The Phenom Page #4

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Here's how Hopper Gibson's stats

compare with Howard Glass.

Their numbers are eerily similar:

When you first came into the public eye,

uh...

why did you say your dad was

a fisherman to Sports Illustrated?

Because it's none of their business.

I mean, what am I supposed to do?

Am I supposed to air my dirty laundry

in front of the entire world?

Why would I do that to my mom?

You know? I mean, am I supposed

to say he deals eight balls in SI?

Oh, huh.

Still, you made up

occupations for your dad.

No, I didn't.

- No?

- No.

Every... He... Yeah,

he hung drywall for a while.

He was a fisherman.

He was a fisherman for a year.

- Yeah, okay.

- Yeah.

Well, maybe that's how

you like to think of him.

I have no idea.

All I know is I'm f***ing tired.

That's what I know.

Nice rain.

Clean my car off, at least that's good.

- You think I'm lying, don't you?

- No.

We can make things

be the way we want them to be in our head

so that the pain isn't too much.

And that's very different from lying.

That's very different.

My dad always said,

"Pain is weakness leaving the body."

What do you think of that?

I don't know. What do you think?

It has its own warped, macho truth to it.

My dad was a pretty warped, macho guy.

Wouldn't even know

we were in the same family except...

Except for what?

People say that... I mean,

some people say that I favor him.

We have the same look in our eye.

What look is that?

Secretiveness, I guess.

Maybe something's going on,

maybe there's a time-bomb ticking.

I picture my dad and

all I see is a shadow.

A person can reject aspects of themselves

that they don't like

and put them on to somebody else.

You know, project them.

Things that make them uncomfortable

or things that feel dangerous,

things that feel...

ugly.

But the funny thing is,

there's a lot of positive things

in our shadow that we need.

Like what?

Like our instincts, for one.

Like our animal instincts.

So you want me to get angry?

You want me to explode?

No, I want you to throw

without thinking about it.

I want you to be instinctual.

I want you to get out of your own way.

Leave yourself alone.

Do you want to explode?

No.

You feel like a time-bomb sometimes?

No. Of course, not.

Okay. That's good. I believe that.

Or I guess I was one.

And I didn't even know it.

Open up!

Hopper.

Teresa, you're looking spry.

- B*tch.

- Stop it.

I still haven't seen Dorothy anywhere.

- Does Hop look upset to you?

- No, he doesn't look upset.

I wonder if they broke up.

Sh*t, I hope not.

Coach Eddie better not even think about

taking him out of the game.

- He looks tired.

- He doesn't look tired, all right?

He looks lazy like his mother.

Come on, Hopper, challenge this guy.

Huh, don't p*ssy-foot around.

Challenge him!

Coach Eddie, better not make you

p*ssy-foot these scrubs.

This kid can't hit you!

There you go, there you go.

Christ, big shot, huh?

I guess you were really

important back then, huh?

That's easy.

Come, do this right here right now.

You have a good night, huh, buddy?

You all right?

Yeah, I'm good.

- Arm's fine?

- Yeah.

Just worry about that hitter

right now. That's it.

Yes, Coach.

Where's your mind?

It's in the game.

Nothing else should be

of any concern to you right now.

You got to f*** all that noise.

We'll deal with whatever that is

after the game.

You can't worry about that stuff

'cause you can't control it.

So, there's no point worrying about it.

This is it.

Bailing butt from this all is simple.

This is it.

You ever heard of F. Scott Fitzgerald?

No.

Well, he was a wunderkind,

like yourself. A whiz kid.

So good at his craft, he didn't even

have to think about what he was doing.

Now, this is about Fitzgerald, uh...

- Cracking up.

- Hm.

- You're cool if I read a passage?

- Sure.

Short one?

Okay, uh

"I was him again, for an instant,

I had the good fortune

to share his dreams,

I, who have no more dreams of my own.

And there are still times

when I creep up on him,

surprise him on an autumn morning

in New York

or a spring night in Carolina,

when it's so quiet, you can hear a dog

barking in the next county.

But never again, as during

that all too short period,

when he and I were one person,

when the fulfilled future

and the wistful past

were mingled in a single gorgeous moment,

when life was literally a dream."

- He's talking about being old.

- Hm.

Wishing he was young again?

I don't know anything about that.

Well, he wasn't that old when he wrote it.

He was still a pretty young man.

He felt old, he felt like he wasn't

connected to his younger self any more.

That's the rub.

The part where he's talking about

life being a dream,

I've never experienced that.

- But...

- Never.

Never once, felt any kind of pleasure,

any enjoyment in your success?

No, never. No. My dad always told me,

"No emotions on the mound."

- So you can't show emotions on the mound.

- No.

Were you allowed to show emotion

off the mound?

I was never off the mound.

I was taught, you are always on the mound.

- Right.

- Always on the mound.

You are always supposed to

outfox your opponent.

- Yeah?

- Your opponent?

Your opponent, yeah.

- Who's the opponent off the mound?

- Everyone.

Everyone outside of the family.

Yeah.

Must be pretty hard to talk to me then.

- No, seriously.

- Well, sometimes, yeah. I guess.

- Yeah. Well...

- Sure.

- It's been a difficult challenge.

- Yeah.

Well.

Do you think your father had a lot to do

with your success as a pitcher, Hopper?

Hm. I mean, yeah.

When I was a little kid, I never thought

I was gonna make it to the Majors.

I'd wanna go hang out with friends,

go to the beach, you know.

But he, he would say,

"No, that's not gonna work.

If you love it, good things will come."

- So what did you do?

- I loved it.

- Just like that?

- Just like that.

- Really?

- Yeah. Yeah.

With three relief pitchers on the DL,

Atlanta looks to be in trouble,

heading into division playoffs

this coming weekend.

One name that has come up

as a possible remedy

is the last wonder boy, Hopper Gibson.

Gibson has spent the past few months

in the Minors trying to regain control

of his considerable stuff.

In the current vernacular,

the dude's got issues.

It's not that hard. Come on.

Uh, what do I miss most about the Majors?

Probably the jet planes.

Can't jump a jet plane like you can

a freight train, right, Hopper?

What about those geese, Hopper?

How do you mean?

I mean, you watched them a long time.

Yeah, I don't know.

Watching the geese

was just so... peaceful.

I prefer watching jet planes.

Well, then, why don't you follow

someone who is in the Majors?

What can I say? I'm dedicated.

To car crashes, yeah.

Don't talk about yourself like that.

You give good quote.

That sh*t about geese is nice stuff.

I'm glad you think so.

You have enough so you don't have to

tag along anymore?

It's only a good quote today.

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