The Rookie Page #7

until it was time to start doing

what you were meant to do.

That may not be

what you wanted to hear.

[ Clears throat ]

Good night, Jimmy.

Good night.

I swear, sometimes I think

he lies in bed at night

just figuring out the one thing

that he can say

that hurts the most.

I was this close

to thinking

he was gonna give me

some good advice.

Maybe he did.

What?

Oh, boy. [ Sighs ]

Listen, Jimmy, I love you.

Lord knows I think it's great

you going out there

and showing up the kids

at the tryout.

But I'm a little concerned that

you might be losing sight

of the fact you have a family

who needs you

and a pretty decent job waiting

for you up at Fort Worth.

For the record, all right,

I never said

I was gonna do this.

Oh, come on, Jimmy.

I know you.

Although I was hoping for

a little bit more support

on the home front.

Oh, so this doesn't concern

me...or the kids?

You can't eat dreams,

Jimmy.

And they don't pay for clothes

or shoes or gas or babysitters.

Now, I do not want to be

the bad guy in this,

but somebody around here

has got to start

being rational.

You know what?!

That's all I've been

my whole life!

Yeah,

what about my life?!

I was there, too,

remember?

Every time you got hurt,

I got a front-row seat

to watch you shut yourself off

from the rest of the world...

And from me.

Truth is,

I was happy when you quit.

Happy.

Yeah...

Because I don't want to see you

get hurt again.

[ Clears throat ]

[ Exhales deeply ]

[ Footsteps approaching ]

[ Sighs ] Kids down?

For a while, at least.

I'm sorry.

Yeah.

Me too.

[ Exhales deeply ]

I've been thinking --

So have l.

I think you should do this.

No. No.

You were right.

No. I don't think so.

We've got an 8-year-old boy

inside this house

who waited all day in the sun

and the rain

to see his daddy

try to do something

that nobody believed

he could do.

Now, what are we telling him

if--

if you don't try now?

[ Smacks lips ]

I can't leave you here

with all this.

Jimmy Morris,

I'm a Texas woman.

Which means I don't need

the help of a man

to keep things running.

Okay?

Okay.

[ Sighs ]

Okay.

Great.

[ Chuckles softly ]

[ Kisses ]

[ Kisses ]

[ Kisses ]

See you soon, little man.

[ Sighs ]

[ lndistinct conversations,

laughter ]

Excuse me.

Excuse me.

You the old guy?

I'm the old guy.

Man:
Come on, Rays,

you're on a roll!

Man #2:
Hey, Big Time.

You use a walker

to get to the mound,

or do the other players

carry you?

Man #3:
Hey, Pitch, who'd you

come up with, the Senators?

Man #4:

What are they paying you?

Man #5:
They ought to pay us

to come see you!

Welcome to last place!

[ Laughs ]

Hey, Skipper!

I didn't know it was

"Bring Your Dad To Work" night.

[ Cheering ]

Woman:
Way to go!

Man:
Way to bring up

his average!

Coach:
Time!

Announcer:
[ On P.A. ]

Pitching change for Orlando.

Now pitching, number nine,

Johnny Morris.

Check that -- Jimmy Morris.

And now, fans, it's time

to guess the winning car!

[ Cheering ]

And a big crash

at the first-base line!

Number one will win it

this time.

Man:
Who is this guy?

Work fast.

We got a long bus trip.

Let's go, Stingrays!

[ "Wooly Bully" plays on P.A. ]

# Wooly bully #

# Wooly bully #

# Wooly bully #

# Wooly bully #

# Watch it now, watch it,

watch it, watch it #

# You got it, you got it,

you got it #

[ Music stops ]

Whoa!

[ Laughter and boos ]

Man:
Hey, Pitch! Do I look like

a strike zone to you?!

-- You stink!

-- You can't play ball!

Lorri:
I can't believe they let

you pitch your first game.

Well, how'd you do?

Not bad.

[ Sighs ] I had a few of 'em

get away from me.

Did the fans all yell

when you ran in?

Yeah. Oh, yeah,

they were yelling, all right.

Oh, honey,

that's just great.

Hey, let me get the kids.

Uh, no. Um...

Just tell them I'll call them

tomorrow from...

Wherever we're going.

Okay, I will.

[ Chuckles softly ]

I love you.

I love you, too.

Take care.

[ Sighs ]

[ Grunts ]

-- [ Slap ]

-- Strike!

[ Crowd cheering ]

-- [ Grunts ]

-- Strike!

-- [ Grunts ]

-- Strike!

Out!

[ Slap ]

[ Crack ]

Blue!

Jimmy:
Okay,

what's four times four?

Hunter:
17?

No, it's not 17.

You're guessing.

Just add it up.

It's 16.

You got to be able to look at

four times four,

and just know that it's 16

without even having to think

about it, all right?

Now let's do your fives.

Aw, Daddy,

I already done my fives.

-- What's --

-- [ Knock ]

Well, if you want to learn

how to multiply,

you're gonna have

to practice, bud.

Okay.

-- Hey, Dad.

-- Yeah, partner?

Told you when you're going

to the big leagues yet?

[ Sighs ]

Could you put your mom on?

Okay?

Okay.

All right.

Oh, thanks, hon.

Hey.

Jessie says they left you in

one too many pitches.

Jessie needs to learn how to

keep a secret with her father.

-- How are things going?

-- Things are good.

Hunter's got a field trip

on Friday,

and the rest of us

are talking about --

Honey,

that's not what I meant.

I know.

It's not bad.

We're a little behind.

[ Groans ] How much?

Well, they took the bed,

but they left the nightstand.

[ Sighs ]

You all right?

I'm just tired.

[ Smacks lips ]

I love you.

Love you, too.

Good night.

Okay. Good night.

Good night.

[ Sighs ]

Listen, man...

This is the only

long-distance phone

we have here at The Ritz.

You see someone waiting, you

keep it to 10 minutes, okay?

What?

Now you all talked out?

Use it all up

on your girlfriend?

It was my son.

He needed help

with his homework.

[ Sighs ]

[ Crack ]

[ Crack ]

Get out of here.

It looks like a little screen

time's coming for Kenny Justin.

[ Crack ]

Jim!

Hey, Jim,

come here a minute.

Jim, I want you to meet

Tim Stewart from "ABC News. "

Hey, Jim. It's a pleasure.

Thanks for taking some time

with us.

You want to sit down?

I got a jersey for you.

Can you believe that?

I go four-for-five last night

and look where they got

the camera.

Man's been pitching good enough

to talk about it.

Dude's old enough.

He needs to talk

about retiring.

Player:
Come on, let's go.

[ lndistinct conversations ]

Player #2:

Hey, grab my magazine.

Old Man River,

you're moving kind of slow.

Yeah.

Six hours on a bus.

Yeah?

Never mind.

Come on, man.

Look, I got just the recipe

to loosen them bones up.

[ Rock music plays ]

Waitress:
Here you go.

Gentlemen...

To the diet that put Babe Ruth

in the Hall Of fame.

Hey, River, what was it like

watching The Babe play?

Mm-hmm. Okay.

You sure

you want to start this?

How many fans

did you guys lose

when you raised ticket prices

to 50 cents?

Not as many as we lose

when you pitch.

Ohhhh!

And this game is over, baby!

River, I swear, if you were

this funny all the time,

nobody'd say nothing --

About what?

What do you mean?

What are they saying,

Brooks?

Look, some of the guys figure,

you know,

the way the team's pushing

your story and all, that --

Oh. What? Do they think I'm some

kind of publicity stunt?

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote