Fargo’s Roger Maris Museum excellent look at slugger’s legacy
Who puts a museum honoring the legacy of an outstanding professional baseball player inside a shopping mall, for all to see without spending a penny for admission? If you are baseball fans in Fargo, ND, you do. The Roger Maris Museum, honoring the longtime ball player, who owned the single season home run record for decades, is located at the West Acres shopping mall.
Maris set Major League Baseball’s single season home run mark of 61 during the 1961 season. He surpassed the previous mark held by Babe Ruth, who hit 60 homers in 1927. Maris’ record would stand for 37 years, until Mark McGwire set the standard at 70. Sammy Sosa, who had challenged McGwire that season, finished with 66 dingers. Eventually, the home run record would be owned by Barry Bonds, with 73. Maris went from first for 37 years to seventh place in a span of four seasons. McGwire would top 61 home runs twice during that time. Sosa did it three times. Bonds had his record season in 2001.
Maris still owns the American League single season home run record.
The museum highlights his baseball career with the uniforms of his teams, baseballs, gloves, equipment, awards and other memorabilia. During the visit, I realized he’d never been named to the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Personally, I think this is wrong. I’m sure an argument can be made for both views on belonging in the Hall of Fame or not.
Maris originally didn’t want a museum in his honor. He eventually relented, provided it was free and open to the public. Local leaders and the Fargo American Legion organized the original exhibit in 1984.
Maris was a hard working Northlander. He was born in Hibbing, Minnesota, in 1934. His family moved to the Fargo area when he was 8-years-old. He played summer baseball for the American Legion teams as a teenager. Maris was recruited to play football at Oklahoma, but opted for a professional baseball career. He was drafted by Cleveland. With a $15,000 first time contract under his belt, Maris played four seasons in the Minors.
He hit 14 home runs and drove in 51 runs during his rookie season in 1957. Cleveland traded Maris to the Kansas City Athletics (now Oakland A’s) during the 1958 season. Maris was named to the American League All-Star team for the Athletics in 1959.
Maris was traded to the vaunted New York Yankees before the 1960 season. He won his first AL Most Valuable Player award that season, after hitting .283 with 39 home runs and 112 Runs Batted In (RBI). He won his lone Gold Glove for outstanding fielding, as well as being named to his second AL All-Star team.
Then, 1961 came. This was the season that put Maris’ name in the record books for eternity. Maris and teammate Mickey Mantle challenged each other for much of the season in a battle for the home run title. Mantle suffered an injury in the last month of the regular season that sidelined him, so he finished with 54 home runs.
Maris continued to swat homers like they were bugs. The left-hander tied Ruth at 60 home runs on Sept. 26th. He hit the record-setting home run in the last regular season game Oct. 1st. A guy from Fargo, North Dakota, had just become the most prolific batter in a season, surpassing the “Great Bambino” himself.
How did baseball respond? Major League Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick had an asterisk placed next to Maris’ record, because he didn’t hit 61 homers in 154 games, which the commissioner used as a barometer for counting the mark as a record. The asterisk was removed in 1991.
Asterisk or not, Fargo’s Maris enjoyed a great playing career. He hit 275 home runs and had 850 RBI. He finished with a career batting average of .260. Maris played in seven World Series during the 1960s – the most by any player. He played in five Series with the Yankees and two with the St. Louis Cardinals toward the end of his 12-year career. Maris appeared in seven All-Star games and won the Gold Glove in 1960.
He entered the beer distributorship business with his brother following his baseball career. Maris died from cancer in 1985. He never saw the asterisk removed from his record.
The museum opened in a wing of the West Acres mall in 1984. It was completely renovated by mall management in 2003. The museum – which is free and accessible to the public during mall hours – features a small theater where people can watch video highlights of Maris’ career. The seats are from the old Yankee Stadium.
Not many former players would offer their legacy to be made available to the public for free. But, Roger Maris was a humble man, who didn’t care for the spotlight. I think many baseball fans are happy he gave his OK. The museum is fairly small. You can spend as little as 30 minutes there or as much time as you want. It’s definitely worth the stop when visiting Fargo or even traveling through town.
For more information on the Roger Maris Museum and the player himself, please visit: