Fans weigh in on Maris' Hall of Fame status

• Maris Display

The Baseball Hall of Fame has no intention of letting visitors forget who Roger Maris was.

Talk about it

We saw at six that Roger Maris is well represented in the Baseball Hall of Fame despite not being inducted into it. We've also heard from voters as to why Maris doesn't belong in the Hall. But what do fans think?

This is baseball immortality, the plaque room at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Even here, surrounded by many of Roger Maris's former teammates, the debate rages on if he belongs in this room.

Dave Williams – Cleveland, Ohio: “Absolutely, don't think there's any doubt at all. Maybe there's others that have better career stats but how can you ignore the 1961 season? The M&M boys? 61 in 61? He belongs here.”

Rich Panovich – Chicago, Illinois: “I don't think people belong in the Hall of Fame based on one achievement. Not that he wasn't a good player throughout his career. But I think if you take away the fact he hit 61 homeruns that year, I don't think there's a shred of evidence he belongs.

We did find someone who had a personal connection with Maris, in Paul Ross. He used to hunt with Roger in the late 1960's in Kentucky. He says the hall needs to fix what he calls a glaring error.”

Paul Ross – Paducah, Kentucky: “It is an oversight, probably because of what he did, he took some of the halo away from another great Yankee. And the Baseball Writers Association, which a large group of them are out of New York, weren't appreciative of his accomplishments. I knew him more when he played for the Cardinals the last few years. But no doubt the character of the man, the kind of person he was, the way he loved his boys, and then the way he played the game, which was so intense, he deserves to be here.”

The Baseball Hall of Fame has no intention of letting visitors forget who Roger Maris was. Now it's up to the baseball writers to make him an immortal.

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