The Rookie

Plot

A Texas baseball coach makes the major league after agreeing to try out if his high school team made the playoffs.

Release Year: 2002

Rating: 6.9/10 (15,283 voted)

Critic's Score: 72/100

Director:
John Lee Hancock

Stars: Dennis Quaid, J.D. Evermore, Rachel Griffiths

Storyline
Jim Morris is a Texas high school chemistry teacher and coach of the school's baseball team. He's always loved baseball and as a way of motivating his players, he agrees to go to a professional try-out if they win the championship. He once had aspirations to be a professional baseball player but an injury brought that to an end. Sure enough, the 39 year-old father of three finds himself at a camp for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and he somehow seems to have regained his pitching arm, easily throwing a 98 mph fastball. Signed to a contract, he toils in the minor leagues while his supportive wife stays home raising their children. He soon finds himself called up to the big club and pitching for Tampa which is in Texas playing the Rangers. Based on a true story.

Cast:

Dennis Quaid
–

Jimmy Morris

Rachel Griffiths
–

Lorri Morris

Jay Hernandez
–

Joaquin 'Wack' Campos

Beth Grant
–

Olline

Angus T. Jones
–

Hunter Morris

Brian Cox
–

Jim Morris Sr.

Rick Gonzalez
–

Rudy Bonilla

Chad Lindberg
–

Joe David West

Angelo Spizzirri
–

Joel De La Garza

Royce D. Applegate
–

Henry

Russell Richardson
–

Brooks

Raynor Scheine
–

Frank

David Blackwell
–

Cal

Blue Deckert
–

Baseball Scout Dave Patterson

Danny Kamin
–

Durham Manager Mac

(as Daniel Kamin)

Taglines:
It's never too late to believe in your dreams.

Details

Official Website:
Disney |

Release Date: 29 March 2002

Filming Locations: Austin Studios – 1901 E. 51st Street, Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $20,000,000

(estimated)

Opening Weekend: $16,021,684
(USA)
(31 March 2002)
(2511 Screens)

Gross: $80,693,537
(Worldwide)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Did You Know?

Trivia:

Trevor Morgan, who plays Young Jimmy, had to learn how to pitch left-handed.

Goofs:

Anachronisms:
Several of the players seen in the Rangers game (including the Rangers' Alex Rodriguez and the Devil Rays' Tanyon Sturtze) were not with their respective teams when Morris made his major league debut on September 18, 1999.

Quotes:

Durham Manager Mac:
Jimmy, I just got off the phone with the big club. They're calling up Brooks.

Jimmy:
That's great. He won't be back.

Durham Manager Mac:
He respects you, and I think you ought to be the one to tell him. Being that you're going, too…

User Review

They Did This Sports Movie Right

Rating: 10/10


I love it when they actually do a sports story well. So many in the
past have been so hokey it was embarrassing to watch. Not this one.
It's just a genuinely nice movie, an old-fashioned type of story – and
based on a real-life guy to did exactly what Dennis Quaid did in this
film. He plays a high school coach who is talked into trying out, late
in life athletically-speaking, to become a pitcher in professional
baseball. Eventually, he reaches his goal of making it to the Major
Leagues, even if it was a very brief stint.

All the characters in here are nice people, the kind you root for, from
Quaid to the players on his high school team, to his little boy (Angus
T. Jones, now somewhat of a star on television.)

Quaid is believable in playing Jim Morris because, unlike actors in the
past in sports films, he knows how to throw a baseball. He looks like a
pitcher, a guy who could fire it 90-plus miles per hour. And, most of
this film is true, as testified by the real-life pitcher in one the
documentaries on the DVD.

So, if you're looking for a nice, inspirational true life sports film,
you can't wrong with this one.