61*

Infobox_Film
name =61*


imagesize =200px
writer =Hank Steinberg
starring =Thomas Jane
Barry Pepper
director =Billy Crystal
producer =Robert F. Colesberry
music =Marc Shaiman
distributor =HBO Films
released =April 28, 2001
runtime =129 Minutes
language =English
budget =
imdb_id =0250934

"61*" is an American baseball movie, made for HBO, directed by Billy Crystal and written by Hank Steinberg. The film was first released on April 28, 2001.

Plot

The biographical film follows the quest during the 1961 season of New York Yankees sluggers Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris to break Babe Ruth's single-season home run record of 60 set in 1927. The story begins on opening day when Maris (played by Barry Pepper), is presented with the Most Valuable Player award for the 1960 baseball season. Mantle (Thomas Jane) is the team's superstar.

As the season begins, Mantle starts off hot, Maris not. Roger thinks he might be traded, but new manager Ralph Houk (Bruce McGill) decides to have Mantle and Maris switch places in the Yankees' batting order to see if it helps. It does and Maris begins to hit home runs at a record pace. Mickey keeps pace and it becomes clear both "M & M Boys" are going to make a run at the Babe's record.

Mickey's life off the field is taking a toll. He drinks, enjoys the Manhattan nightlife and comes to park hungover. More than once, pitcher Whitey Ford (Anthony Michael Hall) has to bail him out or sober him up. Maris and teammate/roommate Bob Cerv invite Mantle to move in with them at a modest house in Queens to stay out of trouble. New York's fans and media are pulling for the popular and personable Mickey. Roger is viewed as more of an outsider, unworthy and aloof.

As they get closer to the record, baseball's commissioner Ford Frick, who also happened to be Babe Ruth's admirer and ghostwriter, makes a decision. Unless the record is broken in 154 games (the same number Ruth played in 1927), the new mark would go into the record books with an asterisk by it, or a "distinctive mark" as Frick puts it, because baseball's season is now 162 games long.

It appears Mantle is not going to make it. His health deteriorates and he plays in pain. The relationship is taking a toll on Maris, too. Pressure is mounting and Maris feels antagonism from all sides. Roger is not accustomed to the kind of attention that Mickey gets every day. Mickey is more easy-going and knows how to handle the press. The fans heckle Maris, even throw objects at him on the field, and send messages to him about being homosexual. The press dissect or distort everything he does and says. Maris is getting hate mail and even death threats. His wife (Jennifer Crystal) lives far from New York, usually available only by phone. The stress is so great that Roger's hair begins to fall out in clumps.

Chronic injury and alcohol abuse catch up with Mickey, and an ill-advised shot by a doctor lands him in a hospital bed. Now the record is all Roger's to get. He comes up just shy in the 154th game of the season, but he does finally hit the record-breaking 61st home run -- No. 61* -- on the last day of the season. (Although fan interest on his behalf is so low that the ballpark is barely half full.)

The film flashes ahead 37 years to Maris' record being surpassed by Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals, before a crowd that includes Maris' children. His widow, Pat (played by Patricia Crowley) was hospitalized before the game due to complications from arrhythmia. She is shown watching the game on television from a hospital bed.

According to a voiceover during the end credits, no asterisk ever officially was placed next to Roger's feat, due to separate records being created for the 154 and 162 game seasons. It is revealed that in 1991, six years after Maris' death, baseball's then-commissioner, Fay Vincent, decided that a season is a season, and therefore separate records would no longer be kept.

Cast

*Barry Pepper - Roger Maris
*Thomas Jane - Mickey Mantle
*Anthony Michael Hall - Whitey Ford
*Richard Masur - Milt Kahn
*Bruce McGill - Ralph Houk
*Chris Bauer - Bob Cerv
*Jennifer Crystal - Pat Maris (1961) (as Jennifer Crystal Foley)
*Christopher McDonald - Mel Allen
*Bob Gunton - Dan Topping
*Donald Moffat - Ford Frick
*Joe Grifasi - Phil Rizzuto
*Peter Jacobson - Artie Green
*Seymour Cassel - Sam Simon
*Robert Joy - Bob Fishel
*Michael Nouri - Joe DiMaggio
*Tom Candiotti - Hoyt Wilhelm
*Patricia Crowley - Pat Maris (1998)
*Jackson Moreland - Man in Crowd

Filming locations

Most of the Yankee Stadium scenes were actually filmed at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan.

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0250934|title=61*
* [http://www.baseballmovie.com/61-baseball.asp "61*"] at the Baseball Movie Guide