61*

In the summer of 1961, two baseball players and best friends compete to beat the home run record set by legendary Babe Ruth in 1927., 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., Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle race to break Babe Ruth’s single-season home-run record in 1961. As the two NY Yankees come within grasping distance of Ruth’s record, their loyalty as friends and teammates is put to the ultimate test.