We didn't have access to New York Yankees games in the sixties, but we followed them via newspapers, magazines and the nightly news cast. The most important baseball feat of my youth was achieved on the final day of the season in 1961. On a sunny day, the first of October, a scrawny but strong right fielder named Roger Maris took the third pitch from Bosox rightie Tracy Stallard (I had his baseball card), and deposited the pitch into the short right field stands where a young fellow named Sal Durante retrieved the ball and was paid $5000 for it by some fan who gave it back to Roger. Over the years, I've seen the home run, in the original black and white and am still amazed how Maris hit that home run. He received the usual death threats, harassing fans and reporters and suffered maladies related to stress, but he still did, albeit in 162 games rather than Babe Ruth's 154 games.
