Maris Signs 1965 Yankee Contract, Back at $70,000

Feb. 8, 1965 - Roger Maris, 30 years old and about to begin his sixth season as a Yankee outfielder, has won back, through good manners and good baseball, the salary cut he had to take last year.

The restoration, by which Maris’s pay is now estimated at $72,000, was explained today by Ralph Houk, general manager of the Yankees, simultaneously with the announcement that Roger had signed his 1965 contract.

“Roger made tremendous strides last year,” Houk said. “He learned to get along better with the press and public, and so I rewarded him. The pay cut he took the year before was restored.”

Houk cited Maris, the player, and Maris, the social charmer.

“He is a fine ballplayer,” Houk said. “He has unseen qualities as an outfielder. And he is a dangerous hitter in our ballpark.”

It was back in 1961 when Maris shot into the limelight by hitting 61 home runs, which either erased Babe Ruth’s record or, if one believes in asterisks, gave Roger parity with the Babe.

But by 1963, Maris’s peevish ways had him in trouble, and Yankee fans were booing him. To achieve more cooperation and serenity from Maris, Houk cut his salary about $7,000 for 1964.

Last season, Maris’s average went up from .269 to .281, and the number of games he played from 90 to 141. 

Maris was the only player Houk had cut in salary during his two years as general manager.

“I don’t believe in cutting players,” he said, “unless it’s a special situation.”

On the telephone from his home in Independence, Mo., Maris confirmed that the contract represented his top earning as a Yankee. 

He said he weighed 210 pounds, five above playing weight; that he had played a lot of golf until the weather turned poor, but had done little else, and that, with his large family, he would be at Ford Lauderdale for spring training late this month.

There are five children in the Maris family, with the sixth expected in June.

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