I like baseball movies that make me feel something. It might be the thrill of a big moment like the homerun in The Natural or Wild Thing's big entrance in Major League. I might be a nostalgia for the game, itself, like any of Costner's baseball movies, really. 1993's The Sandlot makes me feel and remember the pure joy of playing baseball as a kid with a bunch of crackpot friends! There are a lot of baseball flicks that showcase a team of kids and it's essential to bring out their personalities and makes them not just likeable, but loveable. The Sandlot nails this.

The story of The Sandlot is told through the eyes of new-kid-to-the-neighborhood, Scotty Smalls. He doesn't have any friends, he's struggling to bond with his stepfather, and unfortunately, he's hopeless at baseball. He gets invited to play sandlot ball with a group of local kids by Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez. The kids are baffled and astounded by Scotty's lack of baseball knowledge and ability. When they lose their last ball (a frequent occurance) Scotty sees his chance at redemption and offers to let them use his dad's baseball. Unfortunately, that ball is signed by Babe Ruth. Of course, they lose the ball over the wall where there is a junkyard and an absolute beast of a dog that has reached legendary status. The rest of the movie is about getting the ball back, enjoying summer, and a smattering of actually playing baseball. 

I can't emphasize enough how much I love the characters in this movie! Ham Porter, the chunky catcher played by a young Patrick Renna, is the hilarous big mouth on the team and steals a number of scenes. Squints, (Chauncey Leopardi), is kind of the brainy one with glasses who pulls off the biggest stunt imagineable in one of the single best scenes in baseball movie history. I mean, who can forget Wendy Peffercorn? Benny (Mike Vitar) is the stud player and all-around nice guy. Every player on the team has his quirks and even the ones that should be annoying, (I'm looking at you, "Yeah Yeah") somehow just work. I don't know that I've seen most of these actors again, but I can't imagine this movie with anyone else playing these roles. We even get a bit of James Earl Jones in here and that is always welcome. 

In case you can't tell already, The Sandlot is an absolute home run for me and one of my top 5 baseball movies of all time. It's just fun. It's of the most quoteable baseball movies (You're killing me, Smalls!) and unlike most other kid-focused baseball movies, it isn't about an adult coach, the kids pretty much run the whole show. If you love baseball, I don't see how you can't love this movie. If you don't care about baseball at all, you'll still probably love it. 

I'd love to hear your favorite scenes from The Sandlot. Don't like the movie? I gotta know why! Let me know in the comments

Bonus: Did you know that James Earl Jones has been in at least four baseball movies? He must have loved the game. Can you name them?

Run Time: 1 hr 41 min

Scorecard: Homerun to the second deck!

Best line: Adult Scotty as narrator: "Michael Squints Palledorous walked a little taller that day. And we had to tip our hats to him. He was lucky she hadn't beat the *crap* out of him. We wouldn't have blamed her."