The Rookie – Pitcher Jim Morris

Jim Morris was once a minor league pitcher who was forced to retire because of shoulder problems. He becomes a high school teacher and baseball coach in a small Texas town. One day after practice, he throws a few pitches to his catcher and the team is caught off-guard by the velocity of his fastballs. They believe he can pitch in the major leagues, which he dismisses. The team loses its first few games and plays without much heart. To motivate them, Coach Morris agrees to try out for the Major Leagues again if they win District and make the State playoffs. In addition, he begins to throw his fastballs to the team during batting practice which improves the team’s hitting and they begin to win games.

Enter our FREE Super Bowl Prop Bet Contest!

The team wins the District Championships and around the same time, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays hold open tryouts. To uphold his end of the deal, Jim goes to the tryouts but does not tell his wife because he does not want her to worry about him re-injuring his shoulder. After watching him throw a few balls, the head scout asks him how fast he was throwing fifteen years ago:

Jimmy: I don’t know… 85-86?

Dave Patterson: You just threw 98 miles an hour.

Jimmy: Nawww!

Dave Patterson: Twelve straight pitches, three radar guns. Same thing on all of ’em.

Jimmy: Look, Dave, there’s no way…

Dave Patterson: Jimmy, I’ve been a scout for a long time, and the number one rule is, arms slow down when they get old. Now, if I call the office and tell ’em I got a guy here almost twice these kids’ age, I’m gonna get laughed at. But, if I don’t call in a 98-mile-an-hour fastball, I’m gonna get fired! I’m just saying there’s a chance you might get a call on this.

--- Read More ---

---

---

Author: TrueSportsMovies

Real Life, Reel Differences

• The film portrays Morris as a resident of Big Lake and a chemistry teacher at Big Lake High School. In reality, Morris lived in San Angelo and was a chemistry/physics teacher at Reagan County High School, which is located in Big Lake. There is no Big Lake High School.
• The film portrays the Big Lake Owls as barely having enough players. In reality, 55 players tried out for the team.
• The scene where Morris pulls off to the side of the road and gets out of his pickup truck to throw some baseballs past the radar sign didn’t really happen.
• Morris did throw 12 straight fastballs clocked at 98 mph at the tryouts and the scouts did double-check their radar guns. He also did have a 2nd tryout in the rain, but there was someone holding an umbrella over his head handing him dry baseballs.
• The Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Texas Rangers are wearing 2001 uniforms instead of 1999 uniforms. This was done so  filmmakers can film actual footage of real games and fill in with athletes and actors wearing the same uniforms.
• The bullpen in which Jim warms up prior to his first major league appearance against the Texas Rangers is actually the Rangers’ bullpen; the visitors’ bullpen at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington is much less visible.
• In the film, Jim is called up to the majors with another AAA teammate, Brooks. In real life, Steve Cox was the player called up with Jim. Brooks was a fictional character created for the movie.
• Alex Rodriguez appeared as a member of the Texas Rangers but in 1999, he was still a Seattle Mariner.
• Morris does strike out Royce Clayton in his major league debut, but on four pitches, not three. Clayton fouled off the 3rd pitch.

Where Are They Now?

Jim Morris made 4 more relief appearances in the 1999 season. In 2000, he pitched in a total of 16 games. His final appearance came on May 9, 2000 at Yankee Stadium. He entered a tie game in the bottom of the 10th inning with the bases loaded and issued a game-ending walk to the first and only batter he faced,  Paul O’Neill. He was sent back down to AAA two days later and ended up having elbow surgery. He was released in November 2000 and signed to a minor league contract by the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 2001 Spring Training, but shortly retired from the game after that.

Overall, the professional major league career of Jim Morris consisted of 21 relief appearances with a 4.80 ERA in 49 innings pitched and no wins, losses, or saves.

Jim wrote an autobiography, The Oldest Rookie, in 2000. It was updated and re-released as The Rookie in 2001 to coincide with Disney’s movie about his life.

After retiring from baseball, Jim became a motivational speaker in 2000 and briefly served as the Head Coach on his own baseball camp, Camp63.

Jim and Lorri separated and he remarried in 2002. He and his new wife, Shawna, currently live in San Antionio.

Jim is active in Social Media, with a LinkedIn account, a Facebook page, and a Twitter account.

If you know Jim Morris or anyone from the 1999 Reagan County baseball team and would like to contribute additional information to this page, please send me an email!)