Weakened by injuries that stripped him of his power and reduced his mobility, Roger Maris appeared unwanted and was considering retiring after the 1966 season, five years after he hit 61 home runs for the Yankees and broke Babe Ruth’s major-league record. Unexpectedly, the Cardinals took a chance on him.
On Dec. 8, 1966, in a deal made by Bob Howsam and sealed by Stan Musial, the Cardinals acquired Maris from the Yankees for third baseman Charlie Smith.
Though Maris was a marquee name, he no longer was a marquee player. His diminished skills, along with a reputation for surliness, caused some to wonder why the Cardinals wanted him.
Damn Yankees
In 1965, Maris, who’d broken the hamate bone in his right hand, hit .239 with eight home runs in 46 games. The hand still was weak when he returned in 1966. Then he injured his left knee in a collision at home plate with Tigers catcher Bill Freehan. Maris hit .233 with 13 home runs in 119 games for the 1966 Yankees.
Unhappy in New York and embarrassed by his declining performance, Maris planned to assess his future during the off-season and make a decision about whether to continue playing.
At 32, Maris was “almost positive” he would retire, according to the book “Roger Maris: Baseball’s Reluctant Hero.”
In November 1966, Yankees general manager Lee MacPhail called Maris and asked about his plans. Maris said he wanted to wait until spring training to declare his intentions, then added, “If you’re going to trade me, tell me now and I’ll send in my retirement papers to you right away.”
MacPhail told Maris the Yankees didn’t intend to trade him.
Let’s make a deal
A month later, at the baseball winter meetings, Howsam, the Cardinals’ general manager, was having lunch when he was approached by Yankees manager Ralph Houk, who had managed the Denver Bears in the 1950s when Howsam was the minor-league club’s top executive.
“I started to kid Ralph and said, ‘Hey, when are we going to make a trade?’ ” Howsam told Neal Russo of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Houk then said, ‘Would you be interested in Maris?’ I told him that I’d have to think it over. When I got on the plane heading back to St. Louis, I figured we might be able to use Maris.”
In St. Louis, Howsam met with Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst and asked him whether he’d like to have Maris on the club. Replied Red: “Who wouldn’t?”
Mike Shannon, the Cardinals’ right fielder, had worked during the off-season on learning to play third base. Howsam and Schoendienst were certain Shannon could make the move to third, opening right field for Maris.
Healthy outlook
Maris learned of the trade from a news photographer who showed up at the Maris house in Independence, Mo., to get reaction shots.
Contacted by the Post-Dispatch, Maris said, “I wouldn’t say I’m overjoyed about the trade.”
In an article for the Post-Dispatch, Joe McGuff, a Kansas City journalist who knew Maris well, explained, “Maris is concerned about his physical condition and he doesn’t want to play if he feels he can’t give the Cardinals a good effort … At this stage, pride is more important to Maris than money. It would mean a great deal to Maris to bow out with a big year.”
McGuff added: “If Maris decides to play for the Cardinals, he will be a definite asset. If he is sound physically, he could bring them a pennant.”
Johnny Keane, who had managed the 1964 Cardinals to a World Series championship before becoming Maris’ manager with the 1965-66 Yankees, told Post-Dispatch sports editor Bob Broeg, “If Roger is interested, if he’ll be aroused by this challenge, he could do a big job for the Cardinals.”
Said Schoendienst: “Maris is a real threat. He’ll help in more ways than one. He’s a good outfielder and has good judgment on the bases.”
The reaction in New York, though, was that Maris was through.
In his syndicated column, Red Smith wrote of Maris, “More surprising than yesterday’s deal and the modest price accepted was the fact that the Yankees found a club willing to accept their damaged goods. There was no secret about the guy’s being marked disposable … When Lee MacPhail dropped his name into conversations at the recent winter meetings, people walked away.”
Smith concluded, “He could have owned New York. Now he’s gone and won’t be missed. He was a demigod. Now he is a line in the record book, with an asterisk.”
Cardinal Way
Soon after the trade, Howsam left the Cardinals to join the Reds. Musial, a team vice president, replaced Howsam. In one of his first moves as general manager, Musial invited Maris and his wife Pat to St. Louis for lunch with he and his wife Lil.
When Maris returned home, he received in the mail from Musial a 1967 contract for $75,000, an increase from what the Yankees had paid him.
Maris was in no rush to commit and Musial didn’t pressure him. Impressed, Maris told Musial in early February he’d report to the Cardinals.
At spring training, Maris gained the trust of Cardinals players by working hard and selflessly on the field and interacting happily and humbly off the field.
Wrote Russo: “He meshed well with his new teammates, joining them in barbecues and chatting and joking often with them at the club’s motel.”
With defense, hustle, smart baserunning and solid fundamentals, Maris’ value to the Cardinals transcended statistics. They won two National League pennants and a World Series title in his two seasons with the club.
Maris produced 18 doubles, seven triples, nine home runs, 55 RBI and hit .261 in 125 games in 1967. In the World Series against the Red Sox, Maris hit .385 with a home run and seven RBI.
Maris played in 100 games in 1968 and had 18 doubles, five home runs, 45 RBI and hit .255.
Previously: With last homer, Roger Maris helped Cards clinch title
RetroSimba 
I think the Cards threw in a Bud
Distributorship in FL as well
Most under respected ball players of all time! Sorry he had to die of cancer!,
Thanks for commenting. He was a winner.
Excellent article! This is exactly how I remember the trade occurring. Maris was going to retire after the 1966 season and only returned to play after the warm reception he received from the Cardinal family. His career in NY had soured beyond repair due to injuries and bad press started by Jimmy Cannon of the NY Journal American which resulted in the brutal treatment of Maris by the “fans” in NY and other AL cities (particularly Detroit). His two years in St. Louis were evidently happy ones for a player who deserved much more.
Thanks, Richard. I’m glad for Roger Maris that he got to go out as a winner with those 2 Cardinals championship seasons, and glad for the Cardinals that they got such a classy contributor.
Maris was not only a terrific offensive threat when healthy, he was a very solid defender with a great throwing, one that most assuredly gave the Yankees the 1962 World Series. Few may recall throw to hold the runner on third with two outs in the 9th inning of game 7
Quite true, Howie. With the Yankees ahead, 1-0, in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 1962 World Series, the Giants had Matty Alou on first, two outs, when Willie Mays slashed an opposite-field line drive down the line in right.
Felipe Alou told author Steve Bitker, “If that ball makes it to the fence, Matty scores standing up and Willie goes to third base.”
Instead, Maris, who had been playing Mays to pull, raced a long way, got to the ball, made an accurate throw to relay man Bobby Richardson, and Matty Alou was held at third on Mays’ double.
“He had no chance to score,” Felipe Alou said of brother Matty. “He would have been out without a slide.”
It was the defensive play that saved the World Series for the Yankees.
When the next batter, Willie McCovey, lined out to second, the Yankees were World Series champions.
Roger Maris was the best baseball player I ever saw play when he played with the Cardinals once a winner always a winner put him in the HOF loved watching him play back when baseball was baseball thanks Roger
I am so glad that you got to see Roger Maris play for the Cardinals and appreciated his multiple skills.
Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle were the heart of baseball back then. I wish I had all the cards I had back then and I would be rich. Judge might break or tie Maris but they won’t be another true Yankee as Maris and Mantle.
Thanks for reading and for commenting, Donald. I remember, too, as a kid in the 1960s the special aura Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle had then.
Roger Maris will always be remembered as a Yankee, but those two years with the Cardinals was something special. The trades for him and Orlando Cepeda helped transform the 1967 and 68 Cardinals into championship teams. The following year after Maris retired and Cepeda traded, the team was never the same. I saw him play once, and he conducted himself on the field as a true professional.
Thanks for reading and for commenting, Michael. I appreciate the insights and I am glad you got to be at a game that Roger Maris played.