Scoreboard update: It’s the bottom of the 9th, still scoreless with 1 hit for the Angels. Catcher Messmer is up to bat, hitless in his last 26 appearances. I guess the Angels bench options are pretty worthless, too, then.
Messmer digs into the lefthanded batter’s box. Another
angel appears and grabs the bat with him. He swings, and the bat absolutely
shatters. You do not see that in a regular baseball game. Some happy music
plays as the baseball soars very high in the air and the camera is right on top
of it, showing that one side of the ball is completely split open.
It’s quite obviously a walk-off homer, ending the Angels
losing streak. The teammates mob Messmer, while a bewildered Knox stands in the
dugout clapping his hands like an idiot.
Roger and J.P. cheer for their team as Roger tries once more
to see if his friend saw that “there were angels in the outfield… and in the
infield!” “Yeah, nine of ‘em,” J.P. responds. I’ll admit it took me a while to
get that subtle punchline when I was a kid.
Geez, what’s going on around here?
For some reason, there’s a postgame raffle, and the winner gets to pose for a
pic with Knox. Pine-Sol lady exits at that, shaking her head and muttering
“That’s a prize, mm, mm.” She exits stage left. With a winning ticket of
477380, J.P. is a winner but gives his ticket to Roger because the lad doesn’t
like strangers.
They’re escorted onto the field by some old ballpark
employee and happen upon Tony Danza – who we’re introduced to as Mel Clark –
signing autographs for some fans. There are a lot of excited fans at this game
for a team that’s in the dumpster, but alright.
Seeing Clark, Roger turns into a sports encyclopedia by
saying Clark pitched three shutouts for Cincinnati in 1986, impressing the
ballpark employee. I think it’s the type of fact women are supposed to know to
prove that they can like sports, or something.
The Roger/Knox meet-cute
Not surprisingly, the angsty Knox has no interest in these photographs with
fans, telling communications-man David to hand out “publicity stills.” Knox
also says he hates kids. Because of course, he does. David sets him up on the
mound for the photo opp before whistling back toward home plate and yelling
“first kid!” It doesn’t seem like he’s a kid-person either.
“It was a mistake. This team can’t win,” Knox replies. I
really don’t get why he’s so annoyed here. Shouldn’t he be happy his team had a
1-0 walk-off win? Yeah, they still suck overall, but walk-offs are always fun,
right?
Roger takes this opportunity to inform the manager about why
his team won: The Angels. Knox is definitely creeped out now.
“Great, a psycho kid! David, you’d think they’d screen these
people!”
Roger, who couldn’t convince J.P. of the angels' presence,
doubles down with Knox, telling him to ask his players about it so they can
also confirm “something’s going on.”
The players are confused, too
Back at home that night, Maggie is working away on her sewing machine. Roger
comes out past his bedtime wearing a salmon-colored tee with a big hole in the
front, perfect for sleeping in. He asks her if she believes in angels and if
she thinks they’re real. Her reply is that a lot of amazing things in life
can’t be explained. Her roundabout answer ends with a “yes,” which seems to
please Roger.
Then the sound effect of Messmer’s home run on film, and the
crack of the bat, are matched with Messmer dumping a handful of candies on his
junk-food-filled plate. He takes a big bite of a powdered donut while his
mouthful explains that it felt like someone was swinging with him, he felt some
added power.
“It must have been those chili dogs I ate before the game.
You know, that third one tasted kind of funny,” Messmer tells Knox.
Let’s all take a moment and either laugh or roll our eyes at
the fat-guy joke.
Manager makes a home visit
Knox shows up at Maggie’s door looking for Roger a few days after their
exchange. Because it’s totally normal for the manager of an MLB team to show up
at a kid’s house with the photograph he won, Knox would like to see Roger.
While Knox waits in the living room, a bit impatiently, for
Roger, he starts up the small talk by trying to figure out if Maggie is Roger’s
mom, aunt or grandma. Maggie finally explains her set-up – a short-term
foster-care facility she runs and that Roger is a ward of the state.
The boys return from their bike ride, and Roger is also
surprised to see the big-league manager standing in front of him with his
photograph. He’s unimpressed when he views the photo, and J.P. echoes the
photographer by calling it a “prison photo.”
Knox is really here, of course, to find out more about the angels story from the game. The angels showed up because Roger prayed for them, he says, matter-of-factly. Knox is bouncing between believing Roger and thinking the whole deal is crazy. Still, he invites Roger to his box seat next to the dugout tomorrow.
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