Northern League Announces Roger Maris Award

July 15, 2010 - Northern League (NL) News Release


The Northern League will present the Roger Maris Award for the first time in 2010. The award will be presented to the individual that best enhances and promotes the reputation of the Northern League with integrity, sportsmanship, character and community involvement. Each Northern League club will nominate one player, manager or coach for this honorary award each season. Teams are encouraged to have their fans participate in selecting the nominee for their club. Managers, coaches, veteran players, full-time umpires and media representatives will vote on the award winner.

The award is named in honor of Roger Maris, a former Northern League player who went on to a 12-year Major League career that included a record-breaking 61 home run season with the 1961 New York Yankees, back-to-back American League MVP awards (1960 & 1961) and three World Championships in seven World Series Appearances. He also played in seven All-Star Games and won one Gold Glove award as an outfielder.

Maris began his professional baseball career in 1953 with his hometown Fargo-Moorhead Twins. The Twins were the Northern League affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, who had signed Maris as an amateur free agent. Maris had graduated the previous spring from Shanley High School in Fargo and had been a star for the Fargo American Legion baseball team and the Shanley football, basketball and track teams.

Maris earned Northern League Rookie of the Year honors in 1953 after batting .325 with 18 doubles, 13 triples and nine home runs in 114 games. He helped lead Fargo-Moorhead to a league-best 86-39 record and the 1953 Northern League Championship.

After four seasons in the minor leagues, Maris made his Major League debut with the Cleveland Indians in 1957. In his career, he batted .260 with 195 doubles, 42 triples, 275 home runs, 851 RBI and 826 runs scored in 1,463 games. Besides the Indians, he also played for the Kansas City A's, New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals.

Following his playing career, Maris was a successful business man and had his #9 retired by the New York Yankees in 1984. He also started the Roger Maris Celebrity Golf Tournament in his hometown of Fargo in 1983, which continues to this day and raises money for the Roger Maris Cancer Center in Fargo and his alma mater, Fargo Shanley High School. Maris passed away from cancer on December 14, 1985 and is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Fargo.



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