April 28, 2001- Billy Crystal's long-awaited "61*" finally premiered on HBO, tonight. After watching the film, you can understand how entire generations were enamored with the New York Yankees. The title refers to the chase of Babe Ruth's hallowed single season home run record, in 1961. Mickey Mantle was the Yankee fan favorite, and his contemporary, Roger Maris was just some hick with good stats, in the eyes of the nation. Even more significant is the asterisk in the title.

The film follows the plight of Maris and Mantle throughout the season. The two remain buddies and roomates, but the favoritism for Mantle soon begins to wear on Maris. Maris is consistently booed, heckled and targeted by both the media and the fans. As one scene poignantly mentions, the fans used to boo Mickey... it wasn't until Maris came along that they warmed up to Mantle and embraced him as the under dog. To add further insult, the cratchety commissioner of baseball, Ford Frick, downplays the potential record-breaking homerun. He conducts a news conference halfway through the season, stating that any homerun record set during a 162 game schedule will NOT have the same validity as Babe Ruth's original record, set in 154 games. A claim that would, sadly, stand for 30 more years.

The film becomes a sad look into how reporters and the pressure of the nation destroyed Maris's dream season. Barry Pepper is outstanding as Maris, and moves through the flick with the face of a sad puppy dog. Pepper, probably best known as Tom Hanks' sidekick from "Private Ryan" and "The Green Mile", makes the most out of his first high profile, starring performance. He creates real empathy for Roger Maris. You find yourself saying "dammit, he's a decent guy. Why didn't they cheer for him??" At the end, he states: "It was the season of a lifetime. I hope to never do it again".

We'd like to think we could never mistreat a player, the way they mistreated Mantle. Before you jump on this moral band wagon, consider this: How pissed would you have been if it was Jeff Lewis going aerial and beating Green Bay in the Super Bowl? And NOT John Elway?!

The movie is entirely one-dimensional. The focus is the home run chase, nothing else. Sure, it follows Roger Maris's depression and mistreatment by the media, but the movie does not wander off the path of telling the story. By following Mantle, we also get a somewhat humorous look at Mantle's crass night life. Maris is awoken at 2 am by the rest of the team... for the sole purpose of getting Mick out of trouble.

The acting is very believable. Thomas Jane is as fun-loving, stubborn and as wisecracking as Mickey Mantle ever was. After Maris crosses home plate for number 61, Mantle sits down next to him in the dugout and jokes: "I was takin' a shit...what'd I miss??" You only hope that while filming this thing, he didn't subject his liver to the legendary Mantle drinking regiment. Anthony Michael Hall jumps back on the movie radar, with a nice role as Yankees ace Whitey Ford. Look closely, and you'll even see former big league knuckleballer Tom Candiotti runing out of the bullpen as Baltimore's Hoyt Willhelm. (I'm assuming Candiotti sees fellow knuckler Willhelm as something of a hero... so I hope this was a thrill for him).

To endear itself to current fans, the story opens with a sappy sweet bit on the Maris family, Roger's bat and Mark McGwire, in 1998. You're thinking "oh c'mon..give it a break. Cut that cutesy field of dreams wanna be music. Laaaame". However, when the film returns to the segment at the conclusion.. well, you can understand the emotions felt by Mark McGwire. This time, I see McGwire speaking after his record breaking shot...and getting teary eyed talking about Maris. Big Mac, one of the strongest players ever, fights tears and says: "I feel damn proud to have my bat next to Roger's!' ....well, damned if I had to fight it, too. A final voice over tells us how Fay Vincent lifted the aterisk in 1991...five years after Maris had died.

A major shortcoming of the the flm was the lack of character definition. I'm not referring to a "defining someone's character"... I'm referring to actually DEFINING CHARACTERS AND GIVING THEM NAMES. Crystal makes the assumption that everyone knows who all these players were. There is one staccato listing of the Yankees, from a hyepractive radio announcer, about five minutes into the film. You have to listen closely and take shorthand to decipher who each guy is throughout the film. While actors portray Elston Howard, Yogi Berra and the rest of the 61 Yankees, they are rarely referred to by these names throughout the film. Several times I found myself asking: "wait, who's that supposed to be?". Maris and Mantle live with a third roomate, simply referred to as "Bob". After spending over two hours, I have no idea who "Bob" was/is. I had to stop the credits to see that his charcter was named "Bob Cerv". I still have no idea WHO Bob Cerv was, or what position he played. I suppose Crystal's going back to his little rant from "City Slickers". Specifically, the scene about "Don Hoak! Don Hoak! Don Hoak!"... but it's getting old.

Additionally, Crystal simply name-dropps opposing players. "Al Kaline" and "Milt Pappas" are thrown in. When Hoyt Willhelm comes out of the bullpen to screw over Maris' attempt at #60, the script mentions "oh no, here comes Willhelm". While hardcore baseball fans and baby boomers may instantly catalogue this as HOYT Willhelm, it is no doubt confusing to younger viewers and casual fans. A casual fan may ask "Why is this important? Why are the Yankees freaking out? Who is this guy? What's so nasty about him?" In Crystal's defense, Willhelm's reputation is mentioned, but it blows by the viewer at the pace of a sprinting cheetah. I recall an essay I wrote about baseball in my freshman composition class in 1993. I wrote about the first game I went to in Pittsburgh, and overwhelmed the reader with player names. The feedback I got from the report was "who the hell are these people". I re-wrote the paper, got an "A" (for both the essay and the entire class), and still keep that paper hidden away in my desk. By eliminating the baseball fan elitism I originally included, the story was accessible to a wider audience. Something to think about, Billy.

I really enjoyed this movie and found it worth the wait. Some of Mantle's one liners made me laugh, and the final connection with McGwire choked me up. It's a good depiction of one fan's love of baseball and the Yankees (that fan being Billy Crystal). Excellent display of how this game can become so important to people. A definite "must-see" for baseball fans, and probably worth the two hours for an outsider, too.

Oh, and Juddley, be sure to let me know when a national TV network decides to film a movie about the gripping chase of the single season NHL goal scoring record.

Seeing Eye Singles
I also spent the day at Coors Field, watching the Rockies and Reds. That may explain some of the added enthusiasm I had for this movie...||... Consumer alert: RTD Light Rail sucks the meat missile! We took it down to Coors Field. It added 30 minutes to our commute, ran us 4 bucks a piece and was crowded like a Walgreens giving away free soiled Britney Spears panties to teenaged boys. The train hit a bump, and a rather hot chick lurched into me and gave me an accidental grope, so that made up for it... ||... After watching a few Cubs/Pirates games on WGN, I have to say I enjoy Joe Carter on play by play. Brings an air of enthusiasm and fun to the booth. He mentioned Ricky Guttierrez had a "happy zone" for hitting the ball....||... I'm glad the Pirates have those new unis with the sleeveless tops. For some reason, they just do not seem like a pin-stripe team. Especially those gray stripes they were playing in the last few years.

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