It's September 10th, the birthdate in 1934 of a Yankee who was more appreciated after leaving the Bronx. Roger Maris -- the single-season home run champ of the pre-steroids era. 61 in '61 -- perfect symmetry for a player whose swing was ideally suited to Yankee Stadium -- but whose introverted personality ran against the grain of New York's media environment. Lacking the easy smile or natural charm of Mickey Mantle, Roger didn't feel the love he deserved when after the M&M boys made chasing the Babe baseball's top story in the summer of 1961. Maris also had more than his share of bad luck -- including a series of injuries that robbed him of his power after 1962. Though he felt scorned and unloved in his final seasons as a Yankee, one of the classiest moves George Steinbrenner made was convincing Roger return for Old Timers Day in the 1980s, and the dedication of this plaque in Monument Park.
Was
Roger a Hall of Famer? Probably not. But there's no doubt he deserves to be recognized as an alltime Bronx hero.
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