View source for 61*

{{short description|2001 television film by Billy Crystal}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2014}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox television
|  image          = 61 poster.JPG
|  caption        = Promotional poster
|  genre          = {{Plainlist|
* [[Biographical drama]]
* [[Sports drama]]
}}
|  director       = [[Billy Crystal]]
|  writer         = [[Hank Steinberg]]
|  starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Thomas Jane]]
* [[Barry Pepper]]
}}
|  music          = [[Marc Shaiman]]
|  country        = United States
|  language       = English
|  executive_producer = {{Plainlist|
* Billy Crystal
* [[Ross Greenburg]]
}}
|  producer       = [[Robert F. Colesberry]]
|  cinematography = [[Haskell Wexler]]
|  editor         = Michael Jablow
|  company        = {{Plainlist|
* [[HBO Films]]
* Face Productions
}}
|  network        = [[HBO]]
|  released       = {{Start date|2001|04|28}}
|  runtime        = 129 minutes

|  budget         =
}}
'''''61*''''' is a 2001 American [[sports film|sports]] [[Drama (film and television)|drama]] [[television film]] directed and co-executive produced by [[Billy Crystal]] and written by [[Hank Steinberg]]. It stars [[Barry Pepper]] as [[Roger Maris]] and [[Thomas Jane]] as [[Mickey Mantle]] on their quest to break [[Babe Ruth]]'s [[1927 Major League Baseball season|1927]] [[Major League Baseball single-season home run record|single-season home run record]] of 60 during the [[1961 Major League Baseball season|1961 season]] of the [[1961 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]]. The film first aired on [[HBO]] on April 28, 2001.

==Plot==
In 1998, the family of the late [[Roger Maris]] goes to [[Busch Memorial Stadium|Busch Stadium]] to witness [[Mark McGwire]] of the [[1998 St. Louis Cardinals season|St. Louis Cardinals]] [[1998 Major League Baseball home run record chase|break their father's record]] with a 62nd home run. Maris' widow, Pat, is hospitalized due to complications from [[arrhythmia]] and watches the game on television from a hospital bed.

Decades earlier in 1961, Maris is presented with the [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|Most Valuable Player]] award for the [[1960 Major League Baseball season|1960 baseball season]], but [[Mickey Mantle]] remains the [[New York Yankees]]' superstar. Mantle starts off hot while Maris struggles. Maris suspects he may be traded, but new manager [[Ralph Houk]] has 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. Mantle keeps pace and it becomes clear that both "[[M&M Boys]]" will make a run at [[Babe Ruth]]'s record of 60 homers in one season.

Mickey's life off the field is taking a toll on his playing. He drinks, enjoys the Manhattan nightlife and arrives at the ballpark hung over. More than once, pitcher [[Whitey Ford]] has to bail him out or sober him up. To keep Mantle out of trouble, Maris and teammate/roommate [[Bob Cerv]] invite him to move in with them in a modest home in Queens, with one condition: no women.

New York's fans and media pull for the popular and personable Mantle, a long-time Yankee. The quieter Maris is viewed as an outsider, aloof and unworthy. As the two men close in on the record, [[Commissioner of Baseball (MLB)|MLB Commissioner]] [[Ford Frick]], who was Babe Ruth's ghostwriter, makes a decision: unless the record is broken in 154 games, as Ruth did in 1927, the new mark would be listed separately indicating it had been done in baseball's newly expanded 162-game season.

It appears Mantle is not going to make it; his health deteriorates and he plays in constant pain. Maris, meanwhile, is unaccustomed to such a high level of public scrutiny and is uncomfortable interacting with the media, who dissect and distort everything he says or does. The fans heckle Maris and even throw objects at him on the field. Soon he begins receiving hate mail and death threats. His wife lives far from New York, usually available only by phone. The stress becomes so intense that Maris' 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, but Houk refuses, because the redesigned lineup has been winning a higher percentage of games.

Chronic injury and alcohol abuse catch up with Mantle, and an ill-advised injection by a doctor infects his hip and lands him in a hospital bed. With Mantle gone from the lineup, the stage becomes set for Maris. He fails to break the record in the 154th game of the season, but he does finally hit his 61st home run during the final game of the season.

==Cast==
<!--- [[MOS:FILMCAST]] [[WP:NOTDATABASE]] - cast and order per Main Cast closing tombstone stand-alone credits, roles per closing credits scroll --->
{{Cast listing|
*[[Barry Pepper]] as [[Roger Maris]]
*[[Thomas Jane]] as [[Mickey Mantle]]
*[[Richard Masur]] as Milt Kahn
*[[Bobby Hosea]]   as [[Elston Howard]]
*[[Bruce McGill]] as [[Ralph Houk]]
*[[Chris Bauer]] as [[Bob Cerv]]
*[[Christopher McDonald]] as [[Mel Allen]]
*[[Jennifer Crystal Foley]] as Pat Maris ('61)
*[[Bob Gunton]] as [[Dan Topping]]
*[[Donald Moffat]] as [[Ford Frick]]
*[[Joe Grifasi]] as [[Phil Rizzuto]]
*[[Peter Jacobson]] as Artie Green
*[[Robert Joy]] as Bob Ficshel
*[[Michael Nouri]] as [[Joe DiMaggio]]
*[[Seymour Cassel]] as Sam Simon
*[[Anthony Michael Hall]] as [[Whitey Ford]]
*[[Renée Taylor]] as [[Claire Merritt Ruth|Claire Ruth]]<!--- as credited --->
*[[Patricia Crowley]] as Pat Maris ('98)
*[[Domenick Lombardozzi]] as [[Bill Skowron|Moose Skowron]]<!--- as credited --->
}}

==Filming locations==
Most of the baseball action scenes, including those set at [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]], were actually filmed at [[Tiger Stadium (Detroit)|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. Tiger Stadium was credited as "playing" Yankee Stadium in the closing credits. Tiger Stadium also "played itself" as the home of the Tigers when the Yankees played them in Detroit.

The shots depicting [[Fenway Park]] and [[Memorial Stadium (Baltimore)|Baltimore's Memorial Stadium]] were shot at the [[Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum]].

==Critical reception==
{{RT data|prose||ref=yes}}

At the [[59th Golden Globe Awards]], actor Barry Pepper was nominated for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film| Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film]].<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Brian |last=Hiatt |title=''A Beautiful Mind'' tops Golden Globe nominees |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=2001-12-28 |url=https://ew.com/article/2001/12/28/beautiful-mind-tops-golden-globe-nominees/ |access-date=2025-02-17}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Baseball|Film|United States}}
* [[List of baseball films]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title}}

{{Billy Crystal}}
{{New York Yankees}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:61}}
[[Category:2001 television films]]
[[Category:2001 films]]
[[Category:2001 biographical drama films]]
[[Category:2001 in American television]]
[[Category:2000s American films]]
[[Category:2000s English-language films]]
[[Category:2000s sports drama films]]
[[Category:American baseball films]]
[[Category:American biographical drama films]]
[[Category:American biographical television films]]
[[Category:American drama television films]]
[[Category:American sports drama films]]
[[Category:Biographical films about sportspeople]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Joe DiMaggio]]
[[Category:English-language biographical drama films]]
[[Category:English-language sports drama films]]
[[Category:Films about the New York Yankees]]
[[Category:Films directed by Billy Crystal]]
[[Category:Films scored by Marc Shaiman]]
[[Category:Films set in 1961]]
[[Category:Films set in 1998]]
[[Category:Films set in Baltimore]]
[[Category:Films set in Boston]]
[[Category:Films set in the Bronx]]
[[Category:Films set in Florida]]
[[Category:Films set in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Films set in Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Films set in St. Louis]]
[[Category:Films shot in Detroit]]
[[Category:Films shot in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Hank Steinberg]]
[[Category:HBO Films films]]
[[Category:Sports drama films based on actual events]]
[[Category:Sports television films]]