john mazzello & patrick murray; a bromance of the ages
Okay so it was requested that I spill my guts on my boys Maz and Murray and y’all know I’m all about that Undrafted life (seriously what is my blog these days if not a love letter to this fucking sports movie)
Okay let’s start from the stuff we actually see in the movie.
The first thing everyone asks when Murray comes into the dugout is what do you know? Have you talked to him? Did he get the call? There’s no comment from Ty about Murray being late, no jokes, just instantly wanting to know if there’s been an update on Maz. And when they push him about it he snaps, the first of many meltdowns from Patrick Murray. The other guys are all concerned about the draft and Maz but Pat’s the one who clearly is showing a major emotional reaction right off the bat.
Out of all of them, the one who’s still checking for updates, the one who’s getting the information on the draft is Murray. He’s the one who breaks the news to the team, after his dad breaks the news to him. He’s the one who isn’t just disappointed or sad for Maz. He’s actually physically reacting and lashing out as a response. He throws his glove across the dugout and storms out.
That sad kicked puppy face that Murray makes when Maz first comes into the dugout. Like he sees his bestie and is just brokenhearted knowing that he didn’t get drafted.
The ice cream scene where Pat’s just like “He doesn’t fucking want it, he doesn’t have to have it, leave him alone!”
All the interactions between their dads just scream that they’ve been friends for life, like these two have been sitting together at baseball games for years. “How’s Johnny boy doing?” “How’s Pat?” “He’s taking it harder than Johnny. Your boy earned it.” Like this is the talk of dads who’ve been friends for years because their boys have been friends for years.
This whole rant: “It’s steroids! That shit is everywhere in the college game. Even guys at STAC are doing it. Then they get drafted, they get tested in the minors, and they have to stop doing it and then they end up getting dropped in a year but it takes spots away from guys like Maz who are doing it on fucking ice cream and rainbow sprinkles!”
When Murray’s having his complete meltdown in the outfield, Maz isn’t looking at him like he’s crazy. He looks a little concerned but also not entirely surprised, like this is the kind of thing that he’s handled before
“John didn’t waste it. He gave it everything he had, every day! And if he’d been drafted, it would have been like… we all got drafted, because he’s one of us! And I wanted it for him. It’s bullshit. This whole, fucking world is bullshit. Nobody gets what they deserve, good or bad.”
That whole speech leaves me shook every single time. The emotion, the intensity, the way Pat just loses it and is on the verge of actually crying because he just feels so strongly about this whole situation and you don’t react like that unless it’s your best friend!
The silent fury in Pat’s eyes when the pitcher almost hits Maz with the ball. Like this I feel is crossing from his normal self-deprecating rage into I would kill for my best friend territory.
“Any advice?” “Get a hit.” “Thanks.” This. This is such a good tiny moment because honestly it’s all you need. Patrick already knows that they’re in the most important part of the game and like Maz doesn’t try to make a big deal, doesn’t try to do some big speech, doesn’t try to blow things into a bigger deal than it needs to be. Because he knows Patrick can do this.
Maz having that sweet moment looking at his dad and then here comes Murray, just running up and tackling him to the ground without a care in the world because he’s just so fucking excited!
And now it’s time for the random bullshit I make up in my mind because nobody’s stopping me or telling me I can’t.
John and Patrick have been best friends since they were eight years old and on the same little league team. It’s the first year that Pat is playing but John’s already been playing since he was five and on the local tee ball team and he winds up taking Pat under his little wing and relishing in being the one to teach someone something for a change (instead of being the baby of the family who gets stuck learning everything last)
Mr. Murray never misses any of the boys games but he can’t always make it to every practice so a lot of times Mr. Mazzello is the one cheering both boys on and taking them out for food afterwards and making sure that Patrick’s dad gets a play by play of what he missed at practice.
After a year of playing together, John’s still way better than Patrick but he’s okay with that. Because John never says anything about it. He doesn’t say anything when Pat misses seven balls in a row at the batting cages.
By the time they get to high school, Patrick’s batting average has improved but really it’s still not that great. But he’s got a wicked arm after years of extra practices with Maz (it’s Maz now, ever since their eighth grade team had four Johns to differentiate between) and when they stick him in the outfield, he really shines.
When they’re juniors, Maz makes it to the varsity team. Pat’s still playing on the JV team. It’s the first time they haven’t been on the same team and it sucks because part of the fun for Patrick is being able to hang out with his best friend. But they still practice together when they can, still go to the batting cages, still grab burgers or pizza with Mr. Mazzello after they both get done with their practices.
Maz is on the sidelines the first time that he really sees Patrick blow up on the baseball field, taking a swing at one of his teammates after striking out (again) and the other guy making some smartass comment (again). It takes Maz and two other guys to break up the fight and Pat is fuming for a good fifteen minutes. They don’t really talk about it afterwards but Maz keeps a closer eye on him over the next couple weeks, a little worried that there might be something wrong that Patrick just doesn’t want to talk about.
It happens more and more often which is kind of concerning but also means that Maz is getting more practice calming him down. And soon enough he can spot when Patrick’s about to lose it before anyone else can and swoop in to intervene if it looks like he’s gonna throw a punch.
okay this isn’t everything but it’s something and I’m starting to get a little brain fried and I have to work in the morning so I hope you guys like it.