I disagree with Allen Barra's "The Case Against Roger Maris*" (Leisure & Arts, May 25.) Maris was a good and decent man who held the premier record in baseball for decades, suffered unjustified abuse from a bigoted fourth estate, won the MVP award twice, contributed to world-champion teams in New York and St. Louis, and died too young. And he's not in the Hall of Fame. So why the attack?
It's not like entry into the Hall of Fame is a seat in a lifeboat from the Titanic, and if Maris gets a seat someone else drowns. Lots of players are in the hall for reasons apart from batting .320 over 15 seasons.
Mr. Barra's column is unnecessary. Oppose world hunger, or racism or morbid obesity in suburbia. Maris got enough hostility in life.
Timothy J. Wilson
St. Louis
I must disagree with Bob Costas's view that Roger Maris represents a "rare special case" and should be inducted into the hall. Men such as Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, who were forced to spend part or all of their careers in the Negro Leagues, are "special cases." So are players who sacrificed playing years to serve their country during war. Mr. Maris has more right to be called the single-season home-run king than any of the steroid-tainted players who surpassed his total of 61 round-trippers. His shining season of 1961 deserves special recognition and a place in Cooperstown as one of the most tremendous achievements by a player. But enshrinement embodies the whole of a player's career, and I am afraid that the numbers simply do not stack up.
Steve Klouda
Sugar Grove, Ill.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 