Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle race to break Babe Ruth's single-season home run record.Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle race to break Babe Ruth's single-season home run record.Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle race to break Babe Ruth's single-season home run record.
- Won 2 Primetime Emmys
- 4 wins & 26 nominations total
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- Director
- Writer
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
- All cast & crew
Storyline
Aiming for one of the most famed records in sports history, a pair of very different baseball players hit home runs at an impressive rate. Roger Maris, a reserved sort, is much less popular than his hard-partying New York Yankee teammate Mickey Mantle, the player who many observers think will be the one to challenge Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in one season. But in the summer of 1961, Maris surges ahead of Mantle, making a run at Ruth's mark. —Jwelch5742
- babe ruth character
- reference to ed sullivan
- joe dimaggio character
- reference to mark mcgwire
- mickey mantle character
- 125 more
- Taglines
- Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Why did America have room in its heart for only one hero?
- Genres
- Certificate
- TV-MA
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaBecause there was no accurate documentation of it, no one knew what the precise color of the Yankee Stadium seats were in 1961. When faced with this dilemma, production designer Rusty Smith was told that Billy Crystal had an old bleacher seat from Yankee Stadium. Though the seat was completely painted blue, Smith found one small chip of green on the seat that proved to be the true Yankee Stadium green.
- GoofsWhen Roger Maris is talking with his wife from a payphone after the birth of their son, Randy J. Maris, he's talking on a payphone that is a single-slot model. In 1961, the three slot version (25 cent, 10 cent 5 cent) was still in use. The single-slot phone was not introduced until 1965.
- Quotes
Yogi Berra: Ninety percent of the game is half mental.
- Crazy creditsYankee Stadium played by Tiger Stadium
- SoundtracksDream Lover
Written and Performed by Bobby Darin
Courtesy of Atco Records
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products
Top review
Incredible baseball movie
I could spend hours trying to come up with the perfect words to describe "61*" Simply put, its one of the best baseball movies I have ever seen. Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane ARE Maris and Mantle. Billy Crystal did an exceptional job directing this picture. The acting is excellent. A great part of the movie is seeing all the old ballparks that have been refaced and digitally made to look like the parks did in 1961. Turning Tiger Stadium into Yankee Stadium is quite a feat! I would recommend this movie to the die-hards, the casuals, and those who don't know anything about baseball. Billy Crystal -- Thank you for another great movie!
helpful•211
- nucksfan4life
- Jun 2, 2002
Details
- Runtime2 hours 9 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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