- Country: USA
- Genres: Drama, Family, Sport
- Release: 2002-03-29
- Director: John Lee Hancock
- Writers: Mike Rich
- Language: English
- Stars: Dennis Quaid , J.D. Evermore , Rachel Griffiths , Jay Hernandez (I) , Beth Grant , Angus T. Jones , Brian Cox (I) , Rick Gonzalez (I) , Chad Lindberg , Angelo Spizzirri
- Runtime: 127 min
- Awards: 5 wins & 4 nominations
- AKA: La recrue (Canada) , El Novato (Mexico) , The Rookie (Australia) , El novato (Argentina) , Nikoli ni prepozno (Slovenia) , Die Entscheidung - Eine wahre Geschichte (Germany) , Κατακτώντας το όνειρο (Greece) , The Rookie , Desafio do Destino (Brazil) , オールド・ルーキー (Japan) , The Rookie - O Treinador (Portugal, Portuguese Republic) , Kataktontas to oneiro (Greece) , 心靈投手 (Taiwan) , Un sogno una vittoria (Italy) , Old Rookie (Japan) , Naujokas (Lithuania) , Debiutant (Poland) , The Rookie (United States of America) , The Rookie (South Africa) , El novato (Colombia) , Çaylak (Turkey) , Debutantul (Romania) , El novato (Spain) , Дебютантът (Bulgaria) , Новајлија (Serbia) , The Rookie (Canada) , Новичок (Russian Federation) , The Rookie (United Kingdom) , Rêve de champion (France, French Republic) , A későn kezdő (Hungary)
- Plot:
Jim Morris never made it out of the minor leagues before a shoulder injury ended his pitching career twelve years ago. Now a married-with-children high-school chemistry teacher and baseball coach in Texas, Jim’s team makes a deal with him: if they win the district championship, Jim will try out with a major-league organization. The bet proves incentive enough for the team, and they go from worst to first, making it to state for the first time in the history of the school. Jim, forced to live up to his end of the deal, is nearly laughed off the try-out field–until he gets onto the mound, where he confounds the scouts (and himself) by clocking successive 98 mph fastballs, good enough for a minor-league contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Jim’s still got a lot of pitches to throw before he makes it to The Show, but with his big-league dreams revived, there’s no telling where he could go.
- IMDB:tt0265662
John Lee Hancock
Director
Dennis Quaid
Jimmy Morris
Rachel Griffiths
Lorri Morris
Jay Hernandez
(I)
Joaquin 'Wack' Campos
Beth Grant
Olline
Angus T. Jones
Hunter Morris
Brian Cox
(I)
Jim Morris Sr.
Rick Gonzalez
(I)
Rudy Bonilla
Chad Lindberg
Joe David West
Angelo Spizzirri
Joel De La Garza
Royce D. Applegate
Henry
Russell Richardson
Brooks
Raynor Scheine
Frank
Chris Sheffield
Catcher
Brandon Smith
Orlando Manager