As football season comes to a close with the end of Super Bowl XXXVII, many sports fans go their separate ways in an attempt to be entertained before the beloved baseball season begins. College basketball becomes popular, NBA and NHL ratings go up, and some even resort to NBC's coverage of arena football. Along with paying the usual attention to all of the above, I am also using this empty slot in-between my two favorite sport's seasons to watch as many baseball movies as I can. For example, Field of Dreams, Major League, and Little Big League are on my list. However, the first to be viewed was a movie I had never seen before and was filmed in Detroit's own Tiger Stadium titled 61*. Knowing that this movie is based a true story and events, I was not expecting to receive the amount of accuracy needed for me to consider ever watching the film again. I was unbelievably wrong. Director Billy Crystal and screenwriter Hank Steinberg did an incredible job recreating the characters, places, press, and events of the summer of 1961.
             A noted baseball fan Billy Crystal had a great time directing the made for television sports drama. Set in the summer of 1961 the movie tells the story of two of baseball's strongest hitters, Mickey Mantle (Thomas Jane) and Roger Maris (Barry Pepper). They go head to head trying to break Babe Ruth's prestigious and long-standing record of 60 homeruns in a single season. As the season unfolds and the Yankee teammates begin to become within reach of the untouchable record they find themselves engulfed in interviews and fan pressure. Mickey Mantle was a very popular ball player, and New Yorkers wouldn't want anyone but him to take Babe Ruth's place as single season homerun king. Roger Maris on the other hand, was a Midwesterner acquired by the Yankees the year before. He was a family man and a hard worker willing to give up summers at home to p
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