50 Fun Facts About The Sandlot

In which year was The Sandlot released?

It arrived on 7 April, distributed by 20th Century Fox. The story it tells is set three decades earlier.

Who directed the film and also narrated it as the grown-up Smalls?

He co-wrote the script with Robert Gunter as well. His voice frames the whole story as a memory.

In which summer is the story set?

The clothes, the cars and the transistor radios all belong to that year. Kennedy was president and the Dodgers had only just moved west.

Which part of Los Angeles is the film set in?

None of it was actually shot there, though. The production went to another state entirely.

In which state was the film actually shot, in Midvale, Ogden and the state capital?

Producers wanted early-sixties streetscapes that had not been redeveloped. The lot itself was built on an empty patch of ground in Midvale.

Roughly how much did the film gross worldwide?

It opened with about $4 million and grew steadily. Home video and cable turned a modest hit into a permanent one.

Which actor played the new kid, Scotty Smalls?

His character starts the summer unable to throw a ball and ends it in left field. The role was his first.

What is Benny Rodriguez's full first and middle name?

He is the most dedicated and skilled player on the lot and the unquestioned leader. The name is a nod to an American founding father.

Which position does Hamilton 'Ham' Porter play?

He is sarcastic, short-tempered and responsible for most of the insults. Patrick Renna played him.

Which actor played the bespectacled centre fielder Squints?

His character is the group's storyteller, which is how the legend of the Beast gets so out of hand. He later sued over the portrayal's real-life namesake.

How does Squints get himself kissed by the lifeguard at the public pool?

The whole team is thrown out immediately afterwards. He is entirely unrepentant about it.

Which actress played the lifeguard, Wendy Peffercorn?

The slow-motion sequence around her is one of the most quoted scenes in the film. The epilogue reveals what became of that romance.

According to the epilogue, what happens between Squints and the lifeguard?

The pair end up running a local drugstore together. It is the most improbable payoff in the film and the most beloved.

What breed is the dog the boys call the Beast?

On screen he is made to look unnaturally huge. In the end he turns out to be an ordinary-sized dog.

What is the Beast's actual name?

He becomes the team's mascot once the boys finally meet him properly. His owner had known all along that he was harmless.

Which actor plays Mr Mertle, the blind former player living behind the fence?

His character had played in the majors before losing his sight. He keeps a wall of memorabilia the boys never expected.

Which comedian and actor plays Bill, the stepfather whose prized ball starts the whole disaster?

He spends most of the film trying to teach a boy to play catch. Karen Allen plays the mother.

What does Smalls do with the ball he takes from his stepfather's trophy case?

It sails over the fence into the neighbouring yard. That is where the entire plot begins.

What nickname does Benny earn after his chase through town?

Word of the escape spreads across the neighbourhood within a day. The name follows him into the professional game.

Which team does Benny play for as an adult in the epilogue?

Smalls, meanwhile, ends up behind a microphone as a sports commentator. The two are still friends in the closing scene.

In Benny's dream, which legendary player gives him advice?

The ghostly visitor tells him that heroes get remembered but legends never die. The player had died in 1948.

The autographed ball at the heart of the plot was signed by which famous line-up?

That team went 110-44 and swept the World Series. Its first six hitters are still considered the best batting order ever assembled.

Which two direct-to-video sequels followed the original film?

They arrived in 2005 and 2007 respectively. Neither had the original cast.

A real man named Michael Polydoros sued the studio in 1998 over the film. What was his claim?

He argued a character was based on him without permission. The case put a real childhood nickname in front of a court.

What does Roger Ebert's three-star review compare the film to?

Both films are narrated by an adult looking back at one obsessive childhood season. The film holds a 66% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

After thrashing the snooty rival Little League team, the boys celebrate at which place?

The ride afterwards does not agree with them. It is the only game in the film they play against another organised team.

What happens to the team's only baseball at the start of the crisis?

That is why a replacement has to be found in a hurry. The one Smalls grabs turns out to be worth a fortune.

What was Kenny DeNunez known for on the mound?

He is the easygoing pitcher of the group, played by Brandon Quintin Adams. The nickname says everything about his style.

Which two characters in the team are brothers?

The younger one repeats whatever his brother says, which is where his nickname comes from. They play first base and right field.

Which position does Bertram Grover Weeks play?

He is described as fun-loving, and he is played by Grant Gelt. The epilogue gives him the strangest fate of the nine.

Which actress plays Scotty's mother?

She is best known for Raiders of the Lost Ark. Her character quietly pushes her son to go outside and make friends.

How many home runs did Babe Ruth hit in 1927?

That record stood for 34 years until Roger Maris hit 61. Ruth broke his own previous mark by a single home run.

Before he became a slugger, the man who signed that ball was a star left-handed what?

He did it for the Boston Red Sox, who sold his contract at the end of 1919. The buyers got 714 career home runs out of the deal.

Which nickname belonged to the Yankee slugger who signed the ball?

He was also called the Bambino. The other three nicknames belong to Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays and Ty Cobb.

How many games did the 1927 Yankees win on their way to sweeping the World Series?

They took the pennant by 19 games and outscored opponents by a record 376 runs. The team on the ball is not a random one.

Whose 1927 season included 175 runs batted in, a record at the time?

He batted .373 with 47 home runs and was voted the league's most valuable player. He hit directly behind the man with 60 home runs.

Which team did the 1927 Yankees sweep in the World Series?

Four games, no losses, and the series was effectively over before it started. Legend says the opposition lost heart watching batting practice.

Who else appears in the famous first six of the 1927 batting order alongside the two most famous names?

Mark Koenig and Bob Meusel round out the six. The other names listed belong to later Yankee eras entirely.

How much did the film take in its opening weekend?

It went on to add roughly another $32 million through ticket sales. The film was a modest performer that became a classic on video.

What finally happens when the Beast chases Benny through the neighbourhood?

The whole legend collapses in one scene. Afterwards the animal becomes the team's mascot.

Which studio released The Sandlot on April 7, 1993?

It became a cult favourite on home video, with worldwide VHS and DVD sales estimated at $76 million, more than double its theatrical gross.

Which Boston-born actor won the part of Ham Porter at his very first audition?

He played Little League growing up in Dorchester and went on to The Big Green, a recurring role on Netflix's GLOW and producing Bad Roomies.

After retiring from acting in 1997, Benny actor Mike Vitar took up which career in Los Angeles?

He started as an EMT for an ambulance company in Torrance in 1996 and joined the Los Angeles Fire Department in 2002. A casting manager had first spotted him in line at a school carnival.

Who played the grown-up Benny 'the Jet' Rodriguez in the film's Dodgers epilogue?

Pablo Vitar joined the LAPD in 1996 and died of colon cancer in 2008. Arliss Howard was the uncredited adult Smalls seen in the booth.

According to the closing narration, what does Ham Porter become as an adult?

He wrestles as 'The Great Hambino'. Timmy and Tommy become an architect and a contractor, Yeah-Yeah joins the army and Bertram vanishes into the counterculture.

How did Mr Mertle lose his sight, according to the film?

The boys learn he was a retired player and a friend of Babe Ruth, and he trades them a ball signed by the whole 1927 Murderers' Row for the chewed-up one.

In The Sandlot 2, the feared dog the kids call 'The Great Fear' turns out to be named what?

Set in 1972, the sequel reveals the dog is one of the Beast's offspring and only wanted out to visit a neighbouring female dog. James Earl Jones was the only returning cast member.

In The Sandlot: Heading Home, Luke Perry's Dodgers star is knocked back in time to which year?

A wild pitch in 2004 sends Tommy 'Santa' Santorelli back 28 years to his 13-year-old self, where Benny and Squints help him coach the kids.

A Disney+ Sandlot series reuniting the original cast was scrapped in November 2023 for what reason?

The show was put in the works in 2019 after Disney bought 20th Century Fox. A prequel film had been announced the year before.

Who composed The Sandlot's score, which went unreleased until a 2006 limited edition?

The Varèse Sarabande CD Club release paired it with his music for The War of the Roses; La-La Land Records issued an expanded remaster for the 25th anniversary in 2018.