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The New Stats Explained
by Ryan T. Campbell
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Johanna quoted in the Chicago Tribune about Fan Safety.
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| Wayne McDonnell is a Clinical Professor of Sports Management at the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management at New York University. He also teaches a continuing education course titled "Business of Baseball."
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Previous Book Reviews:
On Beyond Batting Average
On Best Game Ever
On Diamond Gems
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This Month
Wayne McDonnell reviews Danny Peary's
Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 11:00am
Tom Clavin and Danny Peary;s well-written biography on baseball legend Roger Maris chronicles the former slugger;s life in great detail and offers the reader an opportunity to learn the truth about the man who was misunderstood by an entire generation of baseball fans. Roger Maris was taken away from us at such an early age due to malignant lymphoma. Thanks to Clavin and Peary, his life and legacy will live on.
Within the first three chapters of the book, the authors provide a thorough genealogy of the Maras family (pronounced like Morris) beginning along the coastline of the Adriatic Sea in southern Croatia and following various family members as they made their trek to northeast Minnesota. Eventually, several members of the Maras family settled in Hibbing, a bustling town that was synonymous with logging, underground and open-pit mines. The Maras family became actively involved in saloons, hotels, and confectionary stores. However, by the time the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect in 1920, certain members of the Maras family had to reconsider their career choices. Roger's grandfather, Steve Maras, made a modest living during the Great Depression by selling candy, cigars and near beer.
Roger's father, Rudy, was a natural-born athlete and handsome young man who also had a bit of a temper. His mother, Connie, was a product of a complicated upbringing that involved the death of a parent, conflicts with a step father and half siblings and even an identity crisis. By 1932, Rudy and Connie were married and ready to begin a family.
By the end of September, 1934, Rudy and Connie were the proud parents of two boys separated by a year. However, the joy of parenthood was immediately replaced with despair and agony. Within a relatively short period of time, Rudy Maras had lost his father, mother and youngest sister on top of assuming responsibility for three of his sisters. By the mid-1930's, Rudy and Connie's relationship began to deteriorate. Rumors of infidelity and alcohol abuse plagued Connie as she battled with Rudy's family over religion and whether or not she was a Serb or a Croat. As the turmoil intensified, a young and impressionable Roger stood by as a seven year old innocent bystander. He witnessed firsthand his parents' dysfunctional marriage and the constant bickering between his mother and both sides of the family. It's no wonder why he suppressed all of these negative feelings and memories from life in Hibbing, Minnesota.
At some point in the 1940's, Roger's family moved to North Dakota and eventually settled in Fargo after an initial stop in Grand Forks. Roger and his brother, Rudy, Jr., were blossoming into highly regarded athletes. Besides playing American Legion baseball, the Maras brothers played football, basketball and track. Athletic controversies began early for Roger after he and his brother transferred from Fargo Central High to Bishop Shanley High School in 1950. To put it in perspective, the best analogy would be if a popular New York Yankee signed a contract to play with the Boston Red Sox.
Sports always seemed to be a safe sanctuary for Roger from the tensions at home between his parents. When his future wife, the former Pat Carvell, entered into his life, family turmoil took a backseat to his girlfriend, sports and school. After graduating from high school in 1952, Roger thought that he was playing his last summer of organized baseball before accepting a football scholarship to Oklahoma. However, scouts from both the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs were interested in his athletic abilities as a baseball player. While the Cubs decided not to offer Roger to a contract, the Indians’ interest in the left-handed power hitter had grown exponentially since they first saw him in 1950.
Clavin and Peary do an admirable job recounting several lighthearted tales and anecdotes that give the reader a fonder appreciation of who Roger Maras was. For instance, Hank Greenberg, Baseball Hall of Famer and Cleveland Indians’ general manager at the time, offered Maras a contract that was close to $15,000 since the Indians were competing against a college football scholarship to Oklahoma. Roger declined the offer and hopped on a bus to Norman, Oklahoma. As soon as he arrived in the summer of 1952, Roger felt as if he didn’t belong there. Midway through his entrance exam, he made up his mind to return to Fargo and signed with the Indians after spending only ten days on campus. Instead of signing for $15,000, Roger was penalized and signed a $5,000 contract with a $10,000 incentive if he had ever reached the major leagues.
As a young and inexperienced minor league ball player, Roger Maras did make a handful of mistakes that eventually had a negative impact on his reputation by the time he had reached the major leagues. Clavin and Peary chronicle each episode in great detail. While Maras was considered to be a good prospect with a lot of talent, the Indians didn't view him in the same manner as Rocky Colavito. Roger's stubbornness and pride caused substantial conflicts between him and the Indians' farm director Mike McNally. If the Indians felt that Maras was a Class D prospect and he believed that he was a Class C prospect or even better, Roger fought passionately for his beliefs. He was also notorious for issuing ultimatums and threatening to quit because he wasn't promoted to a league that met his liking.
Even though his self-confidence might have caused problems for him with the Indians, Clavin and Peary provide an inordinate amount of examples to prove that Maras was a highly respected and well liked ball player amongst his peers. Roger began to accumulate friends and acquaintances wherever he played. Maras was truly an amiable man who played hard and complimented his teammates often.
Clavin and Peary offer thoughtful insight to the issue surrounding the infamous name change. At the end of the 1954 season, Roger "Maras" became Roger "Maris." The authors present two reasons as to why the name change had occurred. Both are legitimate, but one is more believable than the other. The mystery surrounding the "Maras" name change doesn't end with Roger. His mother, father and brother followed suit and changed their last names as well to "Maris."
By the time the reader gets to Chapters 11 through 13, Maris is depicted by Clavin and Peary as being in a positive frame of mind and living the American dream. Besides being traded to the Kansas City Athletics, Roger was becoming a family man as well. He had found a home away from home in Kansas City and loved his Middle America lifestyle. By the age of twenty-four, Roger Maris' goals in life were quite simple: play baseball for as long as he could, raise a family, and begin planning for a career after baseball in either a car dealership or beer distributorship.
As the Kansas City Athletics sank deeper in the standings, Maris' stock increased and drew attention from a suitor that admired him from afar since 1955. While Maris was on the cusp of being a star, Clavin and Peary are quick to point out that he was also prone to hitting slumps that extended for long periods of time. At one moment, Roger Maris was the most feared hitter in all of baseball. However, within the blink of an eye, he could easily be mired in a slump that would last for at least a month.
Before ever donning the pinstripes, Roger Maris did not endear himself to the New York press or Yankee fans. He was once quoted as saying "I wouldn't want to join the Yankees because I don't believe that I would be happy….They get on their ball players a lot and try to make them do things just the way they want it. I don't go for that sort of thing. When someone starts getting all over me, I just get mad." Even though Maris had a perfectly constructed left handed swing for Yankee Stadium, team executives still had their doubts about his personality. Besides being a detriment to team chemistry, Maris was described as being an “outspoken malcontent” and a "quintessential streak hitter." Clavin and Peary provide ample examples of comments and quotes that reflected poorly on Maris throughout his time with the New York Yankees.
One of the highest compliments that anyone has ever paid Roger Maris came in the form of a $4,000 Pontiac Ventura purchased by Johnny Blanchard in January, 1960. While the automobile was met with displeasure by Blanchard's wife, he was so confident that the Yankees would return to the World Series with the addition of Roger Maris. Not only was he correct, but he paid off the car in October of the same year.
Obviously, a majority of the book focuses on Roger Maris' tumultuous seven years as a New York Yankee and his pursuit of Babe Ruth's single season home run record in 1961. Clavin and Peary spend an extraordinary amount of time thoroughly analyzing Maris’ complex and adversarial relationships with various reporters and even a teammate or two. Maris was vilified in the press for everything that he had done and also for who he wasn’t. The fans treated him as an outcast and were even appalled that he was mentioned in the same sentence as Mickey Mantle. However, what makes these chapters stand out from anything else that you have read about Roger Maris is that the authors received first hand accounts from not only teammates, opponents and coaches, but also the reporters who covered Maris on a daily basis. Maury Allen and George Vecsey are just as important to this book as anything said by Whitey Ford or Yogi Berra.
Clavin and Peary spend the final chapters summarizing Maris' last two seasons in baseball and running a beer distributorship in Gainesville, Florida. Maris' brief time in St. Louis rekindled his love affair with the game. While he was years removed from being a perennial All Star and two-time American League Most Valuable Player, Maris still made noteworthy contributions to the Cardinals’ 1967 World Championship as a role player and veteran leader.
Roger Maris' life moved on without baseball and he did quite well for himself. Besides achieving success with Maris Distributing Company, Roger spent quality time with his family and began to enjoy life once again. In due time and thanks to George Steinbrenner's persistence, Maris forgave the Yankees for years of overall mistreatment and inflicting hurtful wounds. By the end of the 1970's, Maris became a fixture at Old Timers' Day and even made appearances on Opening Day.
The authors portray Roger Maris as a man of profound dignity whose life was governed by a simple set of rules: be proud of who you are, be a good family man, and stay strong in your convictions. Nothing ever swayed Maris from these three core beliefs. He was a man of integrity, humility, confidence and bravery. At times, he could be surly, cantankerous, and uncooperative, especially with the press. Most importantly, he was greatly respected and admired by his teammates for his insatiable work ethic, sincere friendship and devout loyalty.
Tom Clavin and Danny Peary's book is a must read for anyone who has a fascination or genuine curiosity with Roger Maris. In my opinion, it is one of the most definitive biographies on baseball's reluctant hero. In recent years, I haven't come across a book that has satisfied my thirst for knowledge when it comes to Roger Maris. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy reading this book, but I have developed an even fonder appreciation for who Roger Maris was and what he stood for.
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