December 11, 1959. The Yankees traded Don Larsen -- the only man to throw a perfect game in World Series history -- along with Hank Bauer, Norm Siebern, and Marv Throneberry to the Kansas City Athletics in exchange for Roger Maris, Joe DeMaestri, and Kent Hadley. The baseball world barely noticed. A 25-year-old outfielder from Fargo, North Dakota, who'd hit 16 home runs for a bad team in Kansas City, didn't exactly set the newswires on fire. Within two years, he'd break Babe Ruth's single-season home run record, win back-to-back AL MVP awards, and become the most polarizing player in the New York Yankees' lineup. The front office knew what they had. Nobody else did.
The Kansas City Pipeline
The Maris deal didn't happen in a vacuum. Throughout the 1950s, the Yankees and Athletics conducted a steady stream of trades that tilted so heavily toward New York that the arrangement drew open suspicion around the league. Kansas City functioned as something close to an unofficial Yankees farm club -- sending young talent to the Bronx in exchange for aging veterans and spare parts. The Maris trade was the crown jewel of the pipeline, and it followed the same formula: four players heading to KC (including a 30-year-old Larsen whose perfect game was three years in the rearview), three coming back with the one who mattered being a kid most people hadn't heard of.
had bounced around before landing in the Bronx. He came up with Cleveland in 1957, got traded to Kansas City in June 1958, and spent a season and a half there before the Yankees came calling. He was a left-handed pull hitter with a compact swing, a strong arm in right field, and no interest whatsoever in being a celebrity. That last part would matter a great deal once New York got hold of him.
The Trade Package
| Trade Date | December 11, 1959 |
| To Yankees | Roger Maris, Joe DeMaestri, Kent Hadley |
| To Kansas City | Don Larsen, Hank Bauer, Norm Siebern, Marv Throneberry |
| Maris's 1959 Stats (KC) | 16 HR, .273 AVG |
| Maris's Age | 25 |
| Context | Yankees coming off 1959 third-place finish |
The players going the other direction had varying fates. Larsen never recaptured anything close to his October 1956 magic. Bauer became a player-manager in Kansas City and finished his career there. Siebern put up solid years with the Athletics. And Throneberry -- Marvelous Marv -- became a beloved figure on the expansion Mets, where his comically bad fielding made him a fan favorite in a way his hitting never could. The Yankees gave up nostalgia and depth. They got back the future.
Immediate Impact
The 1959 third-place finish had stung the organization badly enough to prompt the trade, and Maris justified the move from his first at-bat in pinstripes. Slotting into the lineup alongside , he gave Casey Stengel the kind of right-left power combination that wrecked pitching staffs. Mantle hit 40 home runs. Maris hit 39 with 112 RBI. The Yankees went 97-57 and won the pennant by eight games over Baltimore.
Maris won the 1960 AL MVP award -- in his first season as a Yankee. The voters looked at a team that had jumped from third place to the pennant and saw Maris as the difference-maker. Mantle had his backers (he always did), but the award went to the new guy who'd transformed the lineup's shape. It wouldn't be the last time the Mantle-versus-Maris debate consumed the New York sports pages.
The Man Behind the Numbers
Maris was from Fargo. He was quiet, direct, uncomfortable with reporters, and allergic to the spotlight. He gave short answers because he didn't see the point of long ones. In any other city, this would've been fine -- a ballplayer who let his bat do the talking. In New York, it was a problem. The press wanted personality, and Maris gave them box scores. The friction that defined his -- the hair falling out, the hostile questions, the exhausting public scrutiny -- was already taking root in 1960, even before anyone imagined he'd threaten Ruth's record.
He and Mantle became genuine friends. They roomed together on road trips in 1961 (along with Bob Cerv in a shared apartment in Queens), and Mantle's public support during the home run chase was one of the more gracious chapters in franchise history. The two of them weren't rivals, whatever the tabloids wanted people to believe. They were teammates who liked each other and happened to be two of the best hitters alive at the same time.
What It Set in Motion
The to Pittsburgh and overshadowed what Maris had done in his first Bronx season. But the trade's real significance played out over the next two years. In 1961, Maris hit 61 home runs and broke the most famous record in baseball. In 1962, he helped the Yankees win another championship. The December deal that shipped a perfect-game pitcher to Kansas City for a quiet kid from North Dakota turned out to be one of the most lopsided trades of the decade -- and the trade that made the M&M Boys possible.
A 25-year-old outfielder with 16 home runs and no appetite for fame. That's what arrived in the Bronx on December 11, 1959. What left was something else entirely.
Maris Traded to Kansas City
Cleveland trades Roger Maris to the Kansas City Athletics, where he'll spend a season and a half before the Yankees come calling.
The Trade
Yankees acquire Maris, Joe DeMaestri, and Kent Hadley from Kansas City for Don Larsen, Hank Bauer, Norm Siebern, and Marv Throneberry.
Immediate Stardom
Maris hits 39 home runs with 112 RBI in his first season as a Yankee and wins the AL MVP award.
First World Series as a Yankee
Maris plays in the 1960 World Series against Pittsburgh. The Yankees lose in seven games on Mazeroski's walk-off homer.
61 in '61
Maris hits his 61st home run off Tracy Stallard of the Red Sox, breaking Babe Ruth's single-season record.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did Roger Maris become a Yankee?
Maris was traded from the Kansas City Athletics to the Yankees on December 11, 1959, in a seven-player deal. The Yankees sent Don Larsen (who'd thrown the only World Series perfect game), Hank Bauer, Norm Siebern, and Marv Throneberry to Kansas City in exchange for Maris, Joe DeMaestri, and Kent Hadley.
What were Roger Maris's stats in his first year with the Yankees?
In 1960, Maris hit 39 home runs with 112 RBI and won the American League MVP award. He helped the Yankees rebound from a third-place finish in 1959 to a 97-57 record and the AL pennant, forming a devastating lineup tandem with Mickey Mantle.
Who did the Yankees trade for Roger Maris?
Don Larsen (the perfect-game pitcher), Hank Bauer (a veteran outfielder), Norm Siebern, and Marv Throneberry -- all sent to the Kansas City Athletics on December 11, 1959. The trade was part of a well-documented pattern of deals between the Yankees and Athletics in the 1950s that heavily favored New York.
Did Roger Maris play in the 1960 World Series?
Yes. Maris played in his first World Series as a Yankee in 1960, but the team lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates in seven games on Bill Mazeroski's walk-off home run. Despite the loss, Maris's first season in pinstripes -- 39 HR, 112 RBI, AL MVP -- established him as one of the premier hitters in baseball.