Those who know me know that I am a very big baseball fan. I love the game and I have written on the metaphysics of baseball. You can read my thoughts on the subject here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/tim-phares/make-every-day-opening-day/10150521263905177
So it’s no surprise that today Suzanne and I went to see Million Dollar Arm. The movie is based on a true story. A sports agent named J. B. Bernstein has left the agency he worked for and gone out on his own. He is having trouble finding clients, and his agency is in desperate straits. His co-worker, Aash, relaxes by enjoying cricket matches from back home in India.
As he is watching TV one night, Bernstein keeps flipping back and forth between a cricket match and Susan Boyle performing on Britain’s Got Talent. (The rise of Susan Boyle is a very improbable story.) He hatches a wild idea: what if you could find a couple of cricket “bowlers” (the equivalent of the pitcher) who could get a tryout as pitchers in Major League Baseball? What if you held a reality-show competition to find them?
Bernstein finds a backer for his “Million Dollar Arm” contest and goes off to India in pursuit of this impossible dream. Eventually, Aash sends him a scout named Ray Pointevint to help him evaluate the talent, such as it is.
At first the results are disappointing, but eventually J.B. and Ray find 16 young pitchers for the competition, which is a TV phenomenon. The two winners get a sum of money and a chance to come to America to try out for Major League Baseball. Their names are Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel.
Rinku and Dinesh come to Los Angeles, where Bernstein lives, and he begins setting up a tryout. They begin training with former big-league pitcher Tom House, who is coaching at USC. House tells Bernstein that it is “highly improbable” that they will ever get signed, or even be ready for their tryout when Bernstein’s deal with his backer says they’re supposed to be. But he agrees to coach them.
The tryout is attended by ESPN and several other media outlets. It does not go well. It’s evident “the boys” are trying too hard, forcing the issue, and they are pitching wildly. No one wants to sign them. Bernstein, who is banking on these young men, is very disappointed. He begins to call in some chips to get them a second tryout. He tells them to have fun. An associate from India (who also served as their translator while they learned English) gives them a rousing speech. The second tryout goes much better. (I won’t give away the ending.)
There are a couple of metaphysical points in this movie:
Even when it seems all is lost, even when it seems impossible, you need a dream and you need to pursue it. The pursuit itself will make you a better person and sometimes the impossible happens. (One thing I remember from my Army days is, “The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer.”)
The other point is illustrated in the difference between the two tryouts. In the first one, Dinesh and Rinku are nervous and overwhelmed by the media presence, and they try to make it happen. It doesn’t. In the second one, they’re having much more fun. They’re no longer making it happen; they’re letting it happen. They have gotten out of their own way.
Find your dream, however impossible it seems, then get out the way and allow it to happen. To quote the movie’s tagline, “Sometimes to win, you have to change the game.”
-Tim Phares, RScP
