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Rodger Eugene Maris was born on September 10, 1934 in Hibbing, Minnesota. He grew up in Fargo, North Dakota and went to Stanley High School. While in high school Rodger played many sports and excelled in football. He was recruited and got a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma. He never attended.

His career in professional baseball began in 1952 when he joined the Reading Indians an affiliate team of the Cleveland Indians organization. He played minor league baseball for 4 years when in 1956 he set a record in the 2nd game of the Junior World Series with 7 RBI's. His batting average for those 4 years in the minor league was.303 with 78 home runs.

Maris joined the major league in 1957 playing for the Cleveland Indians. His first home run was in April that year hitting a grand slam against the Detroit Tigers. In 1958 he was traded and played for the Kansas City Athletics and played in the All-Star game representing his Kansas team. After one season with the Kansas City Athletics team he was traded to the New York Yankees in late 1959. He began playing for the Yankees in the 1960 season. His career with the Yankees lasted till 1966 when he was traded to the St Louis Cardinals. He played his final season in 1968.

Rodger Maris is best known for the 61 home runs he hit while on the NY Yankee roster in 1961. This tremendous feat was overshadowed by the fact that he reached the magic number of home runs hit in 162 games where as the Babe Ruth record was 61 home runs for 154 games. There was no qualification of Maris's feat but he did receive the Hickok Belt for top professional athlete of the year and the MVP award. On July 21, 1984 Maris's number 9 was retired and he was honored with a plaque to hang in Memorial Park at the Yankee Stadium. The plaque calls Maris "A great player and author of one of the most remarkable chapters in the history of major league baseball." Rodger Maris died on December 14, 1985 of cancer at the age of 51. He was buried in Fargo, North Dakota at Holy Cross Cemetery.

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