Bull Durham Page #15

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ANNIE:

(shakily)

I need a drink.

Crash gingerly helps her to her feet.

CUT TO:

INT. MAXWELL'S BAR -- DAY

ANNIE AND CRASH SIT IN THE CORNER of the empty bar.

CRASH:

Why baseball?

ANNIE:

(sighs)

I was raised in a Baptist church

got dipped in the water when I

was 5-- born again before

kindergarten...by the time I was

10 I knew it was bullshit and at

15 I ran away from home...

SHE SMILES at the most painful memories.

ANNIE:

pregnant, had an abortion, got

pregnant again, had an abortion

again...gave up men. Tried women.

Missed men. My mother died.

(beat)

I bought a car for $200 and drove

to Ft. Lauderdale to bury her.

(beat)

And after we'd sung some hymns in

some wretched Florida funeral

home, I went outside and something

happened--

Her tone becomes wistful, nostalgic.

ANNIE:

The smell of cut grass in the

warm March air overwhelmed me and

I heard a noise--

(makes the sound))

--tok, tok, tok--and some men

shouting...then tok, tok, tok.

Crash smiles slightly. He knows.

ANNIE:

I crossed the street--it was the

New York Yankees spring training

field--tok, tok, tok, was the

sound of a ball hitting a bat--

and I sat in the warm bleachers

to think about my mother...

(beat)

And I saw him.

CRASH:

Who?

ANNIE:

Thurman Munson.

(beat)

He was covered with dirt and he

was fighting with everybody--it

was beautiful ...

(beat)

And he called the ump a cocksucker

and got thrown out of the game

even though it was an exhibition!

(beat)

So I stayed in the bleachers all

spring and gradually came to

understand what's so great about

baseball.

CRASH:

What's so great about baseball?

ANNIE:

If you know where home plate is,

then you know where 1st base is,

and 2nd, and everything else--

'cause they're always in the same

place in relation to home.

(beat)

Don't you see? If you know where

home plate is, then you know where

everything else in the universe

is!

Silence.

CRASH:

I don't know if I'd go that far.

ANNIE:

It's true, It's true!

(beat, down)

Least it used to be true. It

ain't possible that baseball's

not enough anymore, is it, Crash?

CRASH:

It's possible.

ANNIE:

No.

CRASH:

Are you gonna be waking up next

to 20 year old ballplayers when

you're 60?

ANNIE:

Well...I used to think that wasn't

the worst thing in the world to

look forward to. Lately I'm not

so sure.

CRASH:

Why not?

ANNIE:

(angrily)

Whatta you mean "why not"? Are

you gonna play forever?!

Before Crash can answer--

SUDDENLY A VOICE interrupts. They both turn to see:

MILLIE EXCITEDLY DRAGGING JIMMY into the nearly empty bar.

She leads him by the hand.

MILLIE:

Annie, Annie! There she is--we've

been looking all over for ya. Hi

Crash.

MILLIE LEADS JIMMY right up to their table. And as they

hold hands. Jimmy stands there shyly.

MILLIE:

Well tell 'em, honey.

JIMMY:

(nervously)

We're getting married.

MILLIE STICKS OUT HER LEFT HAND Displays a huge ring.

ANNIE:

Omigawd, honey, I'm so happy for

you.

MILLIE:

He's a virgin.

Jimmy squirms defensively.

JIMMY:

Wellyeah...

(to Annie and Crash)

I guess that probably seems pretty

corny to people like you.

ANNIE:

Oh Jimmy, honey, I think it sounds

wonderful!

MILLIE:

Annie, will you be the bride's

maid?

CUT TO:

EXT. DURHAM STADIUM -- LATER -- NIGHT

GAME IN PROGRESS -- Nuke on the mound.

NUKE WINDS AND DELIVERS -- Very high. Ball three.

CUT TO:

INSIDE THE DUGOUT -- Skip and Larry spitting tobacco.

SKIP:

Nuke's overthrowing tonight, he

don't look loose. Anything

bothering him?

LARRY:

He said his chakras were jammed

and he was breathing out of the

wrong nostril.

SKIP:

(spitting tobacco)

Okay...

CUT TO:

BACK TO THE MOUND

NUKE WINDS AND DELIVERS AGAIN -- Very high. Ball four.

CRASH IS QUICKLY to the mound.

CRASH:

What's wrong?

NUKE:

I'm nervous--my old man's here.

NUKE MOTIONS -- They both look.

--P.O.V. NUKE'S FATHER SITTING in a special box seat. The

man is 45, and is operating a home video camera taking

pictures of his son.

CRASH:

Hey, he's just your father, man--

he's as full of sh*t as anybody.

TOMMY AND DEKE JOIN THEM at the mound.

DEKE:

What the hell's going on?

TOMMY:

You breathing through the wrong

f***ing nostril again?

DEKE:

Hey, you guys hear Jimmy and Millie

are engaged?! Wait'll I tell him

she's gone down on half the

Carolina League--

CRASH:

(threatening)

Anybody says anything bad about

Millie, I'll break his neck.

NUKE:

Hey, guys, I got a game to pitch.

JOSE THE FIRST BASEMAN JOINS THEM ALL at the mound.

JOSE:

Don't throw anything to me--my

girlfriend put a curse on my glove.

NUKE:

I'll take the curse off the son

of a b*tch!

JOSE:

Then you got to cut the head off

a live rooster.

NUKE:

Sh*t.

MICKEY JOINS THE CROWD from third base.

MICKEY:

Don't worry, man, this umpire's a

God damn racist.

P.O.V. THE UMPIRE -- He's black.

CUT TO:

THE DUGOUT -- SKIP AND LARRY watch the growing meeting.

SKIP:

What the hell's going on out there?

LARRY:

It's a damn convention.

SKIP:

Check it out.

CUT TO:

THE MOUND -- Larry joins the convention.

LARRY:

What the hell's going on out here?

CRASH:

Nuke's scared cause his nostrils

are jammed and his old man's here,

we need a live rooster to take

the curse off Jose's glove, and

nobody knows what to get Jimmy

and Millie for their wedding

present--there's a whole lotta

sh*t we're trying to deal with--

LARRY:

Oh. I thought there was a problem.

CUT TO:

INT. ANNIE'S HOUSE NIGHT

ANNIE IS HELPING MILLIE make her WEDDING DRESS.

The game can be heard on the radio in the b.g.

MILLIE:

You should be at the game.

ANNIE:

No, no--I'm fine. Millie, how

much time did you and Jimmy spend

together before he proposed?

Annie holds the dress up to Millie.

MILLIE:

Five hours. We both just know.

(studying the dress)

Do you think I deserve to wear

white?

ANNIE:

We all deserve to wear white.

BOTH WOMEN TURN THEIR HEADS to the radio to listen.

TEDDY THE RADIO MAN

...line drive up the alley's gonna

score at least two, here comes

the relay--

CUT TO:

EXT. DURHAM BALLPARK THE GAME NIGHT

CRASH FLIPS HIS MASK -- A runner rounds third heading for

home. Here comes the throw, on a line. It hits once on the

infield grass, takes a long hop--

AS THE RUNNER BARRELS TOWARD THE PLATE -- Crash takes the

throw.

THE RUNNER SLIDES -- Crash blocks the plate. A cloud of

dust. A close play.

THE UMPIRE SIGNALS "SAFE" -- And Crash flips out. In a second

he is nose to nose with the UMPIRE.

CRASH:

I got him on the knee!

UMPIRE:

You missed him!

CRASH:

God damn It, Jack, he still ain't

touched the plate.

THEIR FACES ARE INCHES APART -- Screaming face to face.

UMPIRE:

Don't bump me.

CRASH:

It was a cocksucking call!

UMPIRE:

Did you call me a cocksucker?

CRASH:

No! I said It was a cock-sucking

call and you can't run me for

that!

UMPIRE:

You missed the tag!

CRASH:

You spit on me!

UMPIRE:

I didn't spit on you!

CRASH:

You're in the wrong business,

Jack--you're Sears-Roebuck

material!

UMPIRE:

You're close, Crash, you want me

to run you? I'll run you!

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