By Steve Stark
Early Greeks placed a high value on their history and their heroes and that admiration was chronicled in their art. Greek-city-states such as Athens offered its citizenry ample opportunities to celebrate their Olympic gods and heroes in song, poetry, sculpture, paintings and even drama.
Fast forward 2,500 years, or so, to Fargo-Moorhead, USA. One man alone stands as an icon of regional history venerated as a hero very much like the Greeks knew- the subject of song, poetry, sculpture, painting and drama. Not to mention the baseball cards and plastic action figures. His name is Roger Eugene Maris. Fifty summers ago, 1961, was his Olympic year.
As one of professional sport’s most fabled players, Maris’ image as a baseball legend, not unlike the Greek athlete heroes, has been the inspiration for virtually every facet of the fine arts. He may well be the only person associated with the state and region, perhaps just behind Theodore Roosevelt, whose image is remembered in such varied art mediums.
This region appears justifiably proud of the athletic prowess of the Hibbing, Minnesota -born kid who grew up in Fargo . Roger Maris attended Fargo’s Catholic Shanley High School where he excelled in track, basketball and football. Shanley had no baseball team, but Maris was added to the line-up of the 1950 & 1951 Fargo-Moorhead Twins, an Fargo American Legion baseball squad where he was feted as MVP his first season of that state championship team. Major league baseball soon called. His most triumphal year was 1961 where, as a New York Yankee, Maris would cement his American baseball legacy.
The ‘61 season for the painfully shy right-fielder and home run hitter was a taut competition laced with resentment, excitement and controversy as he and Pinstripe favorite Mickey Mantle raced for the decades old 60 season home run record cemented by the legendary George Herman “Babe” Ruth. On October 1st, 1961, Roger Maris busted the Babe’s legendary stat by swatting his 61st home run. History doesn’t always mingle easily with other humanities. Maris made the exception.
He’s been a fine arts inspiration for two live theatrical productions at the Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre, recently with Roger Maris On Stage and over a decade ago with Maris, the musical. Not unlike Greek theatre heroes, both contemporary productions chronicle the heroics of the young rookie student from his school days to his destiny as the Hercules of the home run.
Although statuary is infrequently seen in the Red River Valley, the Maris image is 50 times larger than life and set in a behemoth size bas-relief on the outside wall of the Scheel’s All Sports store in Fargo. Fargo’s famous son is mounted high, imposing and in brick.
Actor and filmmaker Billy Crystal realized the hidden, inherent drama of America’s past time evident when Maris donned number 9 for the Yankees and dueled bat-to-bat for Babe Ruth’s home run record alongside his close friend and teammate Number 7 Mickey Mantle. In the summer of 1961, “The M & M Boys” chased both the Babe’s statistics and his mythic status. Maris prevailed, over an ill Mantle, and by doing so made his bones in sports history.
Maris’ brotherly kinship with Mantle, as well as the contemporary sports press disdain for the right fielder from Fargo, was expertly captured in Crystal’s HBO movie 61*. Crystal’s film chronicles the sports press resolve to belittle and demean the introverted Maris on his march to release Ruth’s reins as the “Sultan of Swat.” In an exclusive and rare big screen showing of 61* at the historic Fargo Theater, Crystal was joined, among others, by famed sportscaster Bob Costas and actor Berry Pepper, who portrayed Maris in the film. The 61* screening was made possible under the auspices of Shanley High School.
Shanley hallways are graced generously with pictures of Jesus Christ. In the cafeteria a dominant, large and lone photograph of Maris looks down daily upon the student body every lunch period.
Other Maris photographic memorials is displayed in Lindenwood Park, along Roger Maris Drive, and behind the bleachers at Jack Williams Stadium.
Maris memorabilia, film and art is displayed at the Roger Maris Museum in the West Acres Shopping Center. There, the Yankee #9 image is represented in oil painting, molded action figures, photography, newsreel film footage and even sports editorial cartoons. Shoppers and Maris fans can also enjoy the rare historical treat of being able to view a comprehensive Maris documentary while seated in actual wooden folding seats saved from the famous Yankee Stadium, the “House That Ruth Built.” The experience is a must for any age baseball fan.
In the carefully tended grounds of his final resting place, a tasteful, simple, yet stunning, headstone in Fargo’s Holy Spirit Cemetery has become a shrine for the local hero.
Maris lived like no other sports figure in 1961. He died at 51. This October, half a century after his legendary home run, controversy continues whether he’ll earn membership in the official Baseball Hall of Fame. In the minds and hearts of his legion fans, that potential formal induction may be almost moot. For there is no denying the historic and artistic impact, imprint and fame within the city limits of his boyhood home. In Fargo Moorhead, the Roger Maris legacy is literally carved in stone.