My guess is most (if not all of you) have seen the movie. And if you didn't see the movie, you are at least familiar with the story of Jim Morris, former #1 draft choice that hurt his arm, quit baseball and became a teacher, and then came back at age 35 to play in the major leagues.
It's a great story and it made a nice movie. The film is a Disney production, so it is a bit sugar-coated, but I'm fine with that. Why add some downers to an uplifting story?
Dennis Quaid plays Jim Morris and does an acceptable job as a ballplayer, though he looks nothing at all like Jim Morris. Actually, Jim Morris was in the movie, playing an umpire. Look at the two and you don't see much of a resemblance.
But that's ok, since most movie goers probably don't know what Jim Morris looks like, anyway.
CUBS CONNECTION
There is a very thin Cubs connection......when Morris enters the Devil Rays' clubhouse for the first time the camera pans the lockers and we catch a glimpse of
Fred McGriff's jersey. McGriff would be traded from the Rays....
...to the Cubs during the 2001 season.
BASEBALL CARDS
I didn't need to make any fake ones, since there are a few cards of the real Jim Morris out there....
2000 Bowman
2000 Fleer Impact
Finally, I found a few articles written during the 1999 season. This one is from August, when he was still in AAA. This article was written the day after his MLB debut.
I always liked this one.
ReplyDeletemoe.