December 11, 1959: Roger Maris from the A's to the Yankees

Paul Mirengoff is a very successful attorney. He is also one of the three attorneys that publish Power Line, one of the very best political blogs in the US!

Paul is also a big baseball fan.

A few years ago, he wrote this post: This day in baseball history

“December 11, 1959 is a day of infamy for Kansas City sports fans of a certain age.On that day, Kansas City traded Roger Maris to the New York Yankees.
In addition to Maris, the Yankees received Joe DeMaestri and Kent Hadley.
Kansas City got Norm Siebern, Don Larsen, Hank Bauer, and Marv (soon to become “Marvelous”) Throneberry.After winning four pennants in a row, the Yankees had finished a distant third in 1959.
Maris would help revive their fortunes, as they won five pennants in row starting in 1960.
Indeed, he would be selected as the American League’s MVP not just in 1961, when he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record, but also in 1960.During the 1959 off-season, the Chicago White Sox traded five quality players or prospects — Norm Cash, John Romano, Johnny Callision, Earl Battey, and Don Mincher — in the hope of bolstering their power hitting, acquiring Minnie Minoso, Gene Freese, and Roy Sievers.
You might wonder why the White Sox didn’t package a few of the players they dealt in a trade for Maris.
After all, it was no secret that Maris, then 25 years old, was probably going to be a big star.”

We will never know why Maris did not go to the White Sox…..he did go to the Yankees and had back to back MVP seasons and broke Babe Ruth’s record in his second year in New York.

Roger Maris is one of my all time players because he was a quiet performer, a fellow who played hard and did not seek unnecessary attention.

Maris was traded to St.Louis and played for the Cardinals in the 1967 and 1968 series. (By the way, the 1968 WS was the last played before the leagues were split into divisions in 1969)

Today, we remember Roger Maris, a great hitter, a real gentleman and one of the best left handed power hitters in MLB history.

For more info on Maris, check out his museum in North Dakota!

Check out his very productive career stats: 275 hrs & 2 MVPs.