Jimmy's Family

Vanessa Scott Jimmy’s veteran baseball wife, tired of Jimmy always making headlines for things he says or actions he partakes in; furious that Jimmy has taken on “the system” without at least talking to her first. Now she has to deal with the fallout from other wives, her and Jimmy’s charity work, her father-in-law, even team owner Joan Delaney. It’s not easy being the wife of an aging superstar. Meanwhile, she tries to raise her daughters as if they were any other kids raised in the shadow of a multi-million dollar income, fabulous home, and a famous, or now infamous, husband/father. And above all that, she has a new neighbor, Connie, who wants to be best buddies with Vanessa, who is somewhat notable through her marriage to a three-time world champion. But it’s hard to keep secrets when your best buddy is stalking you, like the illegal hobbies of one daughter or the illness of another. Even though Vanessa knows 80% of professional sports marriages end after the spouse has walked away from the game, Vanessa is starting to look forward to Jimmy’s retirement, to the days when the Scotts will just be your average family living in a nice town in the suburbs. And she knows she’s fooling herself if she thinks they’re ever going to be your typical, average family.

Grace Scott The younger (by about three minutes) of Jimmy and Vanessa’s twin fifteen year old daughters. Athletic like her father (as a sophomore, she’s a member of the varsity volleyball team), a thinker like her grandfather “Red”, Grace is not as outgoing as her sister. Unlike her father, Grace is very private. Jimmy and Vanessa aren’t sure what Grace does in her room all the time with the door closed, but they assume it’s Grace just being Grace. Only Grace is doing something she shouldn’t be doing: running a low-level gambling scheme. It starts with bets about little things, like what the next song on the radio will be or if a car will stop at the yellow light turning red. Usually right, she gets more serious. She bets for and against the volleyball team she plays for. She bets on other high school sporting events. Gradually, her bets turn pro, until she’s probing her father for inside information to find out if she should bet in favor of Jimmy’s team or against them. When she loses thousands betting against Jimmy’s team and then finds herself conspiring to injure her father, who’s returning successfully from a rehab program she had bet he wouldn’t come back from, Grace hits rock bottom. She doesn’t have the money to repay her considerable losses. Those she owes threaten to go public – implicating Jimmy - or potentially worse, like making good on the plans to hurt the very man (think Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan) who can help Grace make things right again. Grace needs to find a way to protect herself and protect her family before someone gets hurt and Jimmy’s career is ruined, one way or another.

Alyssa Scott The type-A personality twin, at least on the outside. More your typical teen who wants to IM her friends, sport a year-round tan, and feel important. She loves that her father is famous. One of Jimmy’s biggest supporters, his fame makes her special, giving her a voice. Whether as a cheerleader or musician (she thinks she’s good at singing and playing acoustic guitar – she’s not), you always know where you stand with Alyssa. She has a dark side, like we all do, like when she dates a potential top round baseball draft pick (represented by her father’s agent), and the boy is mean to her. Against her better judgment, she leads him into a situation that not only ruins his chances of getting drafted but hurts his chances to even get into a good college program. Payback comes soon enough, however, when her tanning leads to freckles and moles and, soon, melanoma. Alyssa has skin cancer. A series of surgeries will leave her scarred in more ways than one. And it bothers her, eventually, to find out she’s more like her mother than she ever thought.

"Red" Scott A former player himself who was an absentee dad to Jimmy first because of his playing career and then because of his broadcasting career, "Red" played for 11 teams in his 8-year career. He was traded twice on one day in 1977. A fringe player, also a pitcher, "Red" didn't have anywhere near the talent of his son. However, he's as headstrong today as he was as a player. He's more interested in getting, and keeping, his prime Veterans broadcasting gig on their new network, NYS, then connecting with his son (which is okay with Jimmy). However, he is a good grandfather. He has never been a great husband to Jimmy’s mother, Peggy