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Roger Maris - A Man for All Seasons
Details how the baseball great overcame fan partisanship, daily media pressure, and physical odds to set a home-run record
272 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1986
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September 16, 2026
This is not a full biography of Roger Maris. If you are seeking that, this is not a bad substitute, but there are biographies of him that are more recent than this book. Maury Allen was a sports writer in New York, covering Maris both during and after his career while also keeping in touch with him until his untimely death at age fifty-one in late 1985. Maris died of lymph node cancer, shocking the baseball world because of his relative youth.
Instead of a full biography, Allen interviews, many of Maris’s teammates and friends, and some family members. He interviews people who knew Maris from his youth in Fargo, North Dakota, through his stops in Cleveland, Kansas City, New York, and St. Louis during his MLB playing career, and in his retirement years operating a beer distributorship in Gainesville, Florida. And in those interviews lays the value in this book. Because even though it is not a straight biography, despite having many biographical segments in it, Allen is able to speak to people who numerous firsthand. Forty years later, that would be increasingly difficult to do. How many of Maris’s teammates are still alive now? Probably almost none, if there are even any still left. Most if not all of the people that he grew up with also have probably passed from the scene by now. But Allen was able to get the reminiscences of these people on the record, fresh after Maris’s death.
The interviews are a gold mine of anecdotes, helping to paint a broad portrait of the Maris that these people all knew. Alan takes great pains to show that the private marriage was very different than the public Maris. The public Maris was surly and tight-lipped with the press, which hurt him badly, especially in New York. This was never more so than the famous 1961 season where Marius broke Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record for a single season, with 61 home runs. Allen goes into detail about the torturous year that Maris had. Even many of his own Yankee teammates wanted Mickey Mantle to get the record instead of Maris, with Mantle being the star and the face of the Yankees for a decade by then. Of the fans who wanted to see the record broken, they were also cheering for Mantle and sometimes against Maris. And then there were many people, including commissioner Ford C. Frick, who did not want to see Ruth’s record broken, and were lukewarm at best toward Maris. Frick went so far as to hold a press conference that summer, as Maris was approaching the record, saying that because the season was now 162 games instead of 154 games like when Ruth played, there would need to be some type of a notation made if Maris failed to break his record in 154 games, which is what happened because it took him until the last game of the season to get his 61st home run.
The press ate Maris up. No matter what he did, it displeased them. While this is a largely sympathetic and understanding book about Maris, Allen also does show that Maris at many times did himself no favors. He was openly surly at times; at other times he was disrespectful, showing up some writers by not appearing for scheduled interviews. There was also an ugly incident in Minnesota when he gave the finger to some jeering fans. Maris was so stressed out that clumps of his hair started falling out. He was under tremendous pressure, which was added already to the normal pressure of the Yankees being in the pennant race like they usually were back then.
Reading about that year, one gets the sense that it was basically hell for Marius. Instead of enjoying himself, he began to hate the game of baseball. This, along with the later mismanagement of a broken hand in 1965, seriously soured Maris on the Yankee organization, and their fans. He continued to be a top producer for them over the next three seasons, all pennant winners for the Yankees. But he broke his right hand in 1965, the Yankees kept wanting him to play through it and would not send him to a doctor that would properly diagnose the fracture, which resulted in Mari losing a lot of his home run power and never really being able to fully use his hand again for baseball activities. By this time Yankee ownership it soured on him and they decided to trade into the Cardinals for basically nothing.
But the Cardinals at that time were the National League version of the Yankees. Maris spent two years there, 1967 and 1968, and he played in two more World Series. He helped them win the 1967 Series. They lost the 1968 Series in seven games to the Detroit Tigers. At this point, Maris was no longer a star, but he was still a solid contributor to the Cardinals, especially in the 1967 season. Marius played in seven World Series during the decade of the 60s, winning three of them. As Allen writes, that was not an accident.
After he retired from baseball, Maris went into the beer distributorship business, working for Cardinals owner Gussie Busch. Marius relocated to Florida (his own choice) to do so. Maris had a large family, having six children with his wife Pat, and he was very busy with work and his family. Alan really focuses on the personal side of Maris, showing how loyal he was to his family and to his friends.
Unfortunately, the interviews also have a negative aspect to them as well. Many of them go on too long, and contain asides from the interviewees that have very little to do with Maris himself. For instance, Allen interviews Maris‘s father Rudy and allows him to go on about how he did not get along with Maris’s children and wife. We don’t know the behind-the-scenes for that, and since Allen didn’t put that in there, I don’t know why he left that part of the interview in the book. Also, some of the interviews contain anecdotes that Allen makes no attempt to confirm if those were actually true events or not.
The interviews also serve to break up the biographical rhythm of the book. Allen actually starts the book talking about the 1961 season, then reverts back to a more standard biographical format of following Maris from his youth, through his rise in the minor leagues, then into his major league baseball playing career, and finally on to his retirement and death. But there are so many interviews that they continually break the flow of any type of biographical narrative.
Allen finishes the book showing Maris’s lifetime batting statistics. I did find it interesting on the last few pages, when he is talking about Maris’s place in the history books and the record that he broke. From page 255: “As the 25th anniversary of that feat approaches, it is certain no one on the current scene is capable of surpassing it… There is simply too much pressure, too much wear and tear on a young body, too many airplane rides, too many uncomfortable, hotel beds, too many cold, late night meals.” Then on the very final page, Allen writes “There will be confusion, then, about the man who hit more home, runs in one majestic season than anyone ever did before or is likely to again.“ Allen definitely did not expect the steroid error to occur in the late 90s and early 2000s with Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds.
Overall, this is a fairly quick read, and again there is some value in reading stories about Roger Maris direct from people who knew him. I would be interested in a more straightforward and recent biography of him, but the reason I picked this book up was because it was only $.50 at a nice used bookstore in Syracuse, New York. For $.50 this wasn’t a bad read!
Grade: B-
Instead of a full biography, Allen interviews, many of Maris’s teammates and friends, and some family members. He interviews people who knew Maris from his youth in Fargo, North Dakota, through his stops in Cleveland, Kansas City, New York, and St. Louis during his MLB playing career, and in his retirement years operating a beer distributorship in Gainesville, Florida. And in those interviews lays the value in this book. Because even though it is not a straight biography, despite having many biographical segments in it, Allen is able to speak to people who numerous firsthand. Forty years later, that would be increasingly difficult to do. How many of Maris’s teammates are still alive now? Probably almost none, if there are even any still left. Most if not all of the people that he grew up with also have probably passed from the scene by now. But Allen was able to get the reminiscences of these people on the record, fresh after Maris’s death.
The interviews are a gold mine of anecdotes, helping to paint a broad portrait of the Maris that these people all knew. Alan takes great pains to show that the private marriage was very different than the public Maris. The public Maris was surly and tight-lipped with the press, which hurt him badly, especially in New York. This was never more so than the famous 1961 season where Marius broke Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record for a single season, with 61 home runs. Allen goes into detail about the torturous year that Maris had. Even many of his own Yankee teammates wanted Mickey Mantle to get the record instead of Maris, with Mantle being the star and the face of the Yankees for a decade by then. Of the fans who wanted to see the record broken, they were also cheering for Mantle and sometimes against Maris. And then there were many people, including commissioner Ford C. Frick, who did not want to see Ruth’s record broken, and were lukewarm at best toward Maris. Frick went so far as to hold a press conference that summer, as Maris was approaching the record, saying that because the season was now 162 games instead of 154 games like when Ruth played, there would need to be some type of a notation made if Maris failed to break his record in 154 games, which is what happened because it took him until the last game of the season to get his 61st home run.
The press ate Maris up. No matter what he did, it displeased them. While this is a largely sympathetic and understanding book about Maris, Allen also does show that Maris at many times did himself no favors. He was openly surly at times; at other times he was disrespectful, showing up some writers by not appearing for scheduled interviews. There was also an ugly incident in Minnesota when he gave the finger to some jeering fans. Maris was so stressed out that clumps of his hair started falling out. He was under tremendous pressure, which was added already to the normal pressure of the Yankees being in the pennant race like they usually were back then.
Reading about that year, one gets the sense that it was basically hell for Marius. Instead of enjoying himself, he began to hate the game of baseball. This, along with the later mismanagement of a broken hand in 1965, seriously soured Maris on the Yankee organization, and their fans. He continued to be a top producer for them over the next three seasons, all pennant winners for the Yankees. But he broke his right hand in 1965, the Yankees kept wanting him to play through it and would not send him to a doctor that would properly diagnose the fracture, which resulted in Mari losing a lot of his home run power and never really being able to fully use his hand again for baseball activities. By this time Yankee ownership it soured on him and they decided to trade into the Cardinals for basically nothing.
But the Cardinals at that time were the National League version of the Yankees. Maris spent two years there, 1967 and 1968, and he played in two more World Series. He helped them win the 1967 Series. They lost the 1968 Series in seven games to the Detroit Tigers. At this point, Maris was no longer a star, but he was still a solid contributor to the Cardinals, especially in the 1967 season. Marius played in seven World Series during the decade of the 60s, winning three of them. As Allen writes, that was not an accident.
After he retired from baseball, Maris went into the beer distributorship business, working for Cardinals owner Gussie Busch. Marius relocated to Florida (his own choice) to do so. Maris had a large family, having six children with his wife Pat, and he was very busy with work and his family. Alan really focuses on the personal side of Maris, showing how loyal he was to his family and to his friends.
Unfortunately, the interviews also have a negative aspect to them as well. Many of them go on too long, and contain asides from the interviewees that have very little to do with Maris himself. For instance, Allen interviews Maris‘s father Rudy and allows him to go on about how he did not get along with Maris’s children and wife. We don’t know the behind-the-scenes for that, and since Allen didn’t put that in there, I don’t know why he left that part of the interview in the book. Also, some of the interviews contain anecdotes that Allen makes no attempt to confirm if those were actually true events or not.
The interviews also serve to break up the biographical rhythm of the book. Allen actually starts the book talking about the 1961 season, then reverts back to a more standard biographical format of following Maris from his youth, through his rise in the minor leagues, then into his major league baseball playing career, and finally on to his retirement and death. But there are so many interviews that they continually break the flow of any type of biographical narrative.
Allen finishes the book showing Maris’s lifetime batting statistics. I did find it interesting on the last few pages, when he is talking about Maris’s place in the history books and the record that he broke. From page 255: “As the 25th anniversary of that feat approaches, it is certain no one on the current scene is capable of surpassing it… There is simply too much pressure, too much wear and tear on a young body, too many airplane rides, too many uncomfortable, hotel beds, too many cold, late night meals.” Then on the very final page, Allen writes “There will be confusion, then, about the man who hit more home, runs in one majestic season than anyone ever did before or is likely to again.“ Allen definitely did not expect the steroid error to occur in the late 90s and early 2000s with Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds.
Overall, this is a fairly quick read, and again there is some value in reading stories about Roger Maris direct from people who knew him. I would be interested in a more straightforward and recent biography of him, but the reason I picked this book up was because it was only $.50 at a nice used bookstore in Syracuse, New York. For $.50 this wasn’t a bad read!
Grade: B-
October 3, 2018
Worthy but under-appreciated subject. Includes the poignant story of the relationship between Maris' family and his "greatest fan."
April 4, 2020
A good read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews