Roger Maris

Birth Name:

Roger Eugene Maris

Birth Place:

Hibbing, Minnesota, United States

Profession

Actor

In 1984, the New York Yankees retired his No․ 9 jersey
The Associated Press named him its Male Athlete of the Year in 1961
The United States Postal Service issued a "Roger Maris, 61 in 61" stamp in 1999
Played football and basketball in high school, limited to playing baseball during the summers in the American Legion program, as his high school did not have a baseball program
Bud Wilkinson recruited him to play football for the University of Oklahoma, but he gave up his scholarship to sign a professional baseball contract with the Cleveland Indians organization
Spent four years in the minor leagues with Fargo-Moorhead, Keokuk, Tulsa, Reading and Indianapolis
Primarily remembered as a New York Yankee, he also played major league baseball for the Cleveland Indians, the Kansas City Athletics and the St․ Louis Cardinals
Best known for hitting 61 home runs in 1961, which broke Babe Ruth's previous record of 60 set in 1927
In 2011, the New York Yankees celebrated the 50th anniversary of his American League Home Run record
The story of his home run race with fellow New York Yankee Mickey Mantle was immortalized in the film "61*․"
He and his brother Rudy founded Maris Distributing Company, an Anheuser-Busch distributorship, in 1967

Fast Facts