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The gala billing declares: Baseball’s Oldest Manager meets Baseball’s Oldest Rookie.
Tonight, Bobby Bragan will honor Jim "The Rookie" Morris with Bragan’s annual Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation Gala.Bragan, who turns 92 today, managed the Fort Worth Cats at 87 to become baseball’s oldest manager. Morris made his debut in major league baseball at 35 and was later the subject of the 2002 Disney film, The Rookie.It’s been 10 years since Morris’ debut at The Ballpark in Arlington.What are your thoughts about being honored tonight? I was incredibly honored, I had no idea. I just thought it was a speaking engagement. It’s an incredible honor to share this with Bobby Bragan, who has dedicated his life to baseball and kids.What were your thoughts on meeting Bragan? I feel blessed to meet and talk to someone like Bobby. What he’s doing is incredible. Nowadays it’s become so expensive for kids to go to college. I’ve been incredibly blessed. I have five kids and working with kids has been my whole life. When I talk to Bobby, you hear his voice is full of fire. You hear his passion for helping kids, and it’s incredible.What was it like when you finally pitched that first game in the majors? Probably other than my kids being born, it’s the best moment of my life. It was in my home state at my favorite ballpark, The Ballpark in Arlington. My high school kids were watching, my kids and Johnny Oates let me have 100 tickets so all my kids and family could be there to watch me live out my dream in front of everybody I know and love.What was it like when the movie came about? It was very surreal. It was overwhelming being around a guy who’s been in more than 60 movies like Dennis Quaid. I found out how hard and tedious it is. Watching someone else portraying you is overwhelming and he was always looking at you to make sure that’s how things really went. Disney was really good about keeping it true to what happened, making it a family movie.So were there other companies that wanted to tweak the storyline? Yes, I was getting calls even when I was in the minor leagues. You’d be amazed, but some wanted it to be about the locker room and steroids. But it wasn’t about that. It was about kids and family. It was about the pursuit of a dream thought long gone.What’s life been like since your career ended? First and foremost I found out I needed to practice what I preached. I told those kids to follow their dreams, but I wasn’t doing it myself. Now I have a great career as a motivational speaker. I also work with kids in the Arms of Hope, which helps troubled kids and single moms.What else is important to you? Well the messages I deliver when I’m speaking with churches and Christian schools is that every dream can have a second chance. I wouldn’t have been there to take that chance if the kids didn’t push me back into it. I’ve been blessed to go around the world. It’s incredible the letters, e-mails or twitters I get where people have changed their lives, gotten different dream jobs and done things to spend time with their family. That’s what life is about, bringing kids up the way they ought to be brought up.Tobias Xavier Lopez, 817-390-7760
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