Jim Morris

Biography

Jim Morris' Cinderella story is testimony to the power of dreams and their ability to inspire and transform human life. His story is the subject of the film from Walt Disney, "The Rookie," starring Dennis Quaid. This major motion picture was Disney's most significant release spring 2002. The paperback, "The Rookie," formerly known as "The Oldest Rookie," was published in Mid-March. A school teacher by trade, Jim is a polished public speaker whose miracle story captivates and inspires audiences to never give up on a dream. Growing up as a navy brat, Jim's family moved constantly throughout his childhood. Baseball became his way to make friends when he moved from place to place. Originally drafted in the V round in 1984, Jim's dream was to become a major league baseball player, but his career was derailed by a series of debilitating arm injuries before he got out of the lower minors in 1988. Instead, Jim got married, raised a family of three, and got his college degree before becoming a high school science teacher and baseball coach in a financially depressed area of West Texas (he also became an All-American punter in college football at the age of 27). His baseball career was reduced to playing in beer leagues and throwing batting practice to his high school baseball team. At the age of 35 and some 11 years after retiring from minor league baseball, Jim was giving a speech to his high school team about the importance of dreams and hard work when his high school players challenged him to pursue his dream of pitching in the major leagues. Jim made the following bet with his high school team: if they won the District Championship for their division, he would tryout for the first major league team that came through town. Jim's team fulfilled their end of the bargain, which committed him to a big league tryout, where he miraculously threw 12 consecutive pitches at a rate of 98 mph, almost 10 mph harder than he had some 15 years earlier! Inspired by his family and students, Jim immediately signed a professional baseball contract. After just 3 months in the minor leagues and with his family and students in attendance, Jim returned to Texas as a major league player and struck out all-star Royce Clayton with a 98 mile per hour fastball in his first big league game. Jim Morris' ragtag rise from obscurity became the feel-good story of 1999. After pitching for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2000, Jim signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers and retired from baseball in 2001. As a speaker, Jim inspires and motivates audiences to never give up on their dreams. With a Walt Disney film about his life story on the horizon, Jim is about to become part of the landscape of American heroes. Now is the time for meeting planners to book this hot speaker. Your customers will love Jim's captivating and inspiring tale about the importance of dreams.

Publications

Jim Morris escaped the desolation of his youth by dreaming of pitching in the major leagues. But as with most kids, it was just a fantasy, made all the more impossible by injuries he suffered in his early twenties. Having hoped only for a professional baseball career, Jim found himself facing an adult world he barely recognized. He turned away from baseball and toward the real world. Years passed, and on his thirty-fifth birthday Jim Morris found himself settled in as a high school physics teacher in a hard scrabble West Texas town. He had a wonderful wife, three kids, and students who adored him. His baseball career was restricted to coaching, and he believed his purpose in life was to inspire his students and players to dream bigger dreams than their harsh surroundings and homes generally allowed. Then came the bet. Jim's young players had a proposition for their coach: If they won the league championship something their school had never done-he'd try out for a major-league team. Jim laughed, knowing he was way too old to be considered by a professional squad, but he accepted. Well, they won. And what happened next surprised everyone, especially Jim Morris. Keeping his end of the bet, he headed off to try out for the major leagues. There, he threw faster and better than he had ever thrown before. Suddenly, Jim Morris was reborn. A few months later, he took the mound at Texas Stadium and became the major leagues' oldest rookie pitcher in forty years. Jim Morris's dream had come true. A book about hope, about fathers and children, about husbands and wives, about players and competition, and about the power of dreams, The Oldest Rookie is more than just a tale of one man's inspiring journey. It is for everyone who refuses to give up, and its moral is that we may very well have succeeded beyond our wildest aspirations without even knowing it.

Titles

Never Give Up on a Dream