Million Dollar Baby Scene 11 Summary

Managing the Managers

  • We're back in the boxing ring with Maggie. Surprise—she's quickly knocking out another opponent.
  • Cut to another fight. Same drill. Frankie doesn't even have time to put Maggie's stool on the ground. Heck, he barely has time to clear it out of the ring. She knocks the woman out so quickly that he just puts it right back in her corner.
  • Scrap tells us that after twelve straight knockouts, Frankie got some sweet offers.
  • The first? To fight Billie "the Blue Bear" Osterman for the WBA Welterweight Title. Billie's a former prostitute from Berlin, and a dirty fighter. She's totally reckless, and crowds eat it up.
  • Frankie says nope. Doesn't even tell Maggie about it.
  • Then Scrap tells us that Frankie turned down the next high-profile offer, too, to fight the British champ, whom The Bear had just beat.
  • Cut to Maggie and Frankie at the restaurant where Maggie works. They have an argument about whether or not Maggie should have a title fight. Guess who says she shouldn't?
  • Cut to Maggie back at the Hit Pit. Her practice is interrupted by Scrap, who tells her to hit the shower: they have dinner reservations. Ooh la la!
  • At the Broadway Diner, Maggie and Scrap celebrate Maggie's 33rd birthday.
  • Mickey Mack wanders in and sits at the end of the counter, while Scrap tells Maggie about his last bout as a boxer.
  • Everybody's got a particular number of fights in them, according to Scrap, but nobody tells you what that number is ahead of time.
  • Turns out Scrap's number was 109, and here's how his last fight went down: Scrap took a nasty hit above his eye, and Frankie insisted he quit. Scrap wouldn't, went fifteen rounds, and lost his eye the next day.
  • Frankie's never mentioned it since, but blames himself for Scrap's eye because he didn't stop the fight somehow, even though he wasn't Scrap's manager, and only the manager can stop the fight.
  • Then Scrap suggests that Frankie might be too cautious to take Maggie to the top, and it becomes clear that he called Mickey Mack.
  • Maggie introduces herself to Mickey, and promptly tells him that she's never leaving Frankie, so he can stop "accidentally" running into her. Mickey Mack mischief managed.
  • Cut to Frankie's house. He comes home at night, and picks up the mail. There's a letter he sent to his daughter Katy marked "Return to Sender."
  • He tucks it in a shoebox full of similar letters in his closet. Worst shoes ever.