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Chapters: Roger Maris, Travis Hafner, Darin Erstad, Chris Coste, Tim Johnson, Rick Helling, Red Hardy, Ken Hunt, Tim Olson, Gary Serum, Mark Lee, Floyd Stromme. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 55. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Roger Eugene Maris (September 10, 1934 December 14, 1985) was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who is primarily remembered for hitting 61 home runs for the New York Yankees during the 1961 season. This broke Babe Ruth's single-season record of 60 home runs (set in 1927) and set a record that would stand for 37 years. Maris played with four teams during a 12-year Major League career, appearing in seven World Series and winning three World Championships. The son of Croatian immigrants, he was born Roger Eugene Maras (he later changed his last name to Maris) in Hibbing, Minnesota. He grew up in Grand Forks and Fargo, North Dakota, where he attended Shanley High School. A gifted athlete, Maris participated in many sports while in Fargo, and excelled at football. He still holds the official high school record for most kickoff return touchdowns in a game, with four. At an early age, Maris exhibited an independent, no-nonsense personality. Recruited to play football at the University of Oklahoma, he arrived by bus in Norman and found no one from the university there to greet him. He turned around and went back to Fargo. In 1952, Maris joined the Reading Indians, the AA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. In the minor leagues, Maris showed talent for both offense and defense. He tied for the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League lead in putouts by an outfielder with 305 while playing for Keokuk Kernels in 1954. Meanwhile, in four minor league seasons (19531956) Maris hit .303 with 78 home runs. In Game 2 of the 1956 Junior World Series, Maris would set a...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=303711 ... Read more