61* in '61

I finally got around to watching Billy Crystal's HBO movie 61* -- that is to say, I finally found it at the Library and didn't have to pay for it. Even a member of the loyal opposition can appreciate the history of the Evil Empire, and the heroics of Mantle and Maris nearly 50 years ago.

On one level, there is a great deal of nostalgia. Whether Crystal was trying to depict it or not, even a baseball movie from as recently as the decade in which I was born makes you yearn for day games, reasonable salaries (Mantle made about $70,000 that year, which less than Babe Ruth had made in his prime more than thirty years earlier), and accessible ticket prices. Baseball truly is -- or was -- the people's sport, being played every day with the intent that you can take your son or sweetheart to the game that afternoon without a great deal of saving, planning or a second mortgage.

Unfortunately, however, while 61* is about baseball's most accessible era, Billy Crystal makes it inaccessible to young fans. Why he finds it necessary to include a plethora of foul language and a little too much detail on the Mick's extracurricular habits makes the movie unsuitable for children, much like today's game (with 8:30 PM starts and decent tickets starting at $100) is also out of reach.

One other minor complaint -- several times in the movie, the Whitey Ford character addresses Mantle as "Slick." In fact, Slick was Ford's nickname (and the title of his autobiography), because Ford was the "City Slicker" of the bunch.

Some viewers also find fault with the film being bookended by the performance of Mark McGwire in 1998, breaking Maris' record, given how McGwire has disgraced himself since then. A fair enough criticism, although it should be noted that 61* was made in 2001, when McGwire still held the record and was still active (Bonds set the new record later that year). This viewer found it a curious cinemagraphic tool which probably made sense in Crystal's mind in 2001 -- who would have expected it to be somewhat jarring to the audience eight years later. Those who feel more strongly may want to Give It Back to Maris.