Character Confessions

As you may or may not know, I have been working on a screenplay on and off for over a year and I thought I'd give you a taste. The film is entitled "Short Hops and Sacrifice" and it is the fictional account of Jake Reeser, a young high school baseball star with loads of potential and a big league pedigree. Jake struggles with the responsibility he has to his family and with growing up without a mother and having a father who is an alcoholic. Among other things, Jake must weigh the costs and benefits of chasing his big league dream directly out of high school or going to college. Unfortunately, each decision has a sizeable impact on the other members of his family which are his older brother Brad and his younger brother's Jeremy and A.J. The following is an exercise I did to get at the heart of Jake's struggles. It is in the form of a letter to his mother.

Dear Mom,

Decision day is rapidly approaching and I find myself no closer to making a choice than ever. Many times I have heard of people who are able to look back at a decision they once made in their life and say "That decision changed the course of my life." I wish I was at that stage; once it has all been figured out. But that is not the case, I must face the decision that will shape my future now, in the present. I know how important it is, that is what makes it difficult. But what if it doesn't matter? What if I get hit by a bus and paralyzed tomorrow? Or a year from now? Would it matter whether I decided to to college to play baseball or not?

I have never thought I would have any other profession than baseball player, but then again, neither did Dad. Since the final game of his career he has been known as a guy "who used to." "He used to be a ballplayer." "He used to be a real comedian." "He used to be a father." More than anything, I am afraid of ending up like him. More than the fear of failure itself, I am afraid of becoming a man who has turned bitter because of his failure. I can't help but think though mom, if you were here, maybe he wouldn't be this way, maybe he'd be able to look A.J. in the eye, and maybe he would've been there for Brad when he was angry at the world.

Back to the question at hand, will it really matter where I play baseball next year? No. What will matter is how I handle my life outside those white chalk lines. And I have learned that the kind of man you are inside and outside those lines are determined by the way you handle the same two things, short hops and sacrifice.