Roger Maris Baseball Stats by Baseball Almanac

Roger Maris Stats

Roger Maris was born on Monday, September 10, 1934, in Hibbing, Minnesota. Maris was 22 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 16, 1957, with the Cleveland Indians. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Roger Maris baseball stats page.

"When he (Roger Maris) hit it (home run #61 in 1961), he came into the dugout and they were all applauding. I mean, this is something that's only happened once in baseball, right? And the people were all applauding. They wanted him to come back out. He wouldn't come out, so the players had to push him back out. They forced him to come out and take a bow. That's the kind of guy he was. He was great, and I really liked him." - Mickey Mantle in The Ultimate Yankee Book (Harvey Frommer. Page Street Publishing. 2017 October 24. Page 231.) [Roger Maris Quotes]

Birth Name:	Roger Eugene Maris (Born: Roger Eugene Maras)
Nickname:	None
Born On:	09-10-1934 (Virgo)
Born In:	Hibbing, Minnesota
Died On:	12-14-1985 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Died In:	Houston, Texas
Cemetery:	Holy Cross Cemetery, Fargo, North Dakota

High School:	Bishop Shanley High School (Fargo, ND)
College:	None Attended
Bats:	Left	Throws:	Right
Height:	6-00	Weight:	200
First Game:	04-16-1957 (Age 22)
Last Game:	09-29-1968
Draft:	Not Applicable / Signing Bonus = $15,000

Did Not Pitch

Roger Maris Roger Maris Hitting Stats
Year	Age	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	GRSL	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	SH	SF	HBP	GIDP	AVG	OBP	SLG
1957	23	Indians	116	358	61	84	9	5	14	1	51	60	5	79	3	2	1	6	.235	.344	.405
1958	24	Indians	51	182	26	41	5	1	9	0	27	17	2	33	0	3	0	0	.225	.287	.412
1958	24	Athletics	99	401	61	99	14	3	19	2	53	28	1	52	2	2	2	2	.247	.298	.439
1959	25	Athletics	122	433	69	118	21	7	16	1	72	58	5	53	0	4	3	4	.273	.359	.464
1960	26	Yankees	136	499	98	141	18	7	39	0	112	70	4	65	1	5	3	6	.283	.371	.581
1961	27	Yankees	161	590	132	159	16	4	61	0	141	94	0	67	0	7	7	16	.269	.372	.620
1962	28	Yankees	157	590	92	151	34	1	33	1	100	87	11	78	1	3	6	7	.256	.356	.485
1963	29	Yankees	90	312	53	84	14	1	23	0	53	35	3	40	1	1	2	2	.269	.346	.542
1964	30	Yankees	141	513	86	144	12	2	26	0	71	62	1	78	1	2	6	7	.281	.364	.464
1965	31	Yankees	46	155	22	37	7	0	8	0	27	29	1	29	1	1	0	4	.239	.357	.439
1966	32	Yankees	119	348	37	81	9	2	13	0	43	36	3	60	0	4	3	8	.233	.307	.382
1967	33	Cardinals	125	410	64	107	18	7	9	0	55	52	3	61	1	5	4	10	.261	.346	.405
1968	34	Cardinals	100	310	25	79	18	2	5	0	45	24	3	38	1	4	1	3	.255	.307	.374
Career			G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	GRSL	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	SH	SF	HBP	GIDP	AVG	OBP	SLG
12 Years			1,463	5,101	826	1,325	195	42	275	5	850	652	42	733	12	43	38	75	.260	.345	.476

Roger Maris Roger Maris Fielding Stats
Team	POS	G	GS	OUTS	TC	TC/G	CH	PO	A	E	DP	PB	CASB	CACS	FLD%	RF
1957 Indians	CF	87	74	2,037	218	2.5	213	206	7	5	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	.977	2.82
1957 Indians	LF	27	19	531	55	2.0	53	49	4	2	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	.964	2.69
1957 Indians	RF	7	6	159	14	2.0	14	14	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	1.000	2.38
1958 Indians	CF	27	23	600	76	2.8	74	72	2	2	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	.974	3.33
1958 Indians	RF	23	21	570	46	2.0	44	41	3	2	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.957	2.08
1958 Athletics	CF	21	19	450	53	2.5	52	51	1	1	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.981	3.12
1958 Athletics	RF	90	79	2,184	148	1.6	144	136	8	4	3	n/a	n/a	n/a	.973	1.78
1959 Athletics	CF	5	4	102	9	1.8	9	8	1	0	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	1.000	2.38
1959 Athletics	RF	114	106	2,880	235	2.1	229	223	6	6	4	n/a	n/a	n/a	.974	2.15
1960 Yankees	CF	8	4	153	17	2.1	16	16	0	1	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.941	2.82
1960 Yankees	RF	127	127	3,306	262	2.1	259	253	6	3	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.989	2.12
1961 Yankees	CF	17	12	360	31	1.8	30	30	0	1	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.968	2.25
1961 Yankees	RF	150	148	417	259	1.7	251	242	9	8	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	.969	16.25
1962 Yankees	CF	65	62	1,698	162	2.5	160	158	2	2	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.988	2.54
1962 Yankees	RF	102	89	2,340	160	1.6	159	157	2	1	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.994	1.83
1963 Yankees	CF	1	0	6	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.000	0.00
1963 Yankees	RF	86	85	2,118	168	2.0	166	161	5	2	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	.988	2.12
1964 Yankees	CF	23	23	630	42	1.8	42	42	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	1.000	1.80
1964 Yankees	RF	114	109	2,961	212	1.9	211	206	5	1	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.995	1.92
1965 Yankees	RF	43	42	1,101	67	1.6	65	64	1	2	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.970	1.59
1966 Yankees	CF	1	1	6	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.000	0.00
1966 Yankees	RF	94	92	2,328	133	1.4	132	129	3	1	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.992	1.53
1967 Cardinals	CF	2	0	27	1	0.5	1	1	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	1.000	1.00
1967 Cardinals	RF	118	100	2,799	228	1.9	226	221	5	2	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	.991	2.18
1968 Cardinals	RF	84	71	2,001	176	2.1	173	170	3	3	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	.983	2.33
Career	POS	G	GS	OUTS	TC	TC/G	CH	PO	A	E	DP	PB	CASB	CACS	FLD%	RF
RF Totals		1,152	1,075	25,164	2,108	1.8	2,073	2,017	56	35	11	n/a	n/a	n/a	.983	2.22
CF Totals		257	222	6,069	609	2.4	597	584	13	12	2	n/a	n/a	n/a	.980	2.66
LF Totals		27	19	531	55	2.0	53	49	4	2	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	.964	2.69
12 Years		1,436	1,316	31,764	2,772	1.9	2,723	2,650	73	49	14	n/a	n/a	n/a	.982	2.31

Roger Maris Roger Maris Miscellaneous Stats
Baserunning Statistics				Other Positions			Common Hitting Ratios			Common Pitching Ratios
Team	SB	CS	SB%	PH	PR	DH	AB/HR	AB/K	AB/RBI	K/BB	K/9	BB/9
1957 Indians	8	4	.667	6	3	n/a	25.6	4.5	7.0	-	-	-
1958 Indians	4	2	.667	6	0	n/a	20.2	5.5	6.7	-	-	-
1958 Athletics	0	0	.000	1	0	n/a	21.1	7.7	7.6	-	-	-
1959 Athletics	2	1	.667	8	0	n/a	27.1	8.2	6.0	-	-	-
1960 Yankees	2	2	.500	5	0	n/a	12.8	7.7	4.5	-	-	-
1961 Yankees	0	0	.000	1	0	n/a	9.7	8.8	4.2	-	-	-
1962 Yankees	1	0	1.000	4	0	n/a	17.9	7.6	5.9	-	-	-
1963 Yankees	1	0	1.000	5	0	n/a	13.6	7.8	5.9	-	-	-
1964 Yankees	3	0	1.000	6	0	n/a	19.7	6.6	7.2	-	-	-
1965 Yankees	0	0	.000	4	0	n/a	19.4	5.3	5.7	-	-	-
1966 Yankees	0	0	.000	26	0	n/a	26.8	5.8	8.1	-	-	-
1967 Cardinals	0	0	.000	22	0	n/a	45.6	6.7	7.5	-	-	-
1968 Cardinals	0	0	.000	27	0	n/a	62.0	8.2	6.9	-	-	-
Career	SB	CS	SB%	PH	PR	DH	AB/HR	AB/K	AB/RBI	K/BB	K/9	BB/9
12 Years	21	9	.700	121	3	n/a	18.5	7.0	6.0	-	-	-

Roger Maris Roger Maris Miscellaneous Items of Interest
Team \| Roster	Uniform Numbers	Salary	All-Star	World Series
1957 Cleveland Indians	32	$8,500.00	-	-
1958 Cleveland Indians	5	$10,000.00	-	-
1958 Kansas City Athletics	35	" "	-	-
1959 Kansas City Athletics	3	$15,000.00	Stats	-
1960 New York Yankees	9	$18,000.00	Stats	Stats
1961 New York Yankees	9	$42,000.00	Stats	Stats
1962 New York Yankees	9	$70,000.00	Stats	Stats
1963 New York Yankees	9	$72,000.00	-	Stats
1964 New York Yankees	9	$67,500.00	-	Stats
1965 New York Yankees	9	$72,000.00	-	-
1966 New York Yankees	9	$75,000.00	-	-
1967 St. Louis Cardinals	9	$75,000.00	-	Stats
1968 St. Louis Cardinals	9	$75,000.00	-	Stats
Roger Maris Stats by Baseball Almanac

Roger Maris will always be associated with number sixty-one, which is the number of home runs he hit in 1961, during his Most Valuable Player season. Maris did more than just set a new Major League record for home runs during a single season (since broken), he broke an unbreakable record set by Babe Ruth, who hit sixty homers in Most Valuable Player in 1927. Books and movies were made about that historical baseball season, but Maris has many more numbers of interest:

1 - Roger Maris played 127 games in right field in 1960, committed only three errors, and won a Gold Glove Award. Only one other New York Yankees outfielder had ever won a Gold Glove at that position before Maris, and he did it in 1958, playing left field. Do you know who it was? [Answer]

2 - Roger Maris was the American League Most Valuable Player in 1960, and 1961, and through today, he remains the only eligible player from the junior circuit with two consecutive MVP Awards that is not in the Hall of Fame.

3 - Roger Maris finished his career with three world championships rings (1961, 1962, 1967). Maris played in seven different World Series, five with the Bronx Bomber (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964), and two with the St. Louis Cardinals (1967, 1968). [Roger Maris World Series Stats]

9 - Roger Maris wore #9 with the New York Yankees. On July 21, 1984, they honored him by retiring his number. Names that appeared in Monument Park before Maris were; Lou Gehrig (1939), Babe Ruth (1948), Joe DiMaggio (1952), Mickey Mantle (1969), Casey Stengel (1970), Yogi Berra (1972), Bill Dickey (1972), Whitey Ford (1974), and Thurman Munson (1979).

Did you know that Roger Maris was the first, and through today the only, Major League Baseball player from Hibbling, Minnesota? Did you know his parents were named Rudy Maras and Corrine Maras? Roger Eugene Maras changed his surname to Maris - read more about his early life in Roger Maras: Chasing the Ghost of the Babe.

Roger Maris Baseball Card

Roger Maris | 1962 Topps Baseball Card (#313)
Baseball Almanac Research Library

Did you know that when Baseball Almanac came online in 1999, one of the very first pages we ever built that year was called The Historic 61? We've updated it since, adding links to the pitchers, and once again, adding links to each box score - check out the old radio at the bottom where you can hear Phil Rizzuto on the radio broadcasting as Maris broke The Sultan of Swat's record for home runs in a season.

Did you know that Roger Maris was eliminated from the Hall of Fame ballot after reaching the maximum allotted number of attempts (15)? His vote totals were; 1974 BBWAA (21.4%), 1975 BBWAA (19.3%), 1976 BBWAA (22.4%), 1977 BBWAA (21.4%), 1978 BBWAA (21.9%), 1979 BBWAA (29.4%), 1980 BBWAA (28.8%), 1981 BBWAA (23.4%), 1982 BBWAA (16.6%), 1983 BBWAA (18.4%), 1984 BBWAA (26.6%), 1985 BBWAA (32.4%), 1986 BBWAA (41.6%), 1987 BBWAA (42.6%), 1988 BBWAA (43.1%). Forbes staff writer Rich Karlgaard (2006 March 24. Roger Maris Belongs in the Hall. Source.) shared his opinion (excerpt below):

"Best All-Around Baseball Player I Ever Saw"

Maris has never made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and that is a scandal. The case against Maris is this: a somewhat short career (1957 to 1968) and a weak batting average (.260 career). Maris batted only .269 in his famous year of 1961. It didn't help that he was extremely shy, a cold North Dakotan of Croatian heritage, and unpopular with fans, unlike teammate Mickey Mantle.

The case for Maris to be named to the Hall is much more powerful. He was a two-time league MVP winner (1960, 1961). Of the 11 Major Leaguers who have won back-to-back MVPs and are eligible for the Hall, only Maris and Dale Murphy have not been inducted. Maris' low batting average isn't all that damaging. Baseball statistics gurus, such as Bill James, have shown that batting average may be the most overrated stat in the game. Maris walked a lot and drove people home, including himself 61 times in 1961.

Mickey Mantle said this: "Roger Maris was the best all-around baseball player I ever saw." Maris was a Golded Glove right fielder with a howitzer arm. He was an extremely fast runner. In 1951, as a high school footballer at Fargo, N.D.'s Shanley High, Maris returned four kickoffs for touchdowns in a single game.

What about the short career? In 1965 Maris developed hand problems. He couldn't check his powerful swing, which left him vulnerable to a high rate of strikeouts. So he instead became a slap hitter, a role he played on the 1967 world champion St. Louis Cardinals. Had Maris had access to today's huge advances in sports medicine, it's likely he could have enjoyed a longer career as a slugger.

Steroids began to trickle into American sports in the mid-1960s. A decade later Eastern bloc women on steroids began obliterating every track and field record. Today any high-level sport demanding bursts of strength or speed is suspect. Users have been one step ahead of testers--almost always.

However, 1961 was still an age of innocence. Roger Maris was 6 feet tall and 197 pounds when he began that season. By season's end, wracked by tension and smoking cigarettes like a fiend--which might have contributed to his death at 51 from lymphoma--Maris was down to 185 pounds.

Do you think any 185-pounder could hit 61 home runs today? Not a chance. Maris belongs in the Hall.

Agree? Disagree? Tell us on Baseball Fever.

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