He lived a life of love and caring and he also was a great sportsman. In high school he played football and baseball. He and his brother were the star players on the football team and Roger was a lone star on the baseball team. After high school Roger was offered a fully paid scholarship to play football at the University of Alabama, but he turned it down to play professional baseball. .
Although Roger Maris had a lot of accomplishments his greatest one was breaking Babe Ruth's single season home run record. Babe Ruth set the record of 60 in 1927 and his record lasted 36 years. Roger Maris hit his 61st home run of the season for the New York Yankees on October 1, 1961 to break the record previously set by Babe Ruth. Roger Maris's record lasted 37 years, until Mark McGwire broke it in the fall of 1998. Mark McGwire finished the 1998 season with an astonishing 70 home runs. Which now in 2001 Barry Bonds Had Beat Mark McGwires Record. .
Maris's greatest accomplishment also caused him to have some of his hardest times in life. During the "Home Run Race" Maris was bothered by the press constantly. Wherever he went the press was there. When he went to the super market, to his apartment, to the ballpark even to the bathroom the press was there to ask him questions about "The Race." As a result of this he started to lose his hair faster than normal and he smoked more then he normally did.I admire Roger Maris because even though the press bothered him all the time he did not buckle under all the pressure. He remained cool and just waited out all the hard times. In the end everything worked out for the better. His life is a great inspiration to young people. When Roger was young kids told him that he was not any good and some of his teachers told him that he would not amount to anything. But he proved them wrong and went on to become one of the greatest baseball players in history.