dissect and distort everything he says or does. The fans heckle Maris and even throw objects at him on the field. Soon he begins receiving hate mail and death threats. His wife lives far from New York, usually available only by phone. The stress becomes so intense that Maris' hair begins to fall out in clumps. The Yankees owner also tries to favor Mantle by asking Houk to switch Mantle and Maris in the batting order, but Houk refuses, because the redesigned lineup has been winning a higher percentage of games. Chronic injury and alcohol abuse catch up with Mantle, and an ill-advised injection by a doctor infects his hip and lands him in a hospital bed. With Mantle gone from the lineup, the stage becomes set for Maris. He fails to break the record in the 154th game of the season, but he does finally hit his 61st home run during the final game of the season. Cast Barry Pepper as Roger Maris Thomas Jane as Mickey Mantle Anthony Michael Hall as Whitey Ford Richard Masur as Milt Kahn Bruce McGill as Ralph Houk Chris Bauer as Bob Cerv Jennifer Crystal Foley as Pat Maris (1961) Patricia Crowley as Pat Maris (1998) Christopher McDonald as Mel Allen Bob Gunton as Dan Topping Donald Moffat as Ford Frick Renée Taylor as Claire Ruth Paul Borghese as Yogi Berra Peter Jacobson as Artie Green Seymour Cassel as Sam Simon Robert Joy as Bob Fishel Bobby Hosea as Elston Howard Michael Nouri as Joe DiMaggio Tom Candiotti as Hoyt Wilhelm E.E. Bell as Fan impersonating Babe Ruth Filming locations Most of the baseball action scenes, including those set at Yankee Stadium, were actually filmed at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan. A combination of strategic photographing and post-production effects were used to enhance the illusion of the "classic" layout of Yankee Stadium. Tiger Stadium was credited as "playing" Yankee Stadium in the closing credits. Tiger Stadium also "played itself" as the home of the Tigers when the Yankees played them in Detroit. The shots depicting Fenway Park and Baltimore's Memorial Stadium were shot at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Critical reception Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 86% out of 28 professional critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.8/10. Film critic Richard Roeper named 61* one of his top five all-time favorite baseball movies. In 2002, actor