The Rookie
by
Jim Morris

and

Joel Engel

Warner Books, March 2002, 276 pp.
ISBN: 0-446-67837-6

Genre: Non-Fiction
Subgenres: Autobiography / Baseball
Reviewed: 4/10/2004

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Excerpt

College Ball . . .

Jack's mistake was to schedule a doubleheader, and his bad luck was that at least a dozen scouts showed up that day. It would have been foolish to overwork his known pitchers in these exhibitions, so he had no choice but to pitch me in the second game. Before handing me the ball he said, "I don't want you throwing it over eighty miles an hour." I said okay and went out there with the intention of pleasing him.

Throwing about seventy-seven miles an hour, I got the first two batters out, but the third  guy hit my "fastball" to Louisiana. That infuriated me. Jack or no Jack, I couldn't accept playing half-assed. The fourth batter dug in and licked his lips, expecting a fat lollipop to float to the plate. I reared back and let it fly. The batter looked stunned; I'm not sure he saw the pitch, which I estimated at ninety miles an hour. I was mad.

As soon as the catcher caught it, Jack called time and trudged out to the mound. With the usual wad of chew in the left cheek and an old stogie in the right he mumbled, "Well, you screwed me," then turned and walked back to the dugout.

I struck out that batter and the next five I faced. Jack was noticeably disgusted. He put me in right field. I actually preferred playing outfield, because I loved to hit. My first inning out there, a batter hit a long fly in my direction. I went backward on the ball, back, back, almost to the metal fence, and reached up. The ball sailed over my head and struck the fence, then ricocheted off and cracked me on the head. At that exact instant, a bee that had been hiding in my glove stung me on the finger. I didn't know what hurt worse, my head, my finger, or my pride, and I didn't know what part of me to hold.

Jack called time and marched slowly to the outfield. He was spitting tobacco juice, smoking the stogie, and holding a complete set of catcher's gear. Jack and I were the only ones not laughing.

He dropped the gear at my feet and said, "I think you need this to play outfield."

My humiliation was complete. I figured my name was being crossed off the scouts' lists.

Synopsis

The Rookie follows Jim Morris' life from the very beginning when he realized at a very early age that he was infatuated with the ball. When he saw his first baseball game at the age of three, he knew what he was meant to do.

By age seven, he could usually play better than most 12-year olds. In high school, no one could touch him. Only, there was a problem. You see, he grew up in Texas where the only sport that really mattered was football. Baseball was frowned upon and he couldn't get any real training in the game he loved.

When he makes a college team, he is only using it for one thing: to make it to the big show. And when some scouts appear at a double header that he is pitching in, he is selected to play professional ball for the Milwaukee Brewers.

In Los Angeles for spring training, Jim finds that not having four years of college ball and not being properly trained in the subtle nuances of the game, has left him unprepared for the majors. As he makes mistake after mistake, and acts like a tempered brat on the mound, he slowly moves down the ranks and finally has to drop out of baseball because of his hurting arm.

What he does not realize right away is the arm is not the problem. His problem is mental. Now he must spend his life working in jobs that do not pay well knowing that his dream is escaping him. His one true calling will never be fulfilled . . . or will it?

The Rookie is a biography about the life and times of Jim Morris, a man that became a Rookie for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays while in his mid-thirties. The story is written by Jim Morris and Joel Engel. It was originally published under the name The Oldest Rookie.

Review

From the first few pages, I knew I was going to enjoy the story about Jim Morris' struggle to make it to the big leagues in pro baseball. Let me start off with saying that I am not a baseball fan. I don't follow a team and could not name five current players.

You don't have to watch baseball to enjoy The Rookie. It is more about one man's struggle to work at something he has loved since the day he was born. Its what he was born to do. But he struggles. Nothing in his adult life ever comes easy; not baseball, not his marriage, not any job he held.

The writing is wonderful and draws the reader into the story. I saw the movie last year and was expecting the book to mirror the movie. Instead, I found the movie really only focused in on the last quarter of the book. I highly enjoyed learning following Jim from being born up until he was an adult.

Overall, I was highly impressed with this The Rookie. I highly recommend picking up the story about the life and times of Jim Morris, the oldest rookie.

I rated this book an 8 out of 10.