Roger Maris has appeared on 19 Hall of Fame ballots since his first appearance in 1974. This included 15 years on the BBWAA ballot and 4 special committee ballots in 2003, 2009, 2012, and 2022. During this period, the two-time MVP reached only 43.1% of the vote in 1988, far below the 75% required to earn a spot in Cooperstown.

Roger Maris had one of the greatest careers in baseball history. He is best known for his American League home run record, topping Babe Ruth’s 60 round-trippers in 1927 with the murderers row Yankees. Maris’s 61 homers in 1961 led AL history for 61 years, only recently topped by Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees with 62 in 2022.

While that 1961 season was historic, it is far from the only accomplishment in his career. Mickey Mantle himself believed Roger was “as good a ballplayer as there ever was.” Roger Maris had also won the 1960 MVP, leading the entire league in Wins above replacement with 7.5, runs batted in with 112, and in slugging percentage with 0.581, accompanied by 39 home runs. He is one of only 34 players in MLB history to have more than one MVP, and only he and Dale Murphy have won the award multiple times and are not in the Hall of Fame or related to PEDs. Maris also played in 7 consecutive All-Star Games and played a pivotal role in 3 World Series-winning Yankees teams.

Even after being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, Roger Maris continued to perform at a high level, slugging over 0.400, with a 0.750 OPS. The season before the trade, the Cards won 83 games. The following season, accompanied by Roger Maris, they had 101 wins, leading all of MLB and winning the World Series.

So why is he not in the Hall of Fame? Well, the short answer is longevity. Ross Youngs is the MLB Hall of Fame hitter who has played the fewest games, with 1211 over 10 seasons. Roger Maris did play more games, at 1463, but Ross Youngs’ career was cut short by kidney problems and death shortly after retirement. Maris retired after a declining performance, which is less respected by Hall of Fame voters. He was also inducted in 1974, and Hall of Fame voters have gotten considerably stricter than in the past. In the 1970s, 54 players took a trip to Cooperstown, versus the 40 in the 2010s

Despite these hurdles, viewing Roger Maris strictly through cumulative stats misses the purpose of Cooperstown. It is called the Hall of Fame, and Maris remains a household name in any baseball-watching family due to his huge impact on baseball history. Arguments focused strictly on longevity ignore clear precedents set for players enshrined for peak dominance, like Sandy Koufax. Maris was a back-to-back MVP, an elite defender, and a key contributor to three World Series titles. Only God knows if Roger Maris is going to get a plaque in Cooperstown one day, but there is no doubt that his legacy belongs alongside the greatest to ever play the game.

I’m proud to have hit over 60 home runs, 

but I’m prouder of being part of a team that won the World Series.

Roger Maris

September 10, 1934 – December 14, 1985