- “I'd really, really like...a family.”
- ―Roger Bowman
Roger Bowman-Knox is the protagonist in Angels in the Outfield. He is a foster child of Maggie Nelson who was disowned by his widowed father. He is best friends with fellow half-orphan J.P. In hopes that his father will get him again, he prays that the Angels will win the pennant (not noticing that it was sarcasm).
Role in the film[]
Roger prays for help from real angels to make the California Angels win the pennant so he and his father can be a family again, but the prayer came true as the season goes on The Angels keep helping the team win and he and his best friend, J.P., are regular fans of George Knox, child-hating and frustrated manager of the team, and he befriends them. When the Angels are about to play the first game of the championship, Roger's caretaker, Maggie Nelson, tells him that he has to miss the game because of a court hearing and he refuses to go, Maggie tries to get them to postpone the hearing, but they are unable to and Roger gets angry about it and J.P. must go to the game without Roger.
When it's Roger's turn for the court hearing, he sees his father, he tries to tell him about the Angels being close to the pennant, but he ignores Roger and leaves, then he realizes that the court hearing was only for him to learn that his father gave up custody to him and he starts to cry. Meanwhile, back at the stadium, the Angels lose the first championship game and J.P. is crying too and while Knox leaves to do paperwork in his office, Knox's rival from his playing days Ranch Wilder goes over to meet J.P., he tells Ranch about Roger and the Angels helping out and Ranch has a plan to have Angels owner Hank Murphy fire Knox.
When Maggie returns home with Roger, J.P. returns with Knox, Maggie tells Knox about what happened at the court hearing, then he tells Roger that he went through a similar situation when he was his age, his father barely spend time with him and his brothers because he couldn't take care of himself and if more people that Roger meets would let him down, Roger would be a child hater and a frustrated man when he becomes an adult.
The next day, Murphy tells Knox that he needs to relieve him of management because of the real angels helping out. Knox says that they have one game left, then Murphy tells him that he already arranged a press conference allowing him to retract this statement. While at the press conference, Roger, J.P., and the entire team stand up for Knox saying they won't play for anyone but him. Murphy, touched by the faith and loyalty decides to keep Knox by the team's request and go for the championship.
At the championship game, Al the Boss Angel tells Roger that the angels can't help because of championship rules, and later Roger and the entire stadium (except Wilder and their opponents) are doing a wing signal that Knox helped Roger do earlier in the film. The Angels win the Championship with Murphy firing Wilder for his insults to him, Knox, and the players; Knox tells the team that they didn't need the Angels. When he takes Roger and J.P. home, he tells them the good news that he called the family court and asked them if he could adopt Roger and J.P., and they agreed.