Remembered now only as the guy who broke Ruth's season HR record, Maris was a complete ball-player, winning two MVP awards.

Had to bear tremendous pressure in '61, both from sports writers and fans, who much preferred the more popular Mantle to break Ruth's record (if anyone was going to)

Although I can't recall why, as I suffered watching the Wershinin Senators, Roger Maris was my favorite ball player, period.

One noteable season. That's it.

Here is a man that the sports writers totally destroyed as most of them were old enough to be Babe Ruth fans and they hated Roger for breaking the record. They had written themselves into a stupor that the record could never be broken, and they wanted to hurt the man who made them all look silly. Remember the asterisk that disgraced the record book for so many years?

The sports writing fraternity and yes, the fans, were contemptible!

A very solid Three, which is a great rating in my book.

He only had one stellar year and the other years were average at best.

Why Roger Maris is not in the Hall of Fame is a travesty. Okay, he was not an accumulator of stats, but if you are going to argue that Harold Baines or Rafael Palmeiro had more homers and therefore were better home run hitters than Maris, you'd have to be kidding. Maris held the single season home run record for the longest period. While Bonds and McGwire had the benefits of performance enhancing drugs, the only drug Maris took while hitting his 61 were 3 packs of smokes a day. In the '60s, Maris played on seven pennant winners and 3 world champion teams with the Yankees and later the Cardinals. He was also a 2-time MVP (More than Aaron, Ty Cobb, or even Ruth). He was also a sterling defensive player too. All evidence lends credence that the media literally destroyed Maris' health, as evidenced by a career cut short and a life cut short by cancer. If the Hall of Fame can induct Rick Ferrell, Travis Jackson, and Billy Williams into the Hall, surely there is room for a 2-time MVP and setter of the exulted single-season HR record.

A very complete ballplayer who could hit, run the bases well, field well and throw with strength and accuracy, the fact that he owned the most coveted record in the entire world of sports for longer than did Babe Ruth, you have to give him his due. The asterisk was the most hurtful in a mind-boggling sequence of hurtful events in 1961-62. Watch the movie 61 and get a sense of how lonely and controversial his enormous accomplishment was, when even his hometown fans were rooting against him, the hated Yankees were in a heated penant race with Mantle hurt and out for the season, Maris was receiving death threats against himself and his family and he still hit his 61st home run on the last day of the season. Compare it to McGuire's accomplishment, pumped up on creatine, everyone in the country rooting for him, including Maris' family, and his manager shaming pitchers to pitch to him even though the team was not even close to competing for a playoff spot. Look at the walks Barry Bonds accumulates because his team is in a penant race. Maris' record stands as a courageous accomplishment in the face of unbelievable adversity.

Amazing player.

61 not withstanding - not top 100

i gave him a three because he was the first one that broken babe ruth's record and he only played for one year so to me he is above average anyone agree?

A solid player who believed he had the right not to be Mr. Personality; some mediocre baseball writers had a problem with that.

THAT ONE SWING OF THE BAT....PROBABLY THE GREATEST THRILL OF MY 11 YR. OLD LIFE...AND IT'S STAYED WITH ME ALL THESE YEARS...BUT NOT ONLY HIS YANKEE HEROICS..NOW I KNOW HE WAS A TRULY GREAT PLAYER IN AND OUT BOTH WITH THE YANKS AND THE CARDINALS. HE DEFINITELY DESERVES STANDING IN THE COOPERSTOWN HALL OF FAME. A GREAT MAN----I'LL ALWAYS BE LOYAL TO HIM...