Roger Maris?  Very little, I would be willing to guess.  I am sure you know that Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth’s home run record in 1961, amidst no small amount of controversy.  What you may not know is the fact that Maris’ home run mark lasted longer than Ruth’s, until Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa passed it in 1998.  Almost every single thing in Maris’ distinguished career was overshadowed by that remarkable ’61 season, and the hallowed home run mark that it produced.  He was an excellent run producer as an offensive player and an outstanding outfielder defensively.  One thing he isn’t (and many people mistakenly believe he is) is a Hall of Famer.  So the question we ask today is…should he be?

 

There are baseball enthusiasts willing to suggest that Roger Maris is the greatest player not in the Hall of Fame.  That is not an outlandish sentiment, but I would argue that Maris probably isn’t even in the top ten of eligible players not in Cooperstown.  He is, however, perhaps the most significant player not in the Hall (I am removing Pete Rose from the conversation…remember, he isn’t eligible at present).  The impact that Roger Maris had on the game of baseball was huge in 1961, but it only grew in scope over the next 37 years.  But is that enough to make him a Hall of Famer?

 

A look at his career says no.  And it does so definitively.  Roger Maris spent twelve seasons in the majors, but due to injuries he played more than 140 games only four times.  Even in his first MVP season, 1960, Maris only played in 136 games.  And that’s right, folks…I said his first MVP season…in 1960.  The underappreciated slugger added the back-to-back MVP in that famous 1961 season, making him one of only two players to win multiple MVP’s and not have a bust in Cooperstown (Dale Murphy is the other…see Hall of Justice for more on Murphy).  Due to the injuries and only a short burst of brilliance, the overall numbers for Maris do not add up to the Hall of Fame.

 

Maris finished with 275 lifetime round trippers.  He drove in 851 runs and scored 826. He banged out 1,325 hits and compiled a .260 batting average.  None of the numbers add up to Hall of Fame credentials.  The 275 homers aren’t a bad total, but for a slugger who hit only .260 lifetime, they fall well short of being Hall-worthy.  Maris barely cleared the 500 extra base hit mark in his career.  A shockingly low total of 195 doubles, with 42 triples added, leave him with 512 extra base hits (Don Mattingly, whose career we examined in the Donnie Baseball file, had 442 doubles alone).  He was, however, an outstanding handler of the bat (never striking out more than 85 times in a season), and he possessed a keen eye at the plate (Maris walked more than he fanned in four of his twelve seasons).

 

Maris’ low batting average leaves him with a lifetime OBP of .345, despite averaging 72 walks per 162 games.  His slugging average of .476 is more than respectable for his era, but not overwhelming.  Maris was regarded as a fine base runner, but as his career stolen base total of 21 will attest, changing the game with speed was not part of his package.  When looking at his career offensive numbers, we can evaluate Maris as having been a very capable run producer when healthy, but with the exception of three years in his twelve-year body of work, he was not brilliant.  And those three years were truly remarkable.  From 1960 to 1962, Maris hit 133 of his 275 career homers.  He drove in 354 runs while scoring 322.  He was perhaps, the most dominant slugger of that brief period.  Working against him, however, is the fact that those three years were the only ones in his career where he hit more than 30 home runs and the only three in which he drove in 100 or more runs.

 

Roger Maris was not a one-dimensional slugger.  As I mentioned, he was regarded as a very fine base runner.  He was also a tremendous defensive outfielder.  He was awarded only one Gold Glove (in 1960), but historians and his teammates are generally in agreement that he was one of the best outfielders of his era.  How much weight should that carry in Hall of Fame consideration?  A great deal, I believe.  But we know that defense has only been rewarded when a player has been recognized as without peer as a defender at his position (a la Ozzie Smith).

 

Maris (who passed away at 51 from lymphoma in 1985) was treated miserably as he pursued and then passed the Babe’s record in ’61.  He was a target of both fans and the media, most of whom felt that a player of his stature was unworthy of breaking the record held by a figure as legendary as Babe Ruth (If the record was to fall at all, most would have preferred Mickey Mantle to do it).  Commissioner Ford C. Frick even went so far as to place an asterisk on Maris’ mark, because it was achieved in a 162 game schedule, as opposed to Ruth’s 154 game calendar.  Frick’s action, at least in my mind, remains as one of the most shameful in baseball history.  While Frick’s intention may have been to honor Ruth, the late, great Sultan of Swat did not need a share of the record to ensure his legacy.  But the hard working, soft spoken North Dakotan certainly could have used it.  Maris was unable to enjoy his record amidst the controversy, and I do believe that the entire episode has boiled his career down to one single, very memorable season.  And that is unfortunate.

 

Roger Maris was a four time All-Star.  He played in seven World Series (five with the Yankees, two with the Cardinals) and was on the winning side three times.  Despite hitting only .217 in 152 at bats during the Fall Classic, Maris did club six homers and drive in 18 runs on baseball’s biggest stage.  But is he a Hall of Famer?

 

We haven’t answered that question completely yet, have we?  While examining Don Mattingly’s case for Cooperstown, I talked at length about knowing a Hall of Famer when we see one.  I did not have the opportunity to see Maris, obviously, so I will leave that determination to those who did.  Many of Maris’ former teammates and contemporaries answer the question of his worthiness in the affirmative.  And since his ticket to the Hall would have to be punched by the Veterans Committee, he may yet get through those hallowed doors.

 

As for the Chief Justice, I do not believe that Roger Maris’ numbers merit entrance into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  For three years of his career, Maris was simply brilliant.  For the balance of his career, he was a good, not great player, who had several injury problems.  However, I am inclined to make an exception in this case.  Despite the fact that a three year run of dominance is a little shy of what I would like (I would prefer five or six seasons of greatness), anytime a player breaks a record that stood for 34 years, and then has his record stand for another 37 years, that player has accomplished something of tremendous historical significance to the game.  And it isn’t as if Maris was a one-time flash in the pan.  We are talking about a two-time AL MVP, and in 1962 he had a better statistical year than that of his teammate Mantle, who would win the award that season. 

 

Roger Maris was a true professional, a complete ballplayer proficient in all areas of the game, and a man who left an indelible mark on the history of baseball.  For all of that, I believe that he belongs in the Hall of Fame.  I hope the Veterans Committee will one day think so too…

 

 

 

(Statistics for Roger Maris courtesy of www.Baseball-Reference.com.

Maris broke the most celebrated record in the game.  And for his efforts, baseball rewarded him with his own scarlet symbol.  The man, his career, and his record are deserving of much greater respect.  (mlb.com)