SABR: Strasberg’s Quest: Deliver 50 Talks on Roger Maris This Year

Bah! I once delivered 2 pizza pies to Elliott Maddox’s house.

Strasberg grew up in the Bronx and, unlike many fans his age, idolized Maris — the polar opposite of his beloved teammate Mickey Mantle. As a teenager, Strasberg struck up a friendship at the ballpark with the reluctant superstar, passing notes to Maris in the parking lot and chatting with him before games. Maris once promised him a broken bat and delivered it after returning from a road trip to Anaheim; Strasberg still treasures the prized possession.

After Maris was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, Strasberg — by that time a student at the University of Akron in Ohio — drove to Forbes Field to introduce his college buddies to his major league friend. They didn’t believe him until Maris spotted him in the stands and yelled, “Andy Strasberg, what the hell are you doing in Pittsburgh?”

That day — May 9, 1967 — was a memorable one for them both.

In the sixth inning, Maris hit his first National League home run off the Pirates’ Woodie Fryman. Astonishingly, Strasberg caught the ball in the right-field stands.