Roger Maris: Baseball's Biggest One Hit Wonder

What's up guys, it's Underdawg MLB and today I will be analyzing the career of Roger Maris and trying to redefine his career narrative. If you enjoyed the video, leave a like and subscribe to the channel. Thanks for watching!

I do not own any of the images used in this video. All images were found via a google search for each player by name.

[UnderdawgMLB]

PLEASE READ BEFORE COMMENTING:

After seeing all the comments so far, I think I need to add some things that I wasn’t clear about in the video. First of all, I’m not dissing Roger Maris or his accomplishments. He was a great ballplayer for sure, but I was trying to point out that specifically his power numbers were an anomaly in 1961. He never came close to matching his 61 home runs, which I thought was really interesting considering how sacred Babe Ruth’s record was and how talented someone would need to be to break it. It surprised me when I was researching for the video that Maris was not an all time great power hitter and was actually a very balanced player that suddenly broke out in the power department over a one year stretch. Again, Maris will forever be a legendary player in baseball history and I’m not trying to disrespect his record. I just wanted to give more context to his entire career to give people a better understanding of his skills as a ballplayer.

Anyways, thanks for reading this and watching the video. I hope you enjoyed it.

[haroldgillette]

Calling Maris a one hit wonder is an unwarranted insult. He made the Yankees and the Cardinals what they were, world champions.

[daryljay]

Unless you were alive then, you couldn't possibly understand how passionate people were on Maris breaking Ruth's record. People were nuts on both sides! There was the fight over the number of games, between Ruth & Maris. Not sure I heard that mentioned int the post. I was 12 & a paperboy, ripping open an extra to digest the stats, before sunrise! We were sneaking into the boy's room in school, listening to the broadcasts. (smoking cigarettes too) I was rooting for Roger myself. MLB had just come to the West Coast & we were all excited about it! Something else the post may have missed. You are going to see a lot of pitches with Mickey Mantle hitting ahead of you! In '61 Maris was hitting right behind Mantle.

[deepcosmiclove]

I saw Roger play a few hundred games and I can say he never missed the cutoff man.

[guitar]

Roger Maris actually Hit Sixty Homers in Four Less At-Bats Than Babe Ruth! Hitting 61 in the pre-steroids era is one of the greatest accomplishments ever.

[rmarantis]

Mickey Mantle in interviews, regarded Maris the best player he ever seen. Great baserunning, Great outfielder, great at getting the run in from 3rd with less than two outs. A team player that has the rings to prove it!

[ice-iuvv]

led the league in slugging and rbis in his first mvp year of 1960. had 100 homers in a 2-year span 1960-61. had one of the more powerful right-field arms in baseball history, and is very underrated. 7 straight years with an ops+ above 120starting in 1959. hit .385 with a homer and 7 rbis in the 67 world series.

[hiramnoone]

Back to back MVPs in '60 and '61. Did everything well, but much like Mantle was hampered by injuries plus an arthritic elbow that according to teammate Tony Kubeck by the mid sixties hampered his ability to pull the ball.

[TheErick]

He won an MVP award in 1960 as well that's more then a one hit wonder

[tiredofwinning]

1- Still the homerun leader without steroids

2- 7 times all star

3- 3x world series champion

4- 2× al mvp

5- golden glove winner

6- al home run leader and mlb home run king

7- 2x al rbi leader

8- number 9 retired and monument honoree.

These are not the accolades of a " one hit wonder "
I suggest you look up the meening of what a " one hit wonder " is in the dictionary

[larryloveless]

I'm sure glad my Cardinals team had him as our right fielder in their pennant winning years of 1967-1968. He was no longer a big home run hitter, but his great defense, throwing arm, timely hitting, and fundamentals on how to move along base runners made him an asset who fit in well with the bigger stars on those teams. I think injuries were the key to his not having bigger numbers, but then you could say that about Mantle as well, although Mantle could still hit the long ball and kept playing once becoming a mere mortal. I get your point though that Maris did not end his career as one of the all-time home run hitters. He was a good ballplayer and someone I think would have been great to have as a friend. Just ask Cards announcer Mike Shannon who played with him in St. Louis.

[wayneturner]

Roger is the only one who deserves credit the others were on steroids

[mikecustenborder]

A great player who was an outstanding career.

[loucaruso]

Major Yankee Fan !!!! They Speak On How Young Roger Maris Was In Pro Baseball Career !!!! He Was A 3 Sport Athlete !!!! Excepted By Oklahoma, A Division A Football Team, & 1953 He Went On To Minor"s For Baseball !!!! Went Pro In 57 & Playing With NO Ped"s Or Not Really Any Miracle Shot"s To Help Injuries, Belive Back When, ... Look At Mantle !!!!, Human Body Took A Beating !!!! By 1961 Maris Had Already At Young Age Been Playing Baseball 8 yr"s & Probably 12 On Close To Pro Level !!!! Also It"s Proven By 60"s & Media Pressure Was A Added Deterrent For An Obviously Quite Person !!!! Compare How You Want, Fact"s Are Fact"s !!....Alway"s Stay Strong....Peace

[adamhinshaw]

Maris belongs in the HOF because of one person: Joe Namath. Now follow my logic on this for a second. Maris, a 3 time World Series Champion, 2 time MLB MVP, Golden Glove Winner, and broke a long standing home run record, is not in the hall. Joe Namath, who threw more interceptions than touchdowns, didn't throw for even 30000 yds, and was hurt more than he played, is in the football HOF? He is there only because of "the guarantee", which he has played up for over 50 years to sell whatever product or service he is plugging this week. Maris never asked for fame or celebrity status like Namath did. Maris deserves the Hall, and the Hall needs Maris.

[allainangcao]

Only Babe and Roger remain as the “Roidless 60 Club” goes to show how much of a fairytale season it was for Roger.

[dennisburkett]

2 MVP's sonny boy. Maris was a complete player. A plus outfielder and baserunner. He saved the World Series for the Yankees in 1962 with a great play in the outfield. He was traded for Smith since he had informed the Yanks that he was retiring. He broke a bone in his hand and it hampered his power after 1962. I find your commentary very disrespectful.

[FAITHandLOGIC]

One hit wonder? He won back-to-back MVP's

[gabe]

Ummm roger Maris has multiple years of .800 to .900 ops seasons he also was a great power hitter through 1960-1962 he was driving over 100 rbis for a while so o guess you could say he only had a three year peak but he was good even in different years. I hope you see this comment and think differently when you look at the numbers because he is no where near a one year wonder

[torrjpct]

Believe it or not, Maris would probably not be the least deserving outfielder in the HOF. There has been a lot of thoughts about, "what makes a hall of famer, " and it's not all about stats. His entire career does pale compared to Mantle, but he could resemble a hall of famer compared to Don Larsen. It is a plus that his other MVP season came in 1960, the year BEFORE he became known for the 61 home runs. If he had a more down to earth year and only hit 31-41 homers in 1961, he probably wouldn't have won the MVP and be a far less significant individual, but still would be an MVP for 1960 regardless.