produce obviously a a response to the assault by mark mcgwire ( and sammy sosa ) on baseball single season home run record and this be a generally entertaining and well acted story of the friendly battle wag between yankee teammate mickey mantle and roger mari to beat babe ruth home run record of 60 and back in the year 1961. billy crystal ( who also produce ) show a surprisingly deft touch a a director and give viewer a very realistic glimpse of life inside the pressure cooker of yankee stadium and major league baseball in general . mari ( barry pepper ) come across a an all around good guy who would really rather not be in the spotlight and who nevertheless have to deal with a hostile medium and less than supportive home fan and neither of whom really want to see ruth record break and who and if it be to be break and would rather see mantle ( the real yankee ) do it . pepper be extremely good in this role . thomas jane put on an equally good performance a the wilder mantle and who actually become maris roommate partway through the season and mainly to keep himself out of trouble . this be an enjoyable enough baseball movie . suspense be lack and because we already know how the thing be go to turn out and but it worth watch if only to see the dressing room tension building and the effect on the team a a whole . it also an interesting look at how the medium creates and destroy hero . it a little bit long ( slightly over two hour ) but very enjoyable . positive .