Roger Maris Essay
Roger Maris was born in Hibbing, Minnesota on September 10, 1934. His father, who worked for the Great Northern Railroad, moved the family to North Dakota in 1942where Roger grew up. The Maris brothers played sports and attended Shanley High School in Fargo, North Dakota. It was in the 10th grade when Roger met Patricia, his future wife, at a high school basketball game.
Roger played baseball in the American Legion program during the summers, since the North Dakota high schools with the cold weather did not have a program. He led his American Legion team to the state championship. With his excellent speed, Roger was a standout in football as well. In one game against Devil's Lake his senior year, he scored four touchdowns on kickoff returns to set a national high school record.
Roger was recruited by legendary coach Bud Wilkinson to play for the University of Oklahoma, but with a professional baseball contract looming, Roger gave up his scholarship at the University of Oklahoma to pursue a career in baseball. He signed a $15,000 contract to play for the Cleveland Indians organization.
Roger spent four years in the minor leagues playing for Fargo-Moorhead, Keokuk, Tulsa, Reading, and Indianapolis before making it to the major leagues.
During his first year in the major leagues, Roger hit 14 home runs and drove in 51 RBI's for the Cleveland Indians. Midway through his second year, Roger was traded to the Kansas City Athletics and finished the season with 28 home runs and 81 RBI's. Roger received attention and in his third year, was elected to the 1959 All-Star team.
After the 1959 season, Roger Maris was traded to the New York Yankees. In 1960, his first season with the Yankees, Roger led the major leagues with 27 home runs and 69 RBI's by the halfway point and was again named to the All-Star team. An injury sliding into second to break up a double play caused him to miss 17 games. However, Roger still finished the season first in RBI's with 112, second in home runs with 39 (one behind Mickey Mantle who led the majors with 40), won the Gold Glove Award, and was named the American League's Most Valuable Player. He also hit 2 World Series home runs, but it would be for the following year that he would be most remembered.
In 1961, Roger and teammate Mickey Mantle received national attention as they chased the single season home run record of 60 set by Babe Ruth in 1927.
R.A. Dickey, at age 38 received the Cy Young award — becoming the first knuckleball pitcher to receive
Brian Piccolo attended Wake Forest University, in Winston Salem NC and had a break out performance his senior season. He was competing for such honors as the national rushing title, Offensive Player of the Year, and a spot on the All American Team. Unknowingly, he was competing with one of his future teammates on the Chicago Bears, Gale Sayers. The "Kansas Comet," (Gale Sayers) attended Kansas State University, in Kansas City KA. They were neck and neck throughout the season, until Piccolo edged Sayers out by less than 100 yards to take the title.
He is in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. He was won 59 games in his Career and lost 57 games, while having 8 ties. He has thrown for 24,410 yards. That ranks 73rd for the most passing yards ever. That’s ahead of Hall of Famer, Roger Staubach. He has also thrown for 170 passing touchdowns. That ranks 61st for the most touchdowns ever thrown. That is ahead of Hall of Famers, Sid Luckman, Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, and Troy Aikman. He now lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He became the NMSU Chemical Engineering professor, but retired in 2012.
When he went to High School, he played baseball and basketball. He attended Alvin High School. When he was a Sophomore, he pitched in front of Mets Scout Red Murff. Red said that Nolan had the best arm he had seen in his life.
Curt Flood was as crucial to the economic rights of ballplayers as Jackie Robinson was to breaking the color barrier. A three-time All-Star and seven-time winner of the Gold Glove for his defensive prowess in center field, Flood hit more than .300 six times during a 15-year major league career that began in 1956. Twelve of those seasons were spent wearing the uniform of the St. Louis Cardinals. After the 1969 season, the Cardinals attempted to trade Flood, then 31 years of age, to the Philadelphia Phillies, which set in motion his historic challenge of baseball’s infamous "reserve clause." The reserve clause was that part of the standard player’s contract which bound the player, one year at a time, in perpetuity to the club owning his contract. Flood had no interest in moving to Philadelphia, a city he had always viewed as racist ("the nation’s northernmost southern city"), but more importantly, he objected to being treated as a piece of property and to the restriction of freedom embedded in the reserve clause.
and has been in the homerun derby many times. In 2011 he had 23 home runs, 89RBIs
Cox was appointed the managing job of the Yankees Class A team in Fort Lauderdale in 1971. Within all of his 6 seasons, not one of his teams finished lower than fourth. He continued with the Yankees system until 1978. He ended up with winning the Eastern League pennant and championship with the club in West Haven in '72 and with the Syracuse club won the International League's Governor's Cup in '76. His last year with the Yankees he was the first base coach before going to manage the Braves.
As a 20 year old youth in 1883, Billy played baseball in the lots of his neighborhood in Marshalltown, Iowa. One day the captain for the Chicago White Sox, A.C. Anson, was in the lots watching all the teenagers, young adults, and Billy Sunday playing baseball. Anson was so impressed with what he had seen in Billy’s baseball performance that Billy was signed unto the White Sox soon after.
won 29. When he reached that number Comiskey benched him, the player resentment of this was
of all time. Babe had a 92 and 44 record, 67.6%, and a 2.24 career earned- run
Babe Ruth was a reckless, abandoned child who became America's biggest hero. Babe Ruth's parents did not have the time to take care of him, but little did George Ruth Sr. know that when he was shipping his son off to boarding school, he was pushing one of America's greatest idols out of his life (http://www.baberuth.com). Ruth never received strict parenting until he attended St. Mary's where he began to straighten out. After he became a main stream ball player he began to attract the attention of many fans with the frequency of his homeruns. Ruth hit his prime just after a time of crisis for professional baseball (http://www.baberuth.com). Now Babe is still praised for his accomplishments and for his contribution to the game of baseball and life of Americans. Ruth became America's greatest hero because he gave Americans hope in times of scandal and hardship, he reignited excitement in baseball, and he embodied the American Dream, where anyone can work his way from humble beginnings to great success.
In 1947 Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers desperately wanted Robinson to play for him and his team. He would become the first black MLB player since 1889 when baseball became discriminated. In his first year he was the Rookie of the Year. He debuted in the International League with the Montreal Royals. This the led to Branch’s interest in Robinson since he was considered one of the best players in the International League and considering it was his first time playing with white men.
This record stood until 1961 when Roger Maris hit 61 home runs. He might have been the best baseball player who ever played the game. He led the Yankees to seven World Series and made two million dollars in his career. Jack "the Manassa Mauler" Dempsey was one of the best heavyweight boxers of all time. He was a heavyweight champion and fought and won against Georges Carpentier.
The great Mickey Charles Mantle took his position at home plate with the crowd roaring like a tsunami all around him. Mickey swung at the zooming fastball and crack! The Mick had done it; two long bomb home runs in one game on both sides of the plate. Mickey Mantle was one of the best players to ever play the game of baseball.