Maris’ Sons Root for McGwire

Roger Maris still stands alone.

That was about the only good news for his four sons on a rough Sunday.

They had flown from their Gainesville, Fla., home to St. Louis to watch the Cardinals’ Mark McGwire attempt to hit the home run that would tie their late father’s single-season mark of 61.

But en route, their mother, Patricia, had an irregular heartbeat. Upon arrival in St. Louis, she was hospitalized, but later listed in satisfactory and stable condition.

The sons then came out to Busch Stadium, named for the family whose company the Maris family is tied up with in litigation over the loss of the Maris beer distributorship in Gainesville.

In the late 1960s, August Busch, then the owner of the Cardinals, gave Roger Maris, who died of cancer in 1985, the distributorship as part of Maris’ agreement to play for the Cardinals. The Maris family has held that distributorship for three decades with all four sons--Roger Jr. (age 39), Kevin (38), Randy (37) and Rich (34)--involved in the operation.

Anheuser-Busch, which is no longer connected with either the stadium or the team, took back the distributorship last year, refusing to accept the Maris’ claim to it. Fighting to save their major source of income, the family hopes to have the issue heard in court in February.

And despite those serious matters, the four sons found themselves in front-row seats Sunday to see if McGwire could equal or surpass the cherished mark that is proudly chiseled on their father’s tombstone.

Yet they were all smiles, both in their seats and in a postgame press conference, saying they are rooting for McGwire.

“I can’t wait for him to break the record,” Kevin said. “It doesn’t diminish what my dad did. I think it will shed new light on it.”

The Maris family hopes that that light will cause Hall of Fame voters to see the light and finally enshrine their father.

“We have been hopeful all along,” Roger Jr. said. “I think that, with the wave of energy that has been pushed behind him and his name this year, if he doesn’t get in the Hall of Fame, then he is just not meant to be there.”

They also wish their father, who encountered hostility from many corners when he replaced Babe Ruth atop the home run list, could have gotten some support when he was setting the record.

“No doubt if you are Roger Maris Jr., you are going to wish that your dad could have gotten what Mark McGwire and the rest of these guys are getting,” Roger Jr. said, “and that is the energy and the love the people are throwing at him, not just in baseball, but in America.”

But while all four are disappointed that their father did not get that kind of love, they say they would be disappointed if McGwire does not pass him.

“Mark is really the home run hitter of our era,” Roger Jr. said. “It would be a major disappointment for him to be stuck on 60 and not be the guy to break the record.”