[Miss Marple]

Not being a baseball aficianado, perhaps my memory is faulty, but it seems to me that Roger Maris didn't do much after the year that he and Mantle were racing to break Ruth's record.

[Vigilanteman]

Actually, Roger Maris proceeded to belt 82 homeruns and drive in 224 runs in the next three years. He finished out a very respectable career playing in five more World Series in two different leagues. No, he didn't get close to his 1961 numbers again, but he didn't do so bad either.

Roger is the only player to win back-to-back MVP awards and not get elected to the Hall of Fame. He was a decent person as well as a baseball player. I grew up in his hometown and have visited his museum.

[Vigilanteman]

Just by way of comparison, Mickey Mantle, who retired the same year as Maris (1968), would proceed to hit 80 HRs and 235 RBIs in the same three years following that 1961 season. He played in three, not five more World Series and, of course, was elected to the Hall of Fame, even though his star performance differed little from Roger Maris from 1960-1968.

Mantle did, of course, start his career earlier and was a key contributor to the great Yankee dynasty of the 1950's. He was even a teammate to the legendary Joe DiMaggio during his 1951 rookie season.