61* Movie Review

61* (2001)

Watch 61* on Amazon Video with HBO
Written by: Hank Steinberg
Directed by: Billy Crystal
Starring:  Barry Pepper, Thomas Jane, Anthony Michael Hall, Chris Bauer, Domenick Lombardozzi
Rated:TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle race to break Babe Ruth's single-season home run record.

Verdict
There are few records in baseball more hallowed than Ruth's sixty home runs. In the summer of '61 Yankees legends Mantle and Maris were poised to eclipse that mark. This is a great look at the stress of breaking supposedly insurmountable records and the scrutiny that comes from the media.
The baseball is well done with more than a few breathtaking images. This depicts the history and the personal struggles behind the headlines.
Watch it.

Review
Mantle was one of the greats, a prodigy. Maris was a power hitter from the Kansas City Athletics that had just won the MVP for the Yankees the previous year. The fans adored Mantle, but as Maris bemoaned, the fans only had room for one. Maris wasn't as adept with the press as Mantle, he misspoke on numerous occasions and the New York press can be vicious, especially for an outsider.

Barry Pepper as Roger Maris.

The press fueled the fans and Maris had to deal with the stress of being heckled and threatened. He just wanted to play ball. Mantle was made for the spotlight, Maris wasn't. They lived very different lives, but Maris managed to slow Mantles's fast life down, at least for part of this season as they were dubbed the M&M Boys.

Directed by Billy Crystal, it shows a surprising love of baseball compared to other 'baseball' movies, though Crystal is a devout Yankees fan. Some of the CGI looks a bit rough, but it's not a huge distraction. This truly is a baseball movie that shows off the game. Crystal also didn't hold back in depicting Mantle as a womanizer that partied hard.

Fandom can get negative. Yankee fans wanted Mantle the homegrown talent to win. Mantle fit in with New York. Maris was just in his second year as a Yankee. The fans wanted Mantle, and their fervor for their favorite caused a negative reaction towards Maris.

 

The commissioner of baseball has to decide how to handle the situation if Ruth's record is broken. He doesn't want Ruth out of the record books. Plus, in Ruth's day the season was eight games shorter. As it's pointed out, Ruth had more home runs than entire teams combined. While Maris's record would be impressive it's not as dominant as what the Babe did.
Despite the stress Maris did what he set out to do, just play ball. He eclipsed the mark with the number forever anointed with an asterisk.
Mark McGwire eclipsed that mark with seventy in 1998, part of the home run chase with Sammy Sosa that brought fans back to baseball.
Just three years later Barry Bonds hit seventy-three. Bonds' record has its own asterisk as he was illegally using steroids during the time. While McGwire used steroids, they weren't yet banned the year he used them.