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I've written about Roger Maris and the some of the struggles he endured in 1961. It would be hard for a baseball fan of today to understand. Here was a man that really liked his privacy.
Embraced his privacy.
And in 1960, even when traded to the most well known franchise the world has known, and being Most Valuable Player for that franchise, he still retained some privacy.
You see, even though Maris won the MVP and had been the Yankees best player in 1960, the public still adored Mickey Mantle.
And Maris loved it.
Maris knew that it was Mantle's team. Heck, Maris knew it was Mant;e's WORLD. And he was just happy being 'another Yankee'.

1961 would change everything though. With Maris and Mantle setting the baseball world on its ear in chasing Babe Ruth's hallowed 60 home runs.
Evening news broadcasts would sometimes mention Mantle and Maris before Kennedy and Khruschev.
Wiffle Balls were setting record sales. Every back yard kid wanted to be Maris or Mantle.
Everybody enjoyed it, except Maris.
While Mantle's road to Ruth's record was accepted by the general public, Maris' was not.
Maris had only 97 homers before 1961.
He was only with the Yankees a year.
He had not paid his dues.
Worse, he was short with the press and usually pictured in New York papers with a scowl on his face.

Ford Frick, the Commisioner of baseball and former close friend of Babe Ruth declared in July of '61 that for the home run record to stand, it must be done within a team's first 154 games. Just a year ago, the schedule had been expanded from 154 games to 162 games.
It was a stupid decision made at a stupid time.
Not only did it spark talk of asterisks, it put a kabosh on the wonder of breaking Ruth's record.
Maris hit his 59th homer during the Yankees 154th game. He had one chance to tie the record then, but grounded out.
Frick's announcement dampened what should have been packed houses in Stadium's as Maris tried to break Ruth's record.
Instead, less than 20,000 saw the 60th and less than 24,000 saw the 61st.
Most of those on hand for the 61st sat in the right field bleachers. A businessman had offered the lucky fan who caught the ball a $5,000 'reward'.
Sal Durante caught the 61st home run ball and made his way to the Yankee clubhouse to offer the ball to Maris.
Maris said, "Go ahead and keep it. Get what you can for it, Kid."

In the aftermath of the chase for the record, Maris had endured boo's even from the fans in his home ball park. He was the ultimate anti-hero.
By helping his team, some thought he was defaming Babe Ruth and upstaging Mickey Mantle.
Old timers like Rogers Hornsby and Ty Cobb even joined in by claiming Maris couldn't hold a candle to Ruth.

I've talked about the unfairness of Maris season before, so I'll cut this short. What I did want to mention is some of the things that have now become commonplace that started with the Maris chase.
Maris was almost pushed out of the Yankees dugout after he hit his 60th home run to acknowledge the fans who clapped for his achievement. The same thing happened for his 61st homer.
These were the first 'curtain calls' in baseball.

Also, Maris dreaded going back to the locker room after a game. If it was a game in which he did not homer, he would be asked why he had not homered and if he felt he still had a chance at the record. If homering, writers would ask about his chances in breaking the record. So many writers crowded around his locker, that it not only became a headache for Maris, but also for other players and the press.
A room was soon set up for Maris to talk to the press after the game. Now, it is commonplace for a room to be used for larger interviews rather than locker stools.

Maris home run record did not become 'official' for 30 years when Commisioner Faye Vincent deemed it so, in 1991.
Every kid in America dreams about breaking a home run record.
Roger Maris lived the dream.
His record is more appreciated now, than then.
Yes, He lived the dream.
A dream enveloped by a nightmare.