|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
HOME RUN CHASESeptember 6, 1998Randy MarisRoger Maris, Jr.ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI Q. Have you ever held the bat before and either way what it is like to hold it now? ROGER MARIS, JR.: Actually when we were kids the bat was, at that time, at our house. We felt it many times before this. Last time I held it was seven years ago when I was at Cooperstown. After I saw it was at Cooperstown seven years ago, then today is the first time I have seen it since then. Q. Growing up did you ever think the record would be broken and how do you feel about what is happening? ROGER MARIS, JR.: Growing up I really didn't think it would be broken. It is really strange because you look at the record you know it is there. It just because part of what you know growing up. No one really through my childhood really approached it other than Foster in '77 when he was 52. And everyone kept saying the record won't be broken. It is one of the toughest records to break. So your mindset is kind of the mindset that it is not going to be broken although you know in the back of your head it could be, and this year the way everything got going and the way it took off from the beginning, I still really didn't think it was going to happen because everyone pretty much predicted it. As time marched on Mark got to 45 I thought well is he is a shoe in then he went into a slump. Then I thought well, maybe not. Then he started hitting them two at a time and everything else, he got up there to 58, 59. Q. (Inaudible.) ROGER MARIS, JR.: I can't really say it hurts. It is funny. I don't really, except the fact that it is being broken. It really hasn't set in yet, although I know it is right on the verge of being broken �� said it is going to be broken and how am I going to feel. My mind has kind of blocked it out even though I know it is going to happen and people have asked me how I am going to feel. I don't know how I am going to feel it is kind of a number feeling you are kind of in a dream living this whole thing out. Q. Knowing your father, as you did, would he have been happy with what is going on now or mixed emotions? ROGER MARIS, JR.: I think he would be very happy for what is taking place for the game of baseball and the way America is responding to the whole thing. From that perspective I would think he would be happy. I think he would be happy for Mark getting the welcome he is getting towards his march towards record breaking 61. It has been a good year for Mark and Sosa and even Griffey in the beginning. I think he would be happy for these guys that they are getting to go through this the way I am sure he wished he would have got to go through it. Q. Has this been good for your father's memory? ROGER MARIS, JR.: I think so. You know, when he hit 61, he went through some tough times there and I don't think he really ever got the due respect that he deserved. And with the memory of Roger Maris, I think this year has really brought out a lot of things. I think all the writers and media has been very good to him this year and support him and brought out a lot of good things about him while he was playing baseball other than 61. Q. Did you think that ball he hit today was out and when it wasn't, how did you feel? ROGER MARIS, JR.: Actually I had a reporter sitting next to me when he swung, so I really didn't see it. He hit it and everyone went rah, rah and I looked up, I was like where is it. Then I saw it kind of pealing off in the left field corner over there. I knew it was fat, he hit it there. How did I feel? I really didn't get a chance to feel anything because it happened so quick. I didn't get to see it. I am not looking to see Mark hit home runs, although, you know, I would be very happy if he does for him, but I am not sitting there pulling for him to hit the home runs. But I am enjoying everything he is doing and what he has done has been fantastic. Q. When your father told you he hit 61, there were hard times, but did he remember it fondly when he was talking to his boys? ROGER MARIS, JR.: I think he remembered it fondly. That was a tough season for him. I think when it all �� when the season was over, it was a big sigh of relief for him. I think he felt good that that was behind him and I don't think those were fond memories at all for him. Although I think he is happy that he did hit the 61, obviously, and that meant a lot to him to hit the 61, but just the media attention, the way everything got turned and misconstrued, I think that was tough on him and understandably so. RANDY MARIS: I think the fact if he would have had a stage like this to handle all the questions, instead of having him sit at his locker and answer questions before �� two hours before games and after games, just questions over and over, I think it would have been a lot easier for him. That was probably the toughest part. Q. Any feelings on the fact that your father finished his career with the Cardinals and it may now be a Cardinal breaking the record? ROGER MARIS, JR.: It is kind of funny because the last time I was personally in St. Louis was when they gave my father a farewell in 68. To think I would be on the same field congratulating Mark hitting his 62nd home run is really special. I know dad enjoyed the people of St. Louis and the way the fans looked at the game and treated the game of baseball, from that perspective, I think it is kind of special. Q. Have you spent much time with Mark? ROGER MARIS, JR.: I have not spent any time with Mark. My two brothers have spent time with him. They met him in Atlanta and my nephew, Steven, met him in Atlanta. Q. How do you think baseball has changed since the era when your father hit 61? ROGER MARIS, JR.: I think the guys are bigger and stronger. I think the teams have more of a unity and a family; it is like a big happy family. Back when dad played, they looked at opposing teams, they looked at each other with a fierce competition. I remember when dad hit his 61st � I obviously don't remember that � but watching the tapes, I remember watching that and when he hit his 61st and rounded the bases, you know, the first base man didn't give him a handshake, second base, third baseman, shortstop, catcher, didn't do anything, just ran on by. Today when Mark gets his, I think �� I think the guy, first, second � I think everyone on the field will pretty much embrace him and be proud for what he did and kind of welcome him into his home run championship on a positive note. Q. How is your mom and are you guys all prepared to stay here through 62? ROGER MARIS, JR.: Mom is doing fine. She had some complications with her heart this morning and on the flight in, she got diagnosed by a doctor. The doctor said that she is going to be getting �� they are going to be giving her some medications. I think she will be fine from that perspective. We'd like to be around for 62, no doubt about it. But Mark gave us so much time to sit around and wait for 62, that it is kind of hard to do that. I don't know if we can just sit around for three weeks or wait for Mark to do what he is going to do. If he was doing it the way he was supposed maybe got it down to the last couple games of the season, but he had to just take advantage of the season and hit so many so early so I don't know if we can kind of just travel around for three weeks and wait for Mark to do what he has to do. Q. Talk about the tension of the last couple of days and the fact that Mark is not fighting the calendar. ROGER MARIS, JR.: He is not going to fight it, but that is due to Mark having such an outstanding season �� Q. How did your father retell about the last couple of days of the season? ROGER MARIS, JR.: After he hit his 60th he took a day off and kind of got away from all the pressure and the me why and everything else and came back and hit his 61st so, I mean it was a tough time for him and he was under a lot of pressure and a lot of stress, and I think those were trying times for him, but finally when he hit that 61, I think that took a big lift off his shoulders. Q. Are you rooting just for Mark or does it matter to you whether it's Mark or Sammy? ROGER MARIS, JR.: From the get�go they talked to us in spring training about Griffey and McGwire. I have lots of respect for both those guys. Then Sosa came on hit his 20th. Well, that is awesome, and Sammy Sosa is the kind of guy you can't help but like also. But three guys were pretty much guys you couldn't not like and not wish well. The way I look at it now, though, Mark is sitting there on 60 � and this is my personal opinion, but Mark is sitting there on 60, and you know, he has been in the 50s the last two years, his home run ratio to at�bats is phenomenal. He is really the home�run hitter of our era, and I think it will be a major disappointment for him to be stuck on 60 and not be the guy to break the record. So I am pulling for Mark in that regard. That doesn't mean negative towards Sammy Sosa because, like I say, I like him as a ballplayer and person. He is a great guy. My personal opinion I am pulling for Mark to try to do it for what he has done for baseball and what he has done in the last two years and this year also. Q. Did you get a chance to watch the Cubs game at all today and how strange would it have been to be here and see him hit a couple more home runs? ROGER MARIS, JR.: Yeah, that would be called being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think the commissioner would have screwed up if he had us in the wrong place. But it would have been weird and I mean, I would hate to be here and Sammy do it over there because I would definitely like to see it in person and see how it all transpires, so, that would be strange. Q. Is your family hopeful that with all the talk of your father, he might get in the Hall of Fame? ROGER MARIS, JR.: We have been hopeful all along. I think with the wave of energy that has been pushed behind him and his name this year, I think if he doesn't get in the Hall of Fame this year after all the attention drawn to his name and what he did, then he is just not meant to be in the Hall of Fame the way I look at it. Q. As you are sitting here today and seeing the outpouring of affection for Mark, is there a part of you that feels badly for what happened to your father? ROGER MARIS, JR.: No doubt if you are Roger Maris Jr. you are going to wish that your dad could have got what Mark McGwire and the rest of these guys are getting and that is the energy and the love the people are throwing at him; not just in baseball, in America. Everyone knows who Mark McGwire is. Everyone is pulling for Mark McGwire and they want to see him do this and I think that would be just an outstanding feeling for my father. And, yeah, I wished that would have happened for him. Q. Where are you all from? ROGER MARIS, JR.: Gainsville, Florida. Q. What do you each do for a living? ROGER MARIS, JR.: We had an an Anheiser�Busch distributorship in Gainsville, Florida that we had run for 30 years, and we were wrongfully terminated by Anheiser�Busch in March 20th of 1997. So we have been in litigation with Anheiser�Busch trying to get our beer distributorship back. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|