Themes: Baseball Players, Members of the Press, Faltering Friendships
Main Cast: Barry Pepper, Thomas Jane, Anthony Michael Hall, Richard Masur, Bruce McGill
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 130 minutes
Plot
Noted baseball fan Billy Crystal directed this made-for-cable drama set in the summer of 1961, as two of the strongest hitters in the major leagues, Mickey Mantle (Thomas Jane) and Roger Maris (Barry Pepper), find themselves neck and neck in a battle to break Babe Ruth's long-standing record for most home runs in a season. Both men were playing for the New York Yankees at the time, and as the two men came within grasping distance of Ruth's record, their loyalty as friends and teammates was put to the ultimate test. 61 also features Richard Masur, Bruce McGill, Anthony Michael Hall, and Renee Taylor; the scenes set in Yankee Stadium were filmed at Michigan's Tiger Stadium, shortly after the Detroit Tigers shuttered the venerable playing field and relocated to a newer facility. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Billy Crystal's 61* stands alongside Bang the Drum Slowly and Bull Durham as one of the few films that understands the day-to-day life of baseball players. The fully realized performances by Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane make this film compelling for people with no interest in baseball. They, along with screenwriter Hank Steinberg, do a marvelous job of presenting two very complex, very male personalities. Maris is an outwardly stoic average guy who approaches the game with unsmiling intensity; baseball is a job to him. This does not make him a popular man with the press or the fans, particularly when compared to the loudmouthed party boy Mickey Mantle. In their private lives, Maris is a happy, down-to-earth husband and father with a quick smile for his family, while Mantle is miserable. Assuming he will die young because his father and uncles did, Mickey lives hard and fast. His destructive behavior fuels a self-fulfilling prophecy. The two opposites bring out the best in each other, both on and off the field. Maris forces Mantle to take better care of himself, and Mantle becomes the only person Maris can turn to when the pressure of chasing Babe Ruth's record begins to damage his health, friendships, and marriage. Pepper invests Maris with a quiet dignity and a Midwestern attitude that makes him neither a foolish innocent, nor a scowling kill-joy (two stereotypes the character could have easily become). Jane makes Mantle charming and likable, but presents his inner pain in subtle, quietly powerful moments. Although the film loses narrative drive in its second half, the characters remain compelling throughout. Although it could have easily turned into a piece of mawkish sentimentality, 61*, thanks to strong writing, respectful direction, and outstanding performances, is an engaging character study with a firm sense of place and time. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Mali Finn - Casting, Billy Crystal - Director, Michael Jablow - Editor, Billy Crystal - Executive Producer, Marc Shaiman - Composer (Music Score), Rusty Smith - Production Designer, Haskell Wexler - Cinematographer, Robert F. Colesberry - Producer, Roger Reid - Post Production Supervisor
As the season begins, Mantle starts off hot, Maris not. Roger thinks he might be traded, but new manager Ralph Houk 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 the ballpark hungover. More than once, pitcher Whitey Ford 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 commissionerFord 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. 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. The Yankees owner also tries to favor Mantle by asking Houk to switch Mantle and Maris in the batting order. Houk refuses, saying the lineup he has is winning for him, even remarking sharply, "The right guy is going to break that stupid record!"
Chronic injury and alcohol abuse catch up with Mickey, and an ill-advised shot by a doctor infects his hip and 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 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 (by long-time Yankee Stadium public address announcer Bob Sheppard), during the end credits, no asterisk was ever officially 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.
Most of the baseball action scenes, including those set at Yankee Stadium, were actually filmed at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan. A combination of strategic photographing and post-production effects were used to enhance the illusion of the "classic" layout of Yankee Stadium.
