The Rookie - 2002

Jim Morris never left it outside of the minor leagues before a shoulder injury ended his pitching career twelve years ago. Presently a married-with-children high school chemistry teacher and baseball coach in Texas, the team of Jim may make a deal with him: if they win the district championship, Jim will try outside with a major league organization. The bet demonstrates incentive enough to your own team, and so they move from worst to first, which makes it into state for its very first time in the school's history. Jim, driven to live up to his end of the deal, is nearly laughed off the tryout field--until he gets onto the mound, at which he confounds that the scouts (and himself) by anemic consecutive 98 mph fastballs, good enough for a minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Jim received lots of pitches to throw before he gets it but with his bigleague fantasies there's no telling where he could proceed.