Perhaps it was prophetic that just before the 1961 season began, a reporter asked Roger Maris what the effect of the newly expanded 162 game schedule would have on Babe Ruth's single season home run record. Maris responded "Nobody will touch it... Look up the records and you'll see that it's a rare year when anybody hits 50 homers, let alone 60." Maris was correct - that is until 1961. As the season began Maris and teammate Mickey Mantle matched each other home run for home run. Mantle was by far the most favored and expected to win, but over the long summer injuries slowed The Mick down. By August Maris had pulled ahead, but the stress of being in the spotlight severely affected Maris' health and play on the field. As he edged closer to the magic number, talk began to swirl about whether it would actually be a new record if he did not reach 61 in 154 games, the number of games played in Ruth's time. Added to the speculation was Maris' shyness which made him much less fan and press friendly than Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle - the guy it seemed everyone was pulling for. Still, Maris stoically soldiered on and eventually surpassed Ruth at the end of the season. Since he did take the full 162 games to do it, MLB felt the fan pressure to add an asterisk to the new record, a compromise that to this day remains controversial. Asterisk or no asterisk, Roger Maris' 1961 season was one of the greatest in baseball history and this amazing bat was there, on the field in his hands as it went down.

     Roger's Hillerich & Bradsby A92 model bat shows heavy use and is un-cracked. As you'd want to see in the bat of the man who was pursuing the greatest single-season record in baseball, the barrel is covered in ball marks and stitch impressions. Louisville Slugger records show that Maris ordered this A92 model bat in 1961, 1962 and 1963. The date of this particular bat can be further narrowed down to that magical summer of '61 since all A92 bats ordered before September 5th, 1961 carried the standard finish, as this one does. A92's ordered after that date had the flame burned finish. Bats of this spec and finish were ordered between March 14th and July 21st, 1961 - placing this bat directly in the hands of Roger Maris during his home run record pursuit. This is an extraordinary piece of baseball history and would be right at home in a display case in Cooperstown. Letter of Authenticity from PSA/DNA (1B08467) who have graded this bat GU 7.

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