MovieChat Forums > The Natural (1984) Discussion > Question about Scotty Carson. Maybe the...

Question about Scotty Carson. Maybe the book....

posted 12 years ago by strntz
7 replies | jump to latest

...explains it? When Hobbs first shows up at Knights Field, Pops looks over Hobbs' contract and mentions that if chief scout Scotty Carson signed him, he must have saw something in this "rookie". Later at dinner, Red says that Carson said he was one hell of a hitter. BUT, when Hobbs is now hitting well and having a big impact on the Knights, Carson is heard in a phone conversation with the Judge and telling the Judge quite emphatically that he did what the Judge wanted (signed a bum) and that Hobbs is a joke...

Was Carson on the Judge's side or Pop Fisher's side? I'm trying to figure out if Carson thought he would thwart the Judge's plan and sneak in a ringer for Pops, or maybe he figured this old guy could hit a little, but wouldn't help the team or Pops, and just misjudged Hobb's brilliance.

Maybe someone who read the book might have some insight on this.

[–] iraqiwarbride 12 years ago

This is something that I always found hard to understand also.

If Hobbs was crushing major league pitching he must have ben obliterating the pitching that he faced as a member of the bush eague Hebrew Oilers ----so how could Carson tell the judge that Hobbs was a "bum" or a "joke". This loose string of the story is never tied up. Like you say ---maybe it was in the book.

Either ace scout Scotty Carson is a genius master of deception for the forces of godd over evil or he is a lousy and disaterously incompentent scout (at least from the judge's point of view).

[–] mitch1492 12 years ago

I think it makes sense. Carson was a true rat, betraying Pop Fisher at the Judge's request, but he didn't want to make it too obvious. This kind of cheating has to be done with a bit of finesse. You have to both have a justification for signing the guy and a reasonable expectation that he's not going to make any difference. Scotty Carson's report says Hobbs is a hell of a hitter, but it doesn't add that it's against the kind of pitching you find in a semi-pro league. Carson could have a reasonable expectation that Hobbs would fare far worse against major league pitching, and that his broken-down body would not be able to withstand the wear and tear of daily play (which was true, Hobbs was literally risking his life to play).

[–] MikeNTxs 11 years ago

But the BIGGEST question about Scotty Carson: Who did his voice? No one has been credited (or "not credited"), but it sure sounded to me like Robert Duvall.

[–] jmoleary 10 years ago

I could swear that the voice of Scotty Carson is actor Charles Dierkop. In case you dont know him, he also played the henchman of Robert Shaw's character in "The Sting" (another movie with Redford). He was the one dealing cards in the poker game who tried and failed to deal Gondorf (Newman's character) the losing hand

[–] genicxx 11 years ago

I think it may also be possible that when he was with the Oilers, he didn't play. He could have just sat on the bench. He said he was only there for 2 weeks. Pop was planning on doing the same thing with him. Carson might have seen a middle age player that would do nothing for the Knights, and just told them he was a great hitter. They wouldn't have questioned it, because he was their scout.

[–] Blueghost 10 years ago

I'll buy that. I always thought it was more or less that Hobbes was old, and didn't have much life left in terms of a major league career.

It's also Hollywood selling the audience on the story through the actor's emoting as opposed to the actual facts that Hobbes was actually a good hitter.

[–] wetcamelfood 9 years ago

Even if he was a good hitter they probably thought they could pay him off to not hit/play well and when they realized he wouldn't they went the blackmail route