September 21, 2007...8:41 pm
Roger, the rookie and time…
A rookie sat next to his manager and watched Roger Maris gun down a runner trying to go from first to third. “Kid, you won’t see a throw like that again in a million years.” Three innings later, Maris duplicated the feat.The rookie turned to the manager and said, “Time sure flies up here in the Majors.”
Born on September 10th, 1934, in Hibbing, Minnesota, Roger Eugene Maris broke into the majors with the Cleveland Indians in 1957. He batted left but threw with his right. After playing 167 games for the Indians and another 221 for the Athletics, Maris finally landed with the lauded New York Yankees where he’s remembered for hitting 61 homers in 1961. Oddly enough he would never come close to equaling that feat again. His stats steadily declined until he finished with only 5 HR’s in 1968 playing for the St. Louis Cardinals. Sadly, Roger Maris died at the early age of 51 years and is buried today in Holy Cross Cemetery in Fargo, ND.
Our favorite pastime etched in our memories gives us pleasure from an uncomplicated childhood. Baseball has the ability to do that! Perhaps we can learn something from Maris that goes beyond baseball. One of the biblical writers penned it well when he wrote that we were to “Be very careful, then, how we live, not as unwise but as wise. Making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” The favorite rookies of our youth are now silver-haired retirees who don’t look the same in throw back uniforms. None of us do. Maris, Ford and even Munson were not forever. Neither are we. Why not order our lives so that when our final stats are posted they would reveal a full life?
- Mike
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