The Rookie commentary, part 10: ‘What are we telling him if you don’t try now?’

In the next scene, Jimmy is back at his father’s house, sitting in his truck and staring into the darkness as if trying to figure out if he wants to go in. Jimmy ends up wandering in the yard and declines an invitation to come in the house when his dad sees him.

Because Jimmy and his dad still apparently don’t talk about things, the old man opens up the conversation by saying Lorri called him and “guess the scouts saw what they wanted to see.” That’s the way of telling the audience that things went well and now Jimmy has a decision to make regarding if he should head out and away from his family so he can go give this baseball thing a try again.

He’s at a crossroads. He’s not sure what to do. And even with the tumultuous relationship, he still ended up at his dad’s place for advice. Dad first fouls one off with a “give it some time” approach, which is something Jimmy says he doesn’t have. Then dad goes for the belt.

“Your grandfather once told me ‘it’s OK to think about what you want to do until it was time to start doing what you were meant to do.’ That may not be what you wanted to hear.”

Goodnight.

The blow-up continues on the home front
Quick-cut to Jimmy unleashing his fury for his dad back at home talking to Lorri: “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.” After all the awkward scenes with Jimmy the teenager and the tension in their father-son relationship, this is really the first time we see it boiling over for Jimmy, the anger he’s built up.

Jimmy hoped that this time, his dad was going to come through with some good advice. Now it’s Lorri’s turn to respond with an icy “maybe he did.” Yes, it’s time to recall her earlier, unconvincing happiness about Jimmy’s 98-mph fastball from his tryout.

Lorri goes into the list of reasons why she has reservations about her husband taking off to go play ball again. He has a family to support, a great job waiting in Fort Worth (which feels like it’s just a movie-chip pawn sometimes), and she tells him that he’s losing sight of all of those important things. “You can’t eat dreams, Jimmy,” she says, in reference to him needing to bring in some dough.

The gloves really come off when Lorri says she had the front-row seat to Jimmy’s pitching career the last time, especially when he got hurt and shut himself off from the rest of the world and from her. That dagger? “Truth is, I was happy when you quit.” 

But she does make some good points, and she also doesn’t want to see him get hurt again. It’s not worth the risk to her.

I have no idea if real-life Jimmy and his wife had these debates about whether he should give this a shot or not. I would imagine there were certainly discussions. Though this dramatic fight does scream “movie bit.”

Then they make-up
The dust settles and Lorri tucks in a sleeping Hunter. His walls are decorated with baseball cards, cutouts of ballplayers, even a photo of his dad on the mound. She gazes at all of it as she pulls the blankets close to her son. Her own wheels are turning in her head. She’s obviously going to change her mind, because we don’t come this far into the movie for Jimmy to put the brakes on and finish up teaching science in Fort Worth.

The husband and wife apologize to each other on the porch, each knowing the earlier conversation got too heated. Naturally, they each flip their positions, Lorri telling him to play and Jimmy saying she was right on her counterpoints.

But it’s Lorri who delivers the speech that tugs at the heartstrings. She mentions Hunter, their 8-year-old boy who waited in the rain all day to see his daddy pitch.

“What are we telling him if you don’t try now?”

So, I guess Jimmy going for it is all to Hunter’s credit? It’s obvious that Jimmy’s passion for baseball was injected into his son’s veins, too.

Time to hit the road
Still, Jimmy is hesitant, noting he can’t leave his wife with the sole responsibilities that come with three young children, bills to pay and a house to keep. She’s prepared though, telling him she’s a Texas woman who doesn’t need a man to keep things running. Score a point for the independent women!

Whether it’s the next morning or soon after, Jimmy is up early, dressed with an overnight bag slung over his right shoulder as he kisses his sleeping daughters goodbye in their shared bedroom. He stops in Hunter’s room as well, adding a “see you soon, little man” to his kiss on the head.

Lorri is waiting in the hall, and they embrace in a hug, gripping each other tightly, in a way meant for hugs of a person leaving for a while. 

The Rookie commentary, part 1: ‘What kind of baseball do they have? … They don’t.
The Rookie commentary, part 2: ‘There are more important things in life than baseball’

The Rookie commentary, part 3: ‘Yeah dad, bring the heat!’
The Rookie commentary, part 4: ‘You don’t have dreams, you don’t have anything’
The Rookie commentary, part 5: 'You got your shot at baseball. You got hurt.' 
The Rookie commentary, part 6: 'State! State! State!'
The Rookie commentary, part 7: 'It's your turn, coach'
The Rookie commentary, part 8: 'You just threw 98 mph'
The Rookie commentary, part 9: ‘Do you know how many guys can throw the ball 98 mph?’