The Grand Rapids Press Monday October 13, 2008
by Matt Vande Bunte |
KENTWOOD — As a wide-eyed boy watching a game at Boston’s Fenway Park, Jim Morris imagined himself on the field. Twenty-five years later, he achieved his improbable dream.
Urged on by the high school kids he coached, the “washed-up” ballplayer took the mound in a big-league uniform and struck out the likes of All-Stars Frank Thomas, Alfonso Soriano and Jim Thome.
Morris, whose life was portrayed in the 2002 Disney movie “The Rookie,” will talk about his unlikely journey at a fundraiser for the Conductive Learning Center.
“They thought I was out of my mind,” Morris said about skeptics of his baseball comeback at age 35. “I didn’t tell a whole lot of people. Basically, my high school kids and my 8-year-old son knew about it.
“I just think God had a purpose for me.”
A first-round draft pick in 1983, Morris did not reach the major leagues the first time around. But when trying to motivate his high school players to pursue their dreams, they countered by challenging Morris to give his own dream a second shot.
He succeeded. Morris pitched in 21 games for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999 and 2000, facing 10 major-league batters before allowing a hit. Among his victims were superstars Manny Ramirez and Magglio Ordonez.
Now 44, Morris tells his story around the country and will speak Oct. 21 at The Cultural Center at St. Nicholas.
“You never know when the right person is going to hear what they need to hear,” said Morris, a churchgoing father of five. “You don’t take anything for granted. You relish every step that comes along. You take every opportunity as a grand opportunity. It’s all part of the journey.
“When I got (to the big league) it was actually better than anything I ever could have imagined. Sometimes those big dreams come in smaller packages.”
The Conductive Learning Center fuels the dreams of 70 children with cerebral palsy, spina bifida and other muscle disorders.
The tuition-funded school uses special therapy techniques to develop motor skills such as buttoning a shirt or buckling a belt, that increase independence. The center operates on a $625,000 budget at 2428 Burton St. SE.”We’re all tired of putting kids on a waiting list. In order to do that, we need more space,” said Becki Agar, a fundraiser for the center and mother of a 14-year-old son with cerebral palsy. “We want everybody to know the struggles these kids go through on a daily basis and the work they go through.
“(Morris) is going to be talking about never giving up on a dream, and that’s what we say to these kids. They never can give up on that.”
The benefit includes a live auction that features batting and fielding practice on the baseball field at Comerica Park in Detroit, a three-day race car driving school and a week’s stay at a dude ranch.
