61* 2001

In 1998, the family of the late Roger Maris Richard Masur goes to Busch Stadium to witness Mark McGwire Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals break their father’s record with a 62nd home run. Maris’ widow, Pat Pat Crowley, is hospitalized due to complications from arrhythmia and watches the game on television from a hospital bed.

Decades earlier, in 1961, Roger Maris is presented with the Most Valuable Player award for the 1960 baseball season, but Mickey Mantle Thomas Jane remains the Yankees’ superstar. Mantle starts off hot while Maris struggles, fueling a tense but exciting race between two teammates who push each other toward Babe Ruth’s famed mark. As the season unfolds, Maris grows wary that he might be traded, while new manager Ralph Houk Bruce McGill rearranges the lineup, shuffling Mantle and Maris to see if the change can spark a breakthrough. It does: both sluggers begin racking up home runs at a historic pace, and the idea of the “M&M Boys” chasing Ruth’s record becomes the defining storyline of the year.

On the field, the pressure is matched by the scrutiny off it. Mantle’s charisma and troubles draw fans and media scrutiny, but Maris’s quiet demeanor makes him an easy target for criticism and misinterpretation. The crowd’s affection for Mantle grows, while Maris faces harsher treatment, including hostile crowds and relentless questions from reporters. The MLB Commissioner Ford Frick Donald Moffat weighs a controversial decision: to treat Ruth’s 60-home-run standard as a benchmark that applies to Ruth’s 154-game era, or to acknowledge the expanded 162-game season with a separate record. The choice adds another layer of pressure to an already fraught race.

As the season unfolds, Mantle’s off-field life takes a toll. He drinks, revels in the Manhattan nightlife, and often arrives at the ballpark hung over, with occasional help from pitcher Whitey Ford Anthony Michael Hall. To shield Mantle from himself, Maris and teammate/roommate Bob Cerv Chris Bauer invite him to move in with them in a modest Queens home, with one strict condition: no women. The dynamic tightens as Mantle grapples with pain, long hours, and an unyielding spotlight, while Maris does his best to stay focused and steady under the glare of the media and the public.

The story deepens as Mantle’s health falters and a problematic injection from a doctor further weakens him, forcing him to the sidelines. With Mantle out of the lineup, the stage is set for Maris to push toward the record. The path is grueling, with constant media speculation and public scrutiny, and the pressure intensifies as fans demand every at-bat be a step toward Ruth’s iconic achievement. In the climactic moments, Maris does not break the record in the 154th game, but he finally reaches a historic milestone with his 61st home run in the season’s final game, sealing a chapter of baseball history marked by perseverance, rivalry, and the weight of expectation.