Movie: 61* (2001) (TV)

• Director: Billy Crystal
• Release Date: 28 April 2001 (USA)
• Run Time: 129 min
• Country: USA
• Genre: Drama , History , Sport  

Tagline: Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Why did America have room in its heart for only one hero?

Trivia: According to Billy Crystal in the DVD Commentary, the scene of Mickey and Roger doing the hot dog commercial was supposed to end with Roger’s line “Hey, Mickey, shouldn’t we be on the field?” But kept the cameras rolling and all of the “goofs” of Mickey and Roger laughing in the shooting were really the reactions of Thomas Jane and Barry Pepper which Billy decided to leave in the scene.
 

Goofs: Factual errors: Bob Cerv was not a member of the Yankees in the beginning of the 1961 season, he was a member of the Los Angeles Angels.
 

“Summer, 1961: Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle are on pace to break the most hallowed record in U.S. sports, Babe Ruth’s single-season 60 home runs. It’s a big story, and the intense, plain-spoken Maris is the bad guy: sports writers bait him and minimize his talent, fans cheer Mantle, the league’s golden boy, and baseball’s commissioner announces that Ruth’s record stands unless it’s broken within 154 games. Any record set after 154 games of the new 162-game schedule will have an asterisk. The film follows the boys of summer, on and off the field: their friendship, the stresses on Maris, his frustration with the negative attention, and his desire to play well, win, and go home. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>”