My mom thinks Pat Maris faked her illness..........
When we first saw this film, and in the scene with Pat having to be hospitalized right when they got to St Louis, my mother remarked later on that, "I don't think she wanted to be there.." meaning she didn't want to be at the game to watch Mcgwire break the record in person.
I'm not sure how true it is, but it's an interesting thought that makes sense. I would imagine it would be hard to watch it broken, in the same way Ruth's widow did not want to come to any more games after Maris got to 60.