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By RICHARD DANIELSON
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 28, 2001
On June 19, 1961, a Kansas City Athletics pitcher named Jim Archer gave up a home run to New York Yankee Roger Maris. It was Maris' 25th home run of the season, and one more step in his march to beating Babe Ruth's single-season home run record.
Fortunately, it didn't come entirely at Archer's expense, as Kansas City went on to beat New York 4-3.
These days, Archer, 69, is a Tarpon Springs city commissioner. On Friday, he spoke with staff writer Richard Danielson about that pitch and 61*, an HBO movie about the 1961 home run race between Maris and teammate Mickey Mantle. The movie premieres at 9 tonight.
Q -- Where did the game stand the day that Maris hit his home run off you?
A -- I think I had struck Maris out the time up before. Usually, in the big leagues, these guys are somewhat guess hitters. They look for pitches. They're so good at looking for pitches they can take a pitch or maybe two pitches to get the pitch they're looking for. And if they get it in the spot they're looking for it, they can sure hurt you.
I believe it happened in the ninth inning in Kansas City. I tried to set him up again, and I made the mistake. I threw the fastball. I got it in over the plate. As soon as he swung and I heard the sound, I knew it was gone.
Someone says, "You didn't even turn around to watch it go out of the park." I said, "I don't need to do that. I've seen enough of them go out of the ballpark. It's no fun watching it go out again."
Q -- How many times did you pitch against Maris and how did you do?
A -- Well, I gave up one home run to Maris. I never gave up any to Mantle. Back in '61, this home run derby was back and forth. It was pretty close at times.
I would say out of the four or five games that I was in against the Yankees, both home and away, I probably faced him 10 or 12 times, maybe 14 times.
Q -- What was the best way to pitch to Roger Maris?
A -- I tried to keep the ball away from Maris. You had to watch what we call in baseball, showing the ball inside. But make him hit the outside pitch. He was definitely a pull hitter. If he got anything on the inner half of the plate to his inside he could handle it very well.
But if you could keep the ball away from him, he'd give you that big fly ball to center field -- usually.
Q -- As the season progressed, did you end up rooting for someone to break Ruth's record?
A -- I think I did. I hadn't decided who, because I admired both of those individuals. When you played against the Yankees, you didn't want to take your eye of either one of them, because if you did you'd miss something. They were that great.
I wanted to see one of them break it. I really wasn't pulling for either one. As a matter of fact, I wish they both could have, because both contributed a lot to baseball.
Q -- You went to the Tampa Theater the other night and saw a preview of this movie that's going to be on Saturday. What did you think?
A -- I was very much impressed. I was so surprised that the two boys that played Maris and Mantle did such a great job. I've seen a lot of baseball stories, but some are far-fetched. I don't think this movie was. I think this movie was close to exactly the way it really is, both in the clubhouse and how you live together away from the ballpark and behind the scenes. I think Billy Crystal did a wonderful job with this movie. I think I cried throughout the movie.
Q -- Is home run No. 25 portrayed in the movie?
A -- No, it isn't.
Q -- If the movie had portrayed the pitch that you threw to Maris that day, what actor would you have wanted to play Jim Archer?
A -- (Laughs). Oh my goodness. Hmmmm. Well, if Kevin Costner would have been left-handed, I know he loves baseball, and he's a great actor, he's played in a lot of baseball movies. I'm sure he could have done it. You know, we're limited when we ask people to do things because we're left-handed. There's so few of us.
Q -- Do you plan to watch this movie Saturday night?
A -- You know, I don't have HBO, but I have a friend that's going to tape it for me. I definitely want to watch it again and keep it along with some other memories that I have.
Q -- Where does your role in this bit of baseball history stand in your own mind when you you review your memories of playing professionally for 12 years?
A -- It's hard to answer with one sentence. Every day was a great day for me in baseball. I was so proud to be blessed with talent and to get an opportunity to play baseball that I'd have probably played for nothing if they had fed me and given me a place to sleep.
As far as my role in this moment in history, it'll just go down along with a lot of memories that I have of baseball. I met so many people. I sat and talked to President Truman at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri. I thought that was a great moment. Had it not been for baseball, I wouldn't have had that opportunity. I met people like Paul Anka and Barbara Eden. Peter Lorre. Some of the greatest opportunities I've ever had in the world as far as travel. I met Castro. I don't know if that's good or bad, but I did get a chance to meet him.
When I was playing in Havana, Cuba, I had gone to bed at the Havana Hilton. My roommate came up and slapped me in the face and said "You've got to go downstairs, you won't believe who's down there." I said, "Boy, she better be pretty, because I'm trying to get my sleep." He says Pepper Martin has got Castro down there. Pepper Martin could really talk. Pepper was a member of the old Gas House Gang with the St. Louis Cardinals. So I get up and get dressed and go down to the coffee shop and sure enough, Pepper's got Castro there and a couple of his people, and they were talking baseball, because Castro loved baseball. So we sat there and continued to talk for another two hours.
These are the type of memories that I'll cherish for the rest of my life. Sitting and talking to President Truman, I thought, was the one of the greatest things in the world.