The Rookie commentary, part 13: ‘There’s a dress code in the Major Leagues’

The next day, Jimmy is downright bubbly as he enters the locker room and strolls over to a shirtless Brooks in front of the mirror. “You know what we get to do today, Brooks? We get to play baseball!”

Oh yeah, baseball-loving Jimmy is back.

Morris is pitching in the game, obviously inspired. We don’t see much of the game but get shots of some of his high-school players listening to the audio feed via a 1990s-bulky computer. “Coach is really bringing it tonight,” Rudy says. The Morris family is listening, too, and Hunter is keeping track of his dad’s strikeouts with Ks written on Post-Its. Have I mentioned I love this kid?

A visit to the skipper’s office
With a win for the good guys in the books, Jimmy is called into the manager’s office and told to shut the door. So serious. Skip tells Jimmy that he got off the phone with the big club. In a dramatic-effect movie twist, he says they’re calling up Brooks. Jimmy is all gentleman-like when he says how great that is and that Brooks won’t be back in the minors.

But skip is pretty coy here, and he deadpans that he thought Jimmy would like to tell Brooks the news “… being as you’re going, too.”

Jimmy is stunned. “They’re calling me up?”

As if it couldn’t get any more storybook, the manager informs Jimmy that the Rays are on the road right now. In Texas. The whole moment is a sly delivery from the manager. He keeps it simple, informational, but he’s also hiding a grin because he recognizes what this moment means for his pitcher. Jimmy takes in the news with a couple of big deep breaths before leaving the office.

Telling his people
Cut to Lorri assembling a salad in the kitchen at home as the phone rings. Sort of like the manager, Jimmy doesn’t just blurt out the news to her either. He asks Lorri about his blue sport coat that he never wears. His way of telling her that he made it to the Major Leagues is asking her to bring the coat to Arlington (Texas) tomorrow.

It takes a very brief second, but Lorri catches her breath and catches on, prodding him to actually tell her the good news. “You tell me right now, Jimmy Morris.”

“Uh, apparently,” Jimmy staggers. “There’s a dress code in the major leagues.”

Tears spring to Lorri’s eyes, leaving her speechless. Jimmy wants her to tell everybody the news, and of course, she will, but she wants him to tell one other person first. She calls Hunter to come to the phone.

Jimmy tries so hard to control those wet pockets in his eyes, needing to be composed though still choking back the tears.

“Hey buddy,” Jimmy says to Hunter. “Hey, guess what? Your daddy is going to be a major league pitcher.”

“Really? Cool.”

And then as a curious 8-year-old boy, Hunter asks which team he’ll play for and then he wants to know what a devil ray is, the color and if you can eat it. Don’t worry Hunter, they’ll drop the “devil” from the name in a few years. Much cooler.

We finish the scene hearing Hunter say: “My daddy’s a big-league pitcher.” #Heartstrings

Making it to the big-league ballpark
Lorri probably didn’t have to do much to spread the word in their small town. That night, some of the high school ballplayers caused a ruckus driving down main street, honking the car horn, yelling and celebrating the moment for their coach. They also print off flyers, handing them out at school, sticking them on windshields: “Come watch Coach Morris in the Big Leagues – tonight in Arlington – meet at ballfield at 2 p.m.”

Ticket sales at the Ballpark in Arlington that night probably went up by about the population of Big Lake.

The next day, the street in front of the Ballpark in Arlington is completely deserted as a taxi pulls up to drop off Brooks and Jimmy. They walk into the gate, and camera shots from above help showcase the magnitude of the moment, with Jimmy looking around in awe knowing that this is his office for the night.

A custodian lets them into the visitor’s clubhouse, saying the rest of the team won’t be there for a couple of hours. My hunch says this early arrival is to let movie-Jimmy have his moment and take it all in for the film purposes. A call-up playing in a game the next day, with travel, might arrive at the park later than the MLB team instead of before, right? Maybe. But that would have ruined the moment.

“We aren’t in Kansas anymore, are we ‘Riv (Old Man River)?” Brooks says to Jimmy when they see the luxurious clubhouse space compared to their dank locker rooms they’re used to in the minors.

Jimmy finds a No. 63 Devil Rays jersey hanging in what appears to be his locker stall. Lorri successfully delivered the blue sport coat, hanging neatly alongside with another surprise: The Santa Rita coin.

Pregame reunion
Before game time out in the stadium, Jimmy warms up in the bullpen, and we’re treated to those familiar sound effects to showcase his pitch speed and crack into the mitt. The bullpen coaches grin from ear-to-ear seemingly very pleased with this new arm they’ve acquired.

Lorri shows up in the stands near the ‘pen and can’t resist yelling out to him. “Jimmy. Jimmy Morris!” Hunter and Jessie are in tow, and they run down the aisle to greet Jimmy, who stands on a bench to come as close to his family as he can. Lorri reaches her hand down to grab his, saying he looks great and she “can’t believe it.” Jimmy reaches out for the kids, too, saying he misses them and remarks on how big they’ve gotten. Typical dad stuff.

Their mom says they’ve got to let daddy get to work. They walk away and Jimmy raises himself up further, intent on keeping his eyes on his family for as long as he can. His smile spreads across his face like it’s Christmas morning. It’s adorable, really.

A few of the Owls players made it to the stadium, too, the camera follows behind as they make their way from the concourse into an upper-deck section in the outfield. This gives the audience a glimpse of how massive the stage is for Jimmy. It’s a true big-league ballpark. He’s not in Big Lake anymore.

Not showing a full nine-inning game, we see some game action and the Texas Rangers take a 1-0 lead before the Devil Rays tie it 1-1 in the second inning. Some more time passes before we see a call to the bullpen phone. It’s not for Jimmy.

The Rangers extended their lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth while Jimmy sits nervously in the bullpen. Remember, there’s no guarantee he’ll get in to pitch in his first opportunity. But this being a movie, they wouldn’t take us down this path for him to sit there and spit seeds. 

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?’
The Rookie commentary, part 10: 'What are we telling him if you don't try now?'
The Rookie commentary, part 11: 'I'm the old guy'
The Rookie commentary, part 12: 'I'm wasting my time down here'