Roger Maris Still Deserves to Be in the Hall of Fame

This has been a debate ever since Roger Maris finished playing in 1968, but it's a no-brainer:

Maris is a Hall of Famer. 

It's not a secret that Maris didn't have staggering numbers, a .260 career batting average, 275 home runs and 850 RBIs, but Maris contributed far more to the game of baseball. 

In his years with the Cleveland Indians (57-58), Kansas City A's (58-59), New York Yankees (60-66) and the St. Louis Cardinals (67-68) Maris contributed to the game in numerous ways.

He was a seven-time All-Star selection, three-time world series champ (two with NY, one with St. Louis) and the biggest honor of all, the single season home run champ with 61 homers in 1961. That record was broken by Mark McGwire in 1998, 37 years later.

Many baseball fans and historians still count Maris as the true home run king, because of the steroid use of McGwire and Barry Bonds.

Any player who has a record of such stature and reverence should surely have a place in the Hall of Fame. Maris captivated an entire country in 1961, along with Mickey Mantle, in a truly historic home run race. Now, there is no comparison between Mantle and Maris, but Roger should be alongside Mick in Cooperstown. 

I am not the only person who feels this way, rest assured. There is a Roger Maris Museum dedicated to everything Roger, in North Dakota, and a quick Google search of "Roger Maris Hall of Fame" will return numerous results for fan-made sites, petitions and blogs dedicated to getting Roger in the Hall of Fame.  

Victoria Beckham Missy Peregrym Sarah Gellman Eliza Dushku Bonnie Jill Laflin