Entertainment

'Pitch' Explores Mike's Heartbreaking Past

On Fox's Pitch, Mike Lawson is the team captain and father figure to many of his San Diego Padres teammates. This week's episode revealed in flashbacks that Mike surprisingly had a fractured relationship with his father due to his parents' broken relationship. The flashbacks to Mike Lawson's past on Pitch also showed why playing catcher means so much to him as a new hotshot rookie is called up to replace him in the position for the San Diego Padres in the present.

As fans have seen, years of playing professional baseball have taken their toll on Mike. He gets moved to play first base and rookie catcher Livan Duarte takes over being catcher during the team's stint in San Francisco. Livan rubs the veteran Mike and the rest of the team the wrong way, but Mike tries to give him a chance, like the good team captain he is. In the flashbacks, viewers get to see how Mike came to play catcher and that he can relate to the young player more than anyone thinks. Mike's mother introduce him to his new baseball coach Dave. He tells little Mike, who wants to just play first base, that the catcher is the most important player on the field. But Mike's mother forces him to take advantage of his kind hearted coach, conning him out of whole a lot of cash.

When she gets caught in her scam, Mike's mom decides they're on the move again. Mike asks to live with Dave, but he says no, because he has his own family. Dave leaves young Mike with some sage advice: " Even if she's not going to be the adult, you can be. You don't have to do what she says. You're strong, you make the right choice." As Mike's mother drives them away as Dave watches, she reveals that Dave is Mike's father (!!) and that they don't need him. Young Mike takes some extra glances looking back at Dave, surely considering his final words and how much he does need him.

At the end of the episode, Present Mike drives to Dave's house and almost gets out of the car, but stops himself. Instead, he watches as Dave plays ball with his grandson, wondering "What if?" It was enlightening to see where Mike learned how to be a good captain and an even better player, but heartbreaking to know that as the team's father figure, he didn't know his own father for very long.

Images: Ray Mickshaw (2)/Fox