The Case of The Sandlot (1993)
Back in the early 90s, audiences experienced a film that made them feel so nostalgic, it morphed from a mildly successful hit into a cult classic. The Sandlot found the magic formula previously perfected by productions like A Christmas Story and The Wonder Years. It balanced the references and experiences that older adults would recognize, with the comedic sincerity with which all children could relate.
The Sandlot was so popular among children of the 90s, watching it was almost like a rite of passage. Growing up, it was the movie that many children could quote with perfection, from the hilariously dramatic “for-e-ver,” to the universally adopted “you’re killin’ me, Smalls!” But the movie didn’t just appeal to kids. The film crossed the generational divide, placing adults and kids on a level field. Everyone who loved the film all seemed to connect with it for the same reasons. It didn’t matter what sport you loved (if any) or if you grew up in the city instead of a rural town, The Sandlot tapped into the magic of summer, the thrill of childhood problems, and the strength between childhood friends.
As the summer winds down, let’s head back to The Sandlot and learn all about its history!
Summary
In the summer of 1962, Scottie Smalls moves into a new neighborhood. Desperate to make friends, Smalls joins a group of local boys that play a daily game of baseball on a nearby sandlot. This lovable group of kids reluctantly accept Smalls, despite the fact that he knows nothing about baseball.
The boys get into all sorts of adventures throughout the summer. One day, one of the boys busts open their last baseball. Eager to please his buddies, Smalls runs home and swipes a replacement ball from his step dad’s office. Funnily enough, Smalls hits his first-ever home run with it, knocking it over the back fence and into the territory of The Beast: a famously vicious dog. When Smalls explains to the others that the ball was signed by baseball legend Babe Ruth, the group spends the rest of the summer concocting ways to retrieve the ball.
Making Of
The Sandlot was written by Robert Gunter and David Mickey Evans. Evans also directed and narrated the film. The film was actually loosely based on Evans’ childhood, specifically an event that happened to his little brother, Scott Evans.
Here’s the story: David and Scott were the new kids in their California neighborhood, just north of Los Angeles. Although he had been bullied by the other kids, Scott went to watch them play a neighborhood game of baseball. When the ball inevitably got knocked over the fence, Scott agreed to retrieve it in the hopes that it would earn him points with the others and the bullying would cease.
The boys boosted him over, and Scott soon realized that a large dog named Hercules waited on the other side. Because the dog had been chained up, Scott went to grab the ball. The chain snapped, and Hercules chased Scott to a gnarled tree at the edge of the yard. Although he made it up the tree, the dog still got a hold of his leg. On his walk home, Scott’s mother picked him up and took him to the hospital.
Many pieces of the original story made it into the film. The visual of the chain snapping, the name of the dog, and of course the issue of getting a baseball that had been hit over the fence. The “real life” Hercules was actually a German Shepherd/Doberman Pinscher mix.
When he was writing the screenplay, David decided to recast the neighborhood boys as his friends and heroes, which helped him create the lovable gang of kids that we all remember from the film. Evans felt it was a cathartic way to forgive the young boys from his youth for the way they treated him and his brother.
The original title of the movie was, “The Boys of Summer,” which also happened to be the name of a 1972 non-fiction book by Roger Kahn. David Evans claimed that Kahn threatened to sue him if he gave the movie the same name, and Evans understood that it needed to change.
The field that the kids use in the movie wasn’t originally written as a sandlot, but a schoolyard. Evans explained in a Sports Illustrated interview that he grew up playing on the diamond at the local school when classes were done for the summer.
The final name for the movie came about after it had been cut together. Because the kids mention the sandlot so often in the film, Evans and the rest of the team decided that it made sense to call it The Sandlot.
The Sandlot was filmed over the course of forty-two days in the community of Glendale on the west side of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Utah provided a similar visual setting to California, and was a much more affordable option than Los Angeles.
The production team scouted locations like elementary schools and little league fields, but nothing seemed to fit the aesthetic of the film’s time period. Production designer Chester Kaczenski decided that they would need to find a place and build it–some place with homes built in the 50s and 60s. They discovered a plot of land that was owned by the homeowners in the surrounding neighborhood. The production team made a deal with the owners, which allowed them to build everything they needed for the production in that spot. This included sets like Mr. Mertle’s house, the backstop, and the massive tree house. The empty sandlot is still there today, as it is still owned by the neighborhood. The exterior of Scottie’s and Benny’s homes were actual houses in the neighborhood that are still privately owned.
One of the hardest sets to build was the treehouse, which is a central set piece in the film. Evans did not have a large budget, and he knew that buying a tree big enough to hold a treehouse could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Production designer Chester Kaczenski happened to be driving by a historic home that was roughly 200 years old, with a massive Oak tree. Just as he was passing the house, Chester saw that a man was starting up a chainsaw to cut down the tree. He stopped the man, who told him that the tree was destroying the foundation of the house and needed to be removed. Chester asked if they could use it for their film.
In just a few days, the production team acquired two 50-foot flatbed trailers and connected them together. In order to transport the tree, they had to call the phone and power companies, asking them to remove the lines so that they wouldn’t snag on the humongous Oak.
Once they managed to get the set piece to the sandlot set, they used a big crane to dig a hole, placing the tree inside and filling the hole with about 15-20 cubic yards of cement.
To ensure that the leaves would remain green throughout the shoot, the production team replaced millions of natural leaves with silk ones.
The Sandlot would not have become the cult classic that we know and love today without the team, a cast of quirky and lovable tweens. Originally, David Evans wanted younger boys to portray the characters, like aged 9 or 10. When casting began, he quickly realized that this age would be much too young on screen, and raised it to 12 or 13-year-old boys.
Grant Gelt played Bertram, the team’s 2nd baseman.
Bertram didn’t have a lot of lines, but Gelt was clearly talented, and Evans would find things for him to say in the film.
Gelt originally read for Smalls, but was called back in to read for Bertram.
Gelt later said that Evans picked the kids and not the characters. When he looks back at the movie, he sees a lot of himself in the character.
His favorite scenes to film were either the fourth of July scenes (when the boys play baseball at night) or the carnival scenes. In one famous scene, he sneaks a pack of chewing tobacco for the kids to all try. The boys take a piece and immediately hop on a ride. As the song Tequila plays, the boys collectively get sick all over the ride!
Director Evans actually wanted the song Wooly Bully for this scene, but the musicians behind the song wanted too much money.
One of the most memorable things about Bertram is his ambiguous ending. As the film wraps, the adult “Smalls” provides a voiceover explaining what happened to each member of the team. He says that Bertram “got really into the ‘60s and no one ever heard from him again.”
Brandon Adams played Kenny DeNunez, the pitcher
David Evans described Brandon Adams as a very polite and cool kid that hasn’t changed much as an adult.
Adams was one of the last kids cast in the film, and had to learn how to pitch for the part. He joked that he almost broke a few cameras.
As the pitcher, Kenny’s signature pitch was “The Heater.” He was also considered to be one of the best players on the team, as adult Smalls explains that he went on to play professional baseball, just never in the major league.
Patrick Renna played Ham, the catcher
Renna was great at ad-libbing and would go on to star in several other films in the 90s.
He was also one of the last kids cast in the film, and was told that if he got along with the other kids, he got the job.
Ham’s smart mouth made him an audience favorite. He is without a doubt the most quoted character from the movie with his most famous line being, “You’re killin’ me, Smalls!” He also delivered classics like, “you play ball like a girl!”
Shane Obedzinski played Tommy ‘Repeat’ Timmons, the right-center fielder
At age 10, Shane was the smallest kid in the cast, and played the youngest character, Timmy’s younger brother. He also originally read for Smalls.
He had a great sense of comedic timing, and his schtick was to repeat his brother without missing a beat.
Shane had already appeared in the 1991 film My Girl before The Sandlot.
Victor Dimattia played Timmy Timmons, the first baseman
Dimattia was always happy and smiling on set, and he loved the treehouse set with all the 1960s toys. TImmy and Tommy Timmons were neighbors to Mr. Mertle, and their house was part of the sets built for the film.
As the kids plot to retrieve the baseball from Mr. Mertle’s yard, they orchestrate a mission from the treehouse that involves several vacuum cleaners and a pulley system. When the pipes get clogged, there’s a massive explosion in the treehouse, and Timmy is the only one trapped inside.
Chauncey Leopardi played Michael “Squints” Palledorous
Another fan favorite, Squints delivers some of the most iconic lines from the film, and stars in the infamous lifeguard scene. Although the character is known for his trademark black horn-rimmed glasses, Leopardi does not wear glasses in real life. He will, however, put them on for the fans at conventions and other appearances.
Squints is the character tasked with telling the legend of The Beast, the horrifying monster-dog that lives on the other side of the sandlot fence. According to him, when Mr. Mertle asked how long he had to keep his murderous dog locked up, the police’s response was, “for-e-ver!”
Marty York played Yeah-Yeah, the third baseman
Evans noticed that York had a naturally quirky laugh, which he featured in the movie.
York was originally cast as Bertram. One day during rehearsal, they came up to him and told him they wanted him to read for a different part that would require a lot of energy. So, York’s mother gave him a hershey bar before the audition!
In one scene, Yeah Yeah gets lifted over the fence to retrieve the ball. When he comes face to face with The Beast, the other boys pull him out in a panic. Yeah Yeah screams and then blows a raspberry on his finger in the middle of his hysterics. This unscripted moment was inspired by Bugs Bunny cartoons.
York was in a bad car accident in 1997 and basically had to relearn how to walk. He got into physical therapy and then weight training. If you have seen him recently, you might have noticed that he is quite buff.
Tom Guiry played Scotty Smalls, the film’s narrator and the left-center outfielder
According to IMDB, The Sandlot was Guiry’s acting debut. He remembers the hiring process being really long, but he ultimately landed the lead.
Although his on-screen character was timid and shy, Tom was an out-going 11-year-old.
According to Tom, David Evans’s newborn was very sick during filming and so Evans was flying back and forth from California and Utah.
As the lead, Smalls appears in many of the iconic scenes in the film, generally as an observer to the wild antics of his friends. He’s the one that sets the plot in motion when he hits his first home run off of a Babe Ruth signed ball, right into the clutches of The Beast.
Mike Vitar played Benny (The Jet) Rodriguez, the floater that could play any position
Mike Vitar was the first kid that auditioned for David Evans, which convinced him that he was right to choose older actors for the film. Evans auditioned thousands of others, but Vitar won the part.
Vitar was as kind as his character, and the other boys really seemed to look up to him, which really showed on screen. He was also naturally talented at baseball, and performed almost all of his own stunts.
Although Smalls is the main character, Benny is the hero of the movie. Not only does he accept Smalls as a member of the team, he also saves the day at the end of the movie.
Vitar’s older brother Pablo played the older version of him at the end of the movie!
He left acting to become a firefighter.
Besides the team, there were other stand-out performances from the supporting cast.
Dennis Leary played Bill, the Smalls’ stepdad.
Not only does Smalls deal with not being accepted by the team, he also struggles with his awkward relationship with his new stepfather, Bill. Bill is interested in baseball, and he is the one that owns the ball that Smalls loses to The Beast.
Leary has been in many productions, like The Thomas Crown Affair and Ice Age.
Karen Allen played “Mom.”
Allen is also known for portraying Marion in the Indiana Jones franchise.
Will Horneff played Phillips-the rival player
Horneff didn’t have to audition. He had gotten a role in the movie “A Far Off Place” but they decided to cast older kids for the roles, so getting the role of Phillips was kind of a consolation prize.
It took about a week to film the famous face-off scene, where Ham traded insults with Phillips. This scene also includes the song “Green Onions” and the famous “You play ball like a girl” line.
Will drew inspiration from the bullies in his own life for the part.
James Earl Jones played Mr. Mertle, the owner of The Beast/Hercules.
Jones is known for his golden voice, playing the likes of Darth Vader and Mufasa in the Lion King.
At the end of The Sandlot, he turns out to be a kind man that loves baseball, just like the boys. If they had just asked him for his help, they could have avoided all the trouble they endured all summer.
Character Actor Art LaFleur played Babe Ruth
After spending days trying to retrieve the ball, Benny has a dream featuring Babe Ruth, played by Art LaFleur. Walking straight out of a black and white photo, the famed baseball player tells Benny to simply hop the fence and get the ball.
Just as he’s about to walk back into history, Babe Ruth sees a Hank Aaron baseball card in Benny’s room. He asks if he can have it, and Benny gives it to him. Back in 1962, Babe Ruth’s home run record of 714 would remain unbroken for 12 more years until Hank Aaron shattered the record in 1974. This little joke was a nod to this piece of baseball trivia.
Because The Sandlot takes place in the 1960s, the actors got to wear a lot of fun period costumes. One of the most important costume pieces was the pair of PF Flyers that Benny wears to take down The Beast.
PF Flyers were guaranteed in the ads to make a kid run faster and jump higher, and they were much more expensive than regular sneakers. Director David Evans remembered seeing (and believing) the ads as a child, and so he added this detail to the movie. Evans could never afford the shoes, so putting them in the movie was almost like a wish fulfillment.
Evans intended for the fence at the end of the sandlot to be the dividing line between childhood and adulthood, and the PF Flyers represented childhood as well. When Benny leaps over the fence, he brings a little bit of childhood with him as he enters adulthood and prepares to face the terrifying beast that waits for him on the other side.
Another stand-out piece of costume was the long-billed hat worn by Smalls at the beginning of the movie. (You know, the one that Benny tells him to burn.)
This hat was inspired by hats that Evans and his brother Scott had received from their grandfather. When Evans was growing up in the early 70’s, his grandparents and cousins all lived along the East coast in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. His grandfather had a little boat and gifted them these hats that had long bills and a fish on the front. He and his brother wore them all the time and felt like real fishermen. This is one of Evans’s favorite memories as a child.
It is not expressly said in the movie, but Scotty supposedly moved from a place like Pennsylvania to the Valley. When Evans told the costume director Grania Preston this story, she decided that she needed to find a long-billed hat with trout on the front of it.
With the hat on Smalls’ head, it looks silly. But when the adult version of Smalls wears it at the end of the movie, you can see how it’s the perfect visual tie to the beginning of the movie, and represents who Smalls is as a character.
Prop master Terry Haskell was a huge baseball fan and had his own collection of memorabilia. He pulled a Kansas City Monarchs hat from his collection, and offered it up for filming. The hat would be worn by Brandon Adams, who played Kenny. Brandon himself was originally from Kansas, so the hat had a special connection to him.
The hat was part of the 1942 uniform of the Kansas City Monarchs, the most accomplished baseball team in the Negro Leagues with 13 titles, with their second title win in 1942. The hat’s colorful style was a favorite among collectors because of its classic look, and it fit perfectly in the movie.
Jackie Robinson was a Kansas City Monarch before he broke the color barrier in 1947.
When the boys meet Mr. Mertle at the end of the film, they learn that he also played in the Negro Leagues and knew Babe Ruth.
The Sandlot is filled with several stand-out scenes that represent a childhood summer. There’s the 4th of July evening picnic, where the boys play under the light of a firework-filled sky; the scene where the boys all try tobacco for the first time to disastrous results; or the scene where the boys have a slumber party in their treehouse; all of which are memorable. But possibly the most famous moment of the film is the iconic pool scene.
When it’s too hot to play a game of baseball, the boys will occasionally head down to the public pool. In this scene, Squints boldly hits on the lifeguard by pretending to drown and kissing her as she performs life-saving measures.
This scene was filmed at Lorin Farr swimming pool. For several weeks the weather had been sweltering, reaching 110 degrees. But when it came time to shoot the pool scenes, the sky was overcast and the water was under 60 degrees. You might have noticed that the kids are shivering in the scene, and this is why.
Evans did not tell the boys who was going to play Wendy (the lifeguard), so her first scene in the movie was the first time the boys saw her as well.
Marley Shelton played Wendy. In the scene, they only had one chance to film her diving into the water because she would be too wet to try the take again. Marley is critical of the dive, saying that her feet are too far apart. But, saving a life would probably earn Wendy style points.
For weeks, Chauncey was nervous to do the scene, possibly because of the 7-year age difference between the actors. Evans purposely didn’t give him the schedule, so Chauncey would ask every day if they were shooting “the scene.” When it came time to shoot, he gave Chauncey one direction: He told him to keep his tongue in his mouth, which he did. They got it in one take.
Reception
When The Sandlot was released, reviews were mostly favorable. The movie has a 64% approval rate on rotten tomatoes. Roger Ebert gave the movie three stars and said: "There was a moment in the movie when Rodriguez hit a line drive directly at the pitcher's mound, and I ducked and held up my mitt, and then I realized I didn't have a mitt, and it was then I also realized how completely this movie had seduced me with its memories of what really matters when you are 12."
The movie made around $40 million at the box office which by today’s standards doesn't seem like much. However, the movie gained cult status once it was made available on VHS and DVD and made nearly twice its box office earnings. The film also saw additional releases on Blu-ray for its 20th and 25th anniversaries.
Few movies have had as much of a positive impact on a generation as The Sandlot. Considered by many to be one of the best sports movies of all time, it reached multiple generations when it was released. Like kids who loved to play baseball and had big dreams, as well as adults who grew up in the 1950s or 60s and remember similar times.
Fun Facts
During the production, the kids snuck into a showing of the definitely not kid-friendly film Basic Instinct.
The chewing tobacco that the kids try in the movie was made with licorice and bacon bits. After several takes on the carnival ride, they felt almost as sick as the characters they were portraying. The vomit in the scene was a mixture of pea soup, baked beans, oatmeal, water, and gelatin.
Prop master Terry Haskell handed Denis Leary a glove with a Mickey Mantle signature. He refused to wear it saying, “Terry, for god sakes, you’ve given me a Yankee glove, and I’m a Boston fan. I’m not wearing this.”
There was a scene that they ended up not having time to film, where the boys were supposed to be over at Benny’s house watching a Dodgers game. They were to see Maury Wills steal a base.
Besides being played by an English Mastiff, The Beast/Hercules was also a puppet in some scenes that had to be operated by two people. At the end of the movie, Hercules licks Smalls’ face. In order to get the dog to do this, the crew smeared baby food all over his face.
The famed pool scene inadvertently saved a man's life when his 10-year-old twins performed CPR on him. They said that they “remembered seeing it in his favorite movies The Sandlot and Hook.”
In 2013, The Sandlot was screened at Dodgers Stadium following a game.
A former classmate of David Mickey Evans sued 20th Century Fox for basing the character Squints on him, causing him embarrassment. The judge dismissed the case due to lack of similarities between the character and the person filing the suit. The man’s name was Michael Polydoros.
The Sandlot is the kind of movie that brings people together. It’s not that it touches on shared experiences, because many of us might not have experienced the life portrayed in the movie. Instead, it brings shared feelings to the surface. Watching a group of kids stress about retrieving a baseball reminds us of what we cared about as children. Seeing this group of friends work together to solve one kid’s problem reminds us of the friendships we forged in the past, and how those bonds helped make us who we are.
So if you’re ever in need of a little bit of summer, let The Sandlot bring you back to those exciting days filled with long hours of sunshine and getting into trouble with your friends. And if you still haven’t had the chance to see it, give it a try! You might end up loving it FOR-EV-ER.