The Sandlot

Infobox_Film
name =The Sandlot


writer =David M. Evans
Robert Gunter
starring =Tom Guiry
Mike Vitar
James Earl Jones
director =David M. Evans
producer =Mark Burg
Chris Zarpas
distributor =20th Century Fox
released =April 7, 1993
runtime =101 minutes
language = English
budget =
music =David Newman
awards =
followed_by = "The Sandlot 2"
imdb_id =0108037

"The Sandlot" is a 1993 film about young baseball players. The film was directed by David Evans and was released with the title "The Sandlot Kids" in Australia and the United Kingdom. The title was later changed to simply" The Sandlot" in all countries for a DVD release.

Taglines:
* The adventure of a lifetime, the summer of their dreams...the dog of their nightmares.
* They're more than a team. They're the best buddies in the entire history of the world.
* A little piece of paradise, a half a block wide, and a whole season long.
* Legends never die.

Plot synopsis

The film is a flashback to 1962 when Scotty Smalls moves with his mother and stepfather to a new city. The move gave Scotty very little time to make friends before summer. He happens to follow some of the neighborhood kids after school one day and sees them playing baseball. Scotty watches from a distance and is embarrassed when his uncoordinated attempt at throwing the baseball falls short. All the kids consider him a loser except for Benny Rodriguez, the best player on the team, who is a neighborhood star because of his speed. Benny asks Scotty to play with the team so they can have a full roster of nine players. Benny gets the rest of the crew to accept Scotty by having him hold his glove hand in the air, and hitting a fly ball right into Scotty's glove. Through some practice and tips from Benny, Scotty becomes an integral part of the team.

Through out the film, the gang has many misadventures, including getting into a face-off baseball game against an enemy Little League team, winning the game and celebrating by going to a fair and, after illegally chewing tobacco, throw up on some pedestrians while on a ride. On a hot day, the kids go swimming at the local pool, where Squints fakes a drowning in order to kiss a female, (aptly dubbed Wendy Peffercorn) lifeguard he had a crush on. The gang also play only once a year at night, on the 4th of July.

Meanwhile, the team has to avoid hitting home runs in the sandlot because "The Beast", a huge English Mastiff, lives on the other side of the fence and it would be considered suicidal to attempt to retrieve the ball, because The Beast's penchant for eating boys is the stuff of neighborhood legends. One day, Benny hits the "guts" out of the ball, and he believes they can't play for the rest of the day because they don't have a ball. Scotty indicates he has a ball at home but is actually referring to his stepdad's Babe Ruth autographed ball. Scotty is entirely unaware of the Babe's fame and how priceless the ball is as he only recently learned how to play the game. Scotty takes the ball while his stepdad is on a business trip and brings it to the boys at the sandlot. The boys don't notice the signature and continue to play. Scotty himself hits the ball over The Beast's fence in a home run. He suddenly realizes he shouldn't have stolen his stepdad's ball. The situation becomes far worse when the other boys indicate how priceless the ball is. The boys must figure out a way to get the ball back from The Beast without risking their lives, leading to a wild array of ideas.

Benny is able to retrieve the ball from The Beast's yard, but is chased all around the neighborhood by The Beast. Finally, The Beast is defeated when he chases Benny back into his yard and the fence falls on The Beast, trapping him. Scotty and Benny realize "The Beast" is a dog like any other and they lift the fence off their former foe, who thanks them with licks and reveals himself to be a very nice dog. They then return The Beast home to his owner Mr. Mertle (James Earl Jones) -- whom the boys fear almost as much as they feared The Beast. Mr. Mertle is no more a monster than his dog is, and he tells the boys if they'd just asked, he would have gotten the ball for them. The boys also learn that Mr. Mertle is a former professional baseball player who was blinded during a game, and that The Beast's real name is Hercules.

Unfortunately, the ball has already been destroyed by Hercules, but Mr. Mertle instead offers to "trade" Scotty for another ball -- signed by the entire 1927 New York Yankees World Series championship team. Scotty doesn't want to take something valuable from Mr. Mertle, so, knowing that, Mr. Mertle "trades" the autographed ball to Scotty, as long as he came to talk baseball with him once a week, as part of the deal. His stepdad grounds him for a week, but in the concluding voice over, Scotty says that things worked out between them.

The film then shows how all of the Sandlot kids one by one left the sandlot, growing up or moving away. Eventually, only Scotty is left at the sandlot.

In the end of the movie, when it comes to the present, Smalls is a radio commentator for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Benny, Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez, is a star player -- in the twilight of his career, but steals home in the movie's final moment before flashing a thumbs-up at Smalls in the press box.

The film focuses on themes such as friendship, baseball, heroism, and responsibility.

Hercules AKA The Beast

Hercules AKA The Beast was played by Mountain Oaks Gunner, a champion English Mastiff (Ch L Olympus Thor x Ch Gulph Mills Heidi To Mt Oaks). Gunner weighed 205 pounds and performed all his own stunts. (2/28/1988- ? (about 2000)).

Lineup

Pitcher- Kenny DeNunez
Catcher- Hamilton "Ham" Porter
1st Base- Timmy Timmons
2nd Base- Bertram Grover Weeks
3rd Base- Alan "Yeah-Yeah" McClennan
Shortstop- Benjamin "The Jet" Franklin Rodriguez
Left Center- Scotty Smalls
Center Field- Michael "Squints" Palledorus
Right Field- Tommy "Repeat" Timmons

Benny also filled in when the others were batting.

After The Sandlot

*Alan "Yeah-Yeah" McClennan- Alan's parents shipped him off to military school. After the Army, he became one of the pioneering developers of bungee-jumping (a reference to one attempt to get the Babe Ruth-signed ball after it goes into Mr. Mertle's backyard, in which he was held up to a high height and lowered down on a rubbery cord).

*Bertram Grover Weeks- Bertram got really into the '60s and no one really ever saw him again.

*Timmy and Tommy Timmons- Became an architect and a contractor. They started out small, designing playground equipment and prefabricated treehouses. The Timmons brothers eventually became the first architects to build a mini-mall.

*Michael "Squints" Palledorus- Squints grew up and married Wendy Peffercorn, together having nine kids. Palledorus bought Vincent's Drugstore, and currently owns and operates the store.

*Hamilton "Ham" Porter- Entered professional wrestling under the alias "The Great Hambino".

*Kenny DeNunez- DeNunez played in the Minor Leagues, making it up to Triple-A, but was never able to make it to the Majors. He currently owns his own business. He is a father, and (in his spare time) coaches the Little League team his sons play on, The Heaters.

*Benjamin Franklin "The Jet" Rodriguez - Benny continued to play baseball, and eventually played for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has developed a niche as a pinch-runner.

*Scott Smalls - Entered the world of broadcast journalism, and is now the play-by-play announcer and voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
*Hercules AKA 'The Beast' - Became the mascot of the team, and lived to be 199 years old (in dog years).

Cast and characters

*Scott "Scotty" Smalls (Tom Guiry)
*Benjamin Franklin "Benny the Jet" Rodriguez (Mike Vitar)
*Hamilton "Ham" Porter (Patrick Renna)
*Michael "Squints" Palledorous (Chauncey Leopardi)
*Alan "Yeah-Yeah" McClennan Marty York
*Kenny DeNunez (Brandon Quintin Adams)
*Bertram Grover Weeks (Grant Gelt)
*Tommy "Repeat" Timmons (Shane Obedzinski)
*Timmy Timmons (Victor DiMattia)
*Bill, Scott's Dad (Denis Leary)
*Scott's Mom (Karen Allen)
*Mr. Mertle (James Earl Jones)
*Wendy Peffercorn (Marley Shelton)
*Babe Ruth (Art LaFleur)
*Phillips (Wil Horneff)
*Billie Jean (Gretchen Hill)
*Hercules AKA 'The Beast' (Ch. Mountain Oaks Gunner)

Reception

The film was generally well received by critics, with Roger Ebert giving it a thumbs up and making comparisons with the 1983 film A Christmas Story. The film grossed $4 Million in its opening weekend and a further $32 million through ticket sales. Figures for worldwide, VHS and DVD sales are unknown.

equels

#"The Sandlot 2" (2005) - A direct-to-video sequel in which a new Sandlot gang, complete with girls, is featured. The only returning cast member is James Earl Jones in his role of Mr. Mertle.
#"" (2007) - Another direct-to-video sequel starring Luke Perry as Tommy "Santa" Santorelli who gets knocked back to 1976 from 2007 and relives his childhood. Chauncey Leopardi reprises his role as Squints.
#"The Sandlot 4" (2008) - The third direct-to-video sequel to be released sometime in mid-2008.

oundtrack

The film's original score was composed by David Newman, and was unreleased until 2006, when a limited edition was released as part of the Varése Sarabande CD Club.

"Song in order of appearance:"
#Finger Poppin' Time - Hank Ballard
#Smokie Part II - Bill Black's Combo
#The Lion Sleeps Tonight - The Tokens
#There Goes My Baby - The Drifters
#This Magic Moment - The Drifters
#America The Beautiful - Ray Charles
#Green Onions - Booker T & The MG's
#Tequila - The Champs
#Wipe Out - The Surfaris

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0108037|title=The Sandlot