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Official Major League Baseball Fact Book

Official Major League Baseball Fact Book

Produced by The Sporting News, The Official Major League Baseball Fact Book is a treasure trove for baseball fans. Compiling a rather stunning amount of information, it provides a detailed review of the most recent season, a preview of the current season, profiles of current and former baseball stars, a season-by-season review from 1876 to the present, and a section on all-time leaders in various statistical categories. As an example of the book’s comprehensiveness, on the page about the Detroit Tigers you’ll find the team roster; the season schedule; lists of coaches, scouts, trainers, and physicians; the field dimensions of Comerica Park; ticket information; the director of merchandising, for crying out loud–and a lot more. There’s also a complete list of recent transactions, an exhaustive catalog of Hall of Famers, franchise histories, and box scores from memorial games (one of the best parts of the book). Great stuff, and it includes lots of photos. –Andy Boynton

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars Facts Need Checking
I have enjoyed previous issues of this book but I bought the current one expecting, as a Red Sox fan, the descriptions of the scoring of the playoff games and the play by play of the World Series. Unfortunately many innings were missing and the scores were not always accurate.

The descriptions of the batting leaders for 2004 were also mistitled. It is too bad that an otherwise valuable record book was issued too hastily without checking the facts.

5 Stars Statistics repository for the 2003 season, a great resource!
Now that the 2004 season is basically over, this book will be outdated very quickly, but look for future versions! I remember picking a copy up in the bookstore for the first time and being simply amazed by how much information was contained within its pages!

The Official MLB Fact Book (2004 Edition) includes an overwhelming supply of individual and team stats for the 2003 stats, plus postseason box scores, and list after list of baseball greats including award winners, league leaders, record holders, and hall of famers.

I used to rely only on each yearly edition of The Sporting News Record Book for updated statistics, but beginning with 2004, I may have found a better alternative.

3 Stars A Baseball Almanac Source
Our inspiration for Baseball Almanac … began with The Baseball Encyclopedia. Our source for the team by team section was inspired by this one book which we have purchased every year since 1999 and STILL keep on our shelf side-by-side. Three stars because there are a few historical errors (-1 star), all of which I’ve written to them about, and not enough data for the average fan (-1 star). Though only a “fact book”, it leaves you wanting more…

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61

61

61* is an endearing ode to the baseball days of yore when the press was the enemy, salaries were in check, and breaking records with bat and glove took on Ruthian proportions. In 1961 baseball expanded its season from 154 games to 162, allowing weaker pitching into the major leagues and two New York Yankees teammates–the colorless Roger Maris and golden boy Mickey Mantle–to make an assault on the sport’s ultimate record: Babe Ruth’s 60 home runs. To add to the stew, baseball commissioner Ford Frick announced any record set in the last eight games of the season wouldn’t count toward the official record; records had to be achieved in 154 games.

Director Billy Crystal guarantees success for his movie in the perfect casting of the leads. Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan’s religious sniper) is deft as Maris, and Thomas Jane is a perfect Mantle, a superman in a Yankee uniform. Despite the differences between family man Maris and hard-living Mantle, they form a rewarding friendship amid the media and fan frenzy. The shy Maris took the brunt of the storm, even facing boo-birds in his home stadium. Crystal and first-time writer Hank Steinberg keep the pace moving quickly between the field, the locker room, the press box, and the home front. The film never tries to dazzle with more than the facts (and it softens Mantle up a bit), yet it belongs on the short list of grand baseball movies. –Doug Thomas

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars great movie and in great shape
I love this movie. It is the true story of the M&M boys. I received it within a week of placing my order and it was in mint condition (it was advertized as new, so it should have been).Real cheap price too. I will be buying a lot more from this seller.

5 Stars An amazingly true story of two of baseball’s best.
61* is the true story of one of baseball’s finest moments, the race for Babe’s homerun record. Back then baseball was America’s favorite past time and America’s favorite sport. People absolutely loved the game. And if you were a Yankee fan it was even better. When Babe set the record for 60 homeruns it was in 1927 and he was a Yankee. Well skip ahead 34 years later to 1961, and the two stars hammering for the record just happen to both play for the Yankees. Roger Maris (Barry Pepper) and Mickey Mantle (Thomas Jane), two of the big hitter for the Yankees.

Mickey is adored by the fans. He’s got the charming good lucks and the play boy attitude. Roger is liked, but not like Mickey. He’s a family man, but he’s got the personality of a tree when it comes to talking to reporters and looking good for the on field cameras. Mickey has been with the Yanks for around 10 years now, while Roger was brought over from Kansas City a year ago. So of course the fans are going to have their favorites. But as the race gets farther along, the favoritism gets out of hand and really becomes hatred. Death threats, kidnapping his kids threats, on-the-field abuse from fans, reporters lying about things he said and does. It was really crazy to see these events happen.

And Roger didn’t deserve it. From the beginning we see how great Roger is and how good of a friend he is. We see that Roger and Mickey are really good friends and even become better friends as the year goes on. Roger just loves the game of baseball and really wants to win the series, but he knows they can’t do it without Mickey. The thing is Mickey lives up to his playboy antics and is constantly abusing his body with alcohol and women. He comes home at any time of the hour, drunk as a skunk, and then has to wake up to play ball with an enormous hang over. Roger, being the friend he is, asks Mickey to move in with him and Bob Cerv (another player) at their NY `home’ to hopefully get Mickey to straighten up his act. When Mickey agrees, you can see the improvement in not just his game but also Rogers game. And so the race begins between two amazing players and amazing friends.

I really liked this movie and consider it one of my favorite sports movies ever. What makes it even better is that it’s a true story. It really was a lot of fun to witness the interactions of these two iconic legends. To see the joy of the game with these two, but also the pressure it brought. It was a lot of fun to watch each of them root for each other and try to make the other one better than themselves, even though the press was telling the fans they were arguing and hating each other. There is so much I could say about this movie, but I really think I would just bore you because I would type out the whole darn movie if I could.

There are only two things I didn’t like about the movie. One is a scene where Roger Maris breaks down from the pressure and begins to cry a little. It just felt weird and the music didn’t help. And the other thing is, is that there is a good amount of cussing thrown around, especially the F bomb. It doesn’t bother me at all, and make the movie feel even more real to me, but I know how some people and some parents are about cussing. So just be warned if you are that type of person. It’s not used to much, and it’s used in places you’d expect, but I’m just letting you know.

In the end, if you are a lover of good sports movies, baseball movies, true life movies, or even dramas, then definitely own this movie. This is what baseball is all about. Not what we have nowadays on T.V.

P.S. - Man I miss playing baseball. Watching this movie really brought back some memories. I can just hear the crowd, the bats cracking, the smell of the dirt and grass, the smell of the leather of the gloves. Oh to be young again.

5 Stars Excellent Biography of Roger Maris
Video shows the pressures on Roger Maris during his pursuit of the single season homerun record. Also great for Mickey Mantle fans. I highly recommend this film. No fluff, just the real stuff.

5 Stars great drama, great actors, great story
As a big Barry Pepper fan I found another proof for him being such an amazing actor. But it is not just about him, this is a moving interesting tale of 1960s NY baseball, told with great love for the game and its players. And I don’t even like baseball!

5 Stars 61-The best insiders view of the life and times of two of the NY Yankees Best
When I first saw this autobiography of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris stars, it was like being there with them.

Growing up in Brooklyn, NY, and Joe Pepitone (another Yankee local scouted and signed with the Yankees, his brothers Billy and Jimmy were our neighbors. I lived that era and thought I knew everything about every Yankee. This film, I have sought for years and now that I immediately purchased it through Amazon.com, I can tell any fan of baseball that is has all the fun, drama, trials and problems of any normal person that brought tears to my eyes of what went on during and after their professional careers. The class and charachter that more then describes those great players were my idols. But meeting them in person, in the dugout, never, ever gave me anything else but goosebumps.

This film I would highly recommend to any father not knowing these greats to sit with their children for a heart warming and insite not only how to behave and present themselves but a learning lesson of how a sport brought out the finest in them that will last forever.

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Fact Farts Are Funny Logo Baby Infant Tee Shirt or Onesie

Fact Farts Are Funny Logo Baby Infant Tee Shirt or Onesie

Great looking 100% cotton Infant Wear. Please refer to our sizing chart for measurements. Tee is available in 6, 12 & 18 month sizes. Onesie is available in 6, 12, 18 & 24 month sizes.

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