[3][4] Roger's parents, Rudolph S. "Rudy" Maras and Ann Corrine "Connie" (née Perkovich) were born in Minnesota, and were of Croatian heritage.

[12] In Game 2 of the 1956 Junior World Series, Maris, playing for the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association (Triple-A league), set a record by driving in seven runs.

[15] On June 15, 1958, after playing in 51 games and hitting .225 with nine home runs and 27 RBI for the Indians, he was traded to the Kansas City Athletics with Dick Tomanek and Preston Ward for Vic Power and Woodie Held.

[16][1] In the late 1950s, Kansas City frequently traded their best young players to the New York Yankees—a practice which led them to be referred to as the Yankees' "major league farm team"[17]—and Maris was no exception.

In a seven-player deal completed on December 11, 1959, he was sent to the Yankees with Kent Hadley and Joe DeMaestri in exchange for Marv Throneberry, Norm Siebern, Hank Bauer, and Don Larsen.

[18] In his Yankees debut on April 19, 1960, Maris hit a single, double, and two home runs in an 8–4 win over the Boston Red Sox.

The perceived result was that American League team rosters had become watered down, as players who would otherwise have been playing at AAA, if not lower, were now in the AL.

One famous photograph lined up six 1961 Yankees, including Mantle, Maris, Yogi Berra and Bill Skowron, under the nickname "Murderers Row", because they hit a combined 165 home runs the previous season (the title "Murderers Row", originally coined in 1918, had most famously been used to refer to the 1927 Yankees).

Sportswriters began to play the "M&M Boys" against each other, inventing a rivalry where none existed; in fact, the two men were friends and roommates.

[25] Mantle, however, was felled by a hip infection causing hospitalization late in the season, leaving Maris as the single remaining player with the opportunity to break Ruth's home run record.

[26] In spite of its formality, Frick's so-called ruling was merely a suggestion: Major League Baseball had no direct control over any record books until many years later.

[26] As he closed in on Ruth's record, Maris received death threats and NYPD detective Kieran Burke was assigned to watch over him.

Maris hit his 61st home run on October 1, 1961, in the fourth inning of the last game of the season, at Yankee Stadium in front of 23,154 fans.

[28] Boston Red Sox pitcher Tracy Stallard gave up the record home run, which was caught by fan Sal Durante in the right field bleachers.

[15] In Game 7 of the 1962 World Series, Maris made a game-saving play in the bottom of the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants.

Maris cut off the ball and made a strong throw to prevent Alou from scoring the tying run; the play set up Willie McCovey's series-ending line drive to second baseman Bobby Richardson, capping what would prove to be the final World Series title for the Yankees until 1977.

[39] That year, Maris, Mantle, and Yankee teammate Yogi Berra also made appearances in the film That Touch of Mink, starring Cary Grant and Doris Day.

[40] In 1980, Maris, Mantle, Whitey Ford, Elston Howard, and other former Yankee players made appearances in the film It's My Turn, starring Michael Douglas and Jill Clayburgh.

Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Fargo, North Dakota.

Hansen noted that there were many outfielders in the Hall of Fame who had never won two MVP awards, and that no one else had ever hit 61 home runs in a season.

"To show you what an injustice this is to the man, Maris finished just a notch ahead of Harvey Kuenn, for crying out loud.

[48] The Golden Days Era Committee (1950–1969) was scheduled to meet and vote for the first time in December 2020 for the 2021 Hall of Fame induction.

[52] Maris is the 24th former player on the Hall of Fame rated list of 85 eligible candidates for the Golden Days Committee Ballot.

[53][52] In August 2020, the Hall of Fame rescheduled The Golden Days Committee winter meeting in 2020 to December 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maris was named one of the ten finalists,[55] but ultimately was not part of the chosen class, which consisted of Minnie Miñoso, Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat, and Gil Hodges.

"[57] Ford Frick, baseball's commissioner in 1961, had stated that the single-season home-run total had to be achieved in 154 games in order to be an official record.

The inscribed plaque, subtitled "Against All Odds", calls Maris "A great player and author of one of the most remarkable chapters in the history of major league baseball."

The United States Postal Service issued a "Roger Maris, 61 in 61" commemorative stamp on September 17, 1999, as part of the Celebrate the Century series.

[71] In 2005, in light of accusations of steroid use against the three players who had, by then, hit more than 61 home runs in a season (McGwire, Sosa and Bonds), the North Dakota Senate wrote to Major League Baseball to express the opinion that Roger Maris's 61 home runs should be recognized as the single-season record.