The Rookie (2002)

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

Director:

John Lee Hancock

Writer:

Mike Rich

Stars:

Dennis Quaid, J.D. Evermore, Rachel Griffiths

5 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)

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.

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Plot Keywords:

baseball | texas | high school | based on true story | character appears on television | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes dreams come back to life.

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Sport

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scenes depicting Jim Morris trying out for the majors were filmed in Taylor, TX at the former Taylor High School, now the Main Street campus. This location was a stand in for Angelo State University where the tryouts were supposed to have been held. Taylor is about 15 minutes west of Thorndale, TX which stood in for the town of Big Lake, TX and is 15 minutes east of the Dell Diamond where most of the minor league games depicted were filmed. The Round Rock Express, a AAA farm team for The Texas Rangers, plays their home games.

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Goofs

The newspaper clipping about the Tampa Bay Devil Rays says that the tryout is at San Angelo State University - there is no such university. Angelo State University is in San Angelo, Texas.

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Quotes

TV Reporter: [interviewing Jimmy after his first major league game] What pitches did you throw to get that strikeout?
Jimmy: Fastball, fastball, and
[chuckling]
Jimmy: fastball!
TV Reporter: How did it feel, pitching in the major leagues?
Jimmy: Just like I hoped it would.
Jimmy: [to the reporters, seeing his father through the TV lights] Can you excuse me?

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Crazy Credits

The 2 nuns are walking on Jimmy's (Dennis Quaid) field as the film ends

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Sports Movie Underdogs (2014)

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Soundtracks

Happy Birthday To You
Written by Mildred J. Hill and Patty S. Hill

User Reviews

Not a 'rookie' in entertainment

****

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Rachel Griffiths, and Angus T. Jones.

A science teacher in his late thirties decides to follow his dream...playing professional baseball. The team that he coaches makes a bet that if they win the championship, then he must try out for pro baseball. Well guess what happens? Yep, you guessed it. I can't exactly tell you the rest, but you'll love it.

The film has a lot of heart that keeps this movie going and going. Quaid portrays a wonderful performance as Jimmy Morris. Everyone else is perfect, and his is definitely on the top 10 of 2002. It's Oscar material all the way and deserves whatever it gets.

What's also good about this is that it can be a great movie with no bad language or anything. That's a sign of great writing.

Highly recommended to everyone, but very highly recommended to families.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 March 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Rookie

Filming Locations:

Leander, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,021,684, 31 March 2002

Gross USA:

$75,600,072

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$80,693,537

Company Credits

Production Co:

98 MPH Productions, Gran Via, Walt Disney Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1