Summer, 1961: Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle are on pace to break the most hallowed record in U.S. sports, Babe Ruth's single-season 60 home runs. It's a big story, and the intense, plain-spoken Maris is the bad guy: sports writers bait him and minimize his talent, fans cheer Mantle, the league's golden boy, and baseball's commissioner announces that Ruth's record stands unless it's broken within 154 games. Any record set after 154 games of the new 162-game schedule will have an asterisk. The film follows the boys of summer, on and off the field: their friendship, the stresses on Maris, his frustration with the negative attention, and his desire to play well, win, and go home.

This movie was given a special premiere on 21 April 2001 at the Fargo Theater in Fargo, North Dakota, Roger Maris' hometown.

Yogi Berra:
Ninety percent of the game is half mental.

Anachronisms: When Maris is talking to Mrs. Maris on the phone, we see a modular phone jack (not in use until the '70s).

Written and Performed by Bobby Darin
Courtesy of Atco Records
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products