Associated Press

Fans of Roger Maris were quick to respond to my column Sunday, in which I wrote that his 61 home runs looked better than ever after a half century.

Some fans disagreed with my saying Maris does not quite reach the standards of the Baseball Hall of Fame because of his modest batting average (.260), total home runs (275) and seasons (12), and my belief that only a few of his seasons were Hall of Fame level.

The most beautiful comment in my e-mail came from Altenir Silva, a baseball-savvy writer in Rio de Janeiro. Silva wrote:

“Comets are fast! Roger Maris in the same way that the actor James Dean went fast around here. Who needs time?”

How sweet. Many other fans wrote that just breaking Babe Ruth’s single-season record of 60 (in a season eight games longer than the Babe’s) – under intense pressure — was enough to qualify Maris for the Hall. Others were glad I mentioned that Maris led the 1960s with World Series appearances – seven, including four championships – and that he was the most valuable player in 1960 and 1961.

My Man Taxerman, a faithful Yankees fan, also reinforced my observation that Maris was a superb right fielder. He recalled Maris’s play in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 1962 World Series, when he cut off a double by Willie Mays on the squishy turn in right field, holding Matty Alou at third base with the tying run, just before Willie McCovey lined out to Bobby Richardson to end the Series.

“The defensive play of the Series,” recalls Ralph Terry, the winning pitcher, in the excellent new biography, “Roger Maris, Baseball’s Reluctant Hero,” by Tom Clavin and Danny Peary.

Still other readers say that Maris’s relatively short career should not be held against him. They cite the 12 seasons (six mediocre, six increasingly brilliant) by Sandy Koufax and the injury-shortened career of Dizzy Dean (nine full seasons and only one game in each of three others.)

The underlying current, of course, is the apparent involvement of latter-day sluggers with body-building steroids, which were not used in the day of Henry Aaron, Maris and Ruth. With all due respect, I still think Maris’s career falls short of Hall of Fame standards, but I am impressed by the knowledgeable fans who believe Maris belongs.

What do you think?