Why The Sandlot Still Hits So Hard

We go live, catch up on sore backs and family weekends, then rewatch The Sandlot and argue over what it really is: a baseball movie or a coming-of-age story that happens to run through a diamond. We dig into the scenes that still hit, the history threads people miss, and why the “sandlot” feeling is harder to find for kids now. 
• why we pause Brockmier season two to review a sports movie 
• debating “baseball movie” vs “movie with baseball in it” 
• nostalgia, friendship, and the one-summer myth that feels real 
• Benny’s leadership and the “don’t think, have fun” baseball lesson 
• Mr Mertle and the James Earl Jones reveal 
• baseball history touches like Hank Aaron, Maury Wills, and the Monarchs hat 
• the pool scene, the ending updates, and whether movies should explain everyone’s future 
• IMDb goofs, overthinking movies as adults, and protecting the magic 
• travel baseball, screens, and why pickup games look different now 
Give me your thoughts on this movie, put it in the comments, send me a message, what your thoughts, text me, whatever it is. 
Make sure you're following Donnie, make sure you're following me, make sure you're following the Dad High Chronicles on YouTube, on TikTok. 
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Transcript

Going Live And Catching Up

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Okay, let's go.

SPEAKER_05 0:10

All right. Well, welcome everybody to the Dead Hat Chronicles. We are live, guys. This is crazy. We're live on YouTube. We're live on TikTok today. That's it. Just this. Those two channels. That's it. Let's not complicate the baloney sandwiches. Also, this is on a recorded um on a podcast as well. So I want to uh I want to thank you guys for joining us tonight. But the reason why we're here, and let's be honest, this is the only reason why we're here. We're here because obviously we love sports. Donnie, you love sports. I love sports. And um we have some we get some stuff to gotta we gotta talk about today. And you know, one of those things is gonna be obviously uh a certain um discussion of a certain I don't want to give it away just yet because it it's just that's not part of it, right? Like, I mean, we gotta we gotta talk about this, okay? We gotta talk about this in what we are gonna be talking about, and so um how you doing, my friend, first of all. Let's do that.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

How how how have you been? I'm doing pretty good. My back feels like an old man today, though.

SPEAKER_05 1:16

Brother, my legs are killing me.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

My back is killing me. I don't know what's going on with it. It's been bothering me all day, although I had to go put some uh some mulch out at Rhonda's office and did you blow the grass and do some things, but it was already bothering me before that. It's just it's one of those days where I feel as old as I am. Some days I don't, some days I don't wait.

SPEAKER_05 1:34

I was just gonna say you're you are, but you are old.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

I know, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_05 1:39

You are old.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

Yeah, yeah. There's there's dirt that's not as old as me.

SPEAKER_05 1:43

So dude, um, I I ran today, and for the review, like the at the time of this recording, it is a Sunday, okay? So we are recording on a on a Sunday night here, Sunday evening, and it has been one hell of a week, and one hell of a weekend. If you didn't know, um it this weekend was um my my daughter's birthday party. Yep, and uh the big eight big eight. This kid, uh dude, I'm blinking, and it's like it's like time is just flying by, dude.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

I know somebody asked me about my oldest, and I was like, he's gonna be 30 this year, and they're like, Wait, what?

SPEAKER_05 2:25

Jesus Christ, I was zipped by I was just telling um a friend of mine, so I was like, I was just holding her in my arms when she was born. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm not trying to get sentimental or anything like that, but like it's the truth, right? Like, I mean, it's just like moment of holding my hands, like it literally my two hands, like that's how big she was, and now

Birthdays And A Thrift Store Runway

SPEAKER_05 2:51

she is three-quarters of the way of me, and I'm a tall dude, I'm six foot two. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 2:58

And I just anyways, listen, it's she ain't even got to the teen years, she's a teen in training. I can tell you that.

SPEAKER_05 3:04

Oh, brother.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

In a good way, but um, yeah, just you you you got some time ahead of you that uh I don't envy.

SPEAKER_05 3:15

Yeah, thanks. Uh appreciate that. So yeah, no, it's been it's been a lot of fun, dude. It's it was fun, it was a good weekend. Like the first part of the day, the first part of the half of the birthday party thing was like her and her friends. Um Darla took her to thrifting. She wasn't she wanted to go thrifting.

SPEAKER_04 3:34

Okay, right.

SPEAKER_05 3:35

But check this out. So it was like she went thrifting, and then she they all of them they bought little little dresses and suits and all that, and they had a um uh a runway. I uh we put a runway for her. We used my studio lights, my cameras, and all that stuff, and then we recorded. I have my speakers with the microphone, and uh you know, like the whole nine, dude. Like we went all blown. Like, here's what we're gonna do. You know what I mean? Okay, it will it was awesome, and she was loving every minute of it.

SPEAKER_02 4:06

That sounds that does sound awesome. That those are the kind of parts I miss about having a daughter, yeah. Um, all the the those kind of moments there with the you know, little girl dress up and all that kind of stuff, and all I mean, I had two boys, so I didn't have any of the yeah, that that part of it, but uh you know the other part of it, I don't know that I want that part of it, but yeah, that's the good part right there.

SPEAKER_05 4:30

Yeah, that this is the great part. Like, I mean, she's she's about daddy's girl and all this other stuff, and so I was dude, it was fun, dude. You know what I'm saying? Absolutely. That was the best part about that. That's the best part about all of that. What's up, Sherry? How you doing today? Uh, thank you for joining us here in our live stream. So, okay.

Why We Picked A Sports Movie

SPEAKER_05 4:48

Um, and so uh, you know, that we're gonna be talking about a I guess we can just say it now, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:55

Well, we're gonna we're gonna cover a movie. We've been doing Brackmeier on the podcast. Uh, we finished season one and we decided before we start season two that we were wanted to review a movie, and I think we've decided that we're going to do a a sports movie of some kind in between each of the Brackmeier seasons that remaining. Correct. So we've we've chosen one today for a specific reason, and we'll get to it uh in a little bit.

SPEAKER_05 5:20

But uh yeah, so it's and I watched it today. Um, so I went today to I I went I did my mile on day 39, okay. Running at least one mile. Running walking, right? Excuse me, running, walking at least one mile, and then I went and played softball, and obviously I can tell that I'm I am at that age, like that much exercise it gets to your body, brother. Yeah, right. And so I was I was I was feeling every bit of you know 44. I'll tell you that. You know what I'm saying? I was feeling every minute of it. So, but anyways, listen, it was fun, it was a lot of fun, and um, you know, I uh I went out there and then uh I lay on the couch for a while.

SPEAKER_02 6:08

How's that? I laid on the floor watching this movie at Rhonda's office. That's why my back, like I said earlier, was bothered.

SPEAKER_05 6:14

You laid on the floor? What do you do? I did.

SPEAKER_02 6:16

I I got on the sofa and it was just so soft, it felt weird on my back, and I just laid down on the hard floor on the carpet and uh a rug there and a pillow under my head and watched uh watched the movie uh again to catch up on it again. Yeah, and um, and yeah, so I just I I needed like that that hard floor to lay on my back for a while. Just I don't know, my lower back's killing me today. But enough about my pains.

SPEAKER_05 6:41

I got you. I got you. All right, so like you said, we finish season one of Brock Meyer, which left it with a big, you know, like cliffhanger right there. Like, you know, like uh jewels stayed back, jewels is on the I Hate You Brock Meyer, and Brockmeyer and Charles, they went on down to triple A, which at this point is in New Orleans, right? So that's that's that's the end of season one. We don't know what season two is gonna bring, uh, because we haven't watched it yet. And so that's gonna be next week. Yeah, but this week we're gonna pick a we picked a great movie, and you are obviously you're giving it away if people don't know, and not then we'll really figure it out with the hat that you're wearing tonight, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:28

And um, and I told you earlier, you know, we're gonna review this baseball movie, but actually, is it a baseball movie?

SPEAKER_05 7:35

That's the question. We'll but to find out. So, do you want to give the movie?

Is It A Baseball Movie

SPEAKER_02 7:44

Sure. Why don't we just jump right into it? Let's do it. Um, we picked this movie specifically because it's a controversial take on how good a movie it is, how good a baseball movie it is. Um, should it be even considered one of the best baseball movies? Uh, a lot of people have it as their best, a lot of people do not. And after watching it again today, and it's been a while since I've seen it. Um, I told you earlier, my take is it's not a baseball movie, it's a movie with baseball in it. Really? And I want to give you before we even get to saying the name, yeah, yeah. I want to read you something, and this describes this movie, but this is not from this movie. Interesting. Along the way, they face uh, and some of it's not exactly word for word relatable to this movie, but I'm gonna just read this paragraph real quick. Uh, along the way they face physical challenges, convert, confront personal fears, family issues, the complexities of growing up. The film blends coming-of-age drama, adventure, and friendship, exploring innocence, mortality, loyalty, and the transition from childhood to adolescence. Doesn't that sound like this movie? Yeah, but it's not. It's not. Is that the Goonies? No, but it's another movie that's a coming of an age movie. And this is this movie that I just read this from is what popped in my head today as a comparable uh comparison, a a comp, as you will, as they say in the sports, really, to this movie, and that is from Stand by Me. This is a baseball version of Stand By Me, in my opinion, in a lot of ways.

SPEAKER_05 9:28

Well, I am I am dying to know how this is going to turn out.

SPEAKER_02 9:33

I mean, you you you look at the story, it's about these kids and the new kid moving in uh right at the end of the school year. You know, he hasn't had time to even make friends for the summer. It's about getting through the summer with new friends and trying to figure out and and baseball is the vehicle in which it happens, but it's not about the baseball per se. It's about the story of these kids becoming friends and adventures that they have and trying to get the baseball back from the the beast. Um Hercules, Hercules, yeah. And so um and I I kind of had forgotten some of the parts of it, and um so kind of re-watching this, it brought me back to the fact that um it's it's a great movie. I love the nostalgia of it, I love the story of it, and it's it's set in the you know early 60s. Um and because of where it's located, there's there's things that I had forgotten about it that um that when I started watching, I'm like, oh, okay. So because there was talk like you know, it doesn't include the Negro League's history. Well, there's a kid that wears a Kansas City Monarchs hat. So there's a there's right right off the rip. There's a touch of that. You've got the Los Angeles Angels as another cap. Which by the way, great, beautiful hat. Beautiful hat for Los Angeles Angels. Uh, there's talk of you know this being the year Maury Willis uh broke, or Maury Wills, excuse me, broke the uh the stolen base record. Um, there's reference to Hank Aaron. I mean, there's a whole scene where Pai Bruce is like, hey, can I keep this Hank Aaron card baseball card? I don't know why, but I just I need to hold on to it. Like there's touches to to bridge that quote unquote uh gap for the the loss of you know you know the Negro League aspect of it. But but you and I talked about the fact that this was made in the 90s.

SPEAKER_05 11:32

So yeah, shout out to Mike uh over on TikTok. He's watching right now. Uh like Mike, you know who that is. Yeah, uh shout out Mike, how you doing, buddy? I don't know why the comments are not showing up on our side, but uh I can see it, I can see your comment uh here on TikTok Lag. So I appreciate you uh you watching uh with us today. Absolutely. This movie was made in 1993, yeah.

Race And Accuracy In 1962

SPEAKER_02 11:56

And and the thing is, um, you know, it's it's a period piece, and it's actually to me seems very accurate for that time period in Southern California. Um things were different because the thing again, the things that bothered or not bothered me, the things that I thought that would be like, okay, that really wouldn't happen. I mean, again, it's 62. You got a black kid swimming in the pool with all these white kids. I mean, that's not gonna happen in the south, but it probably did happen in California.

SPEAKER_05 12:29

Well, not just a black kid, but a Hispanic kid as well, and Hispanic.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

I mean, there was there that all was was something that because there's been talk that this didn't accurately portray certain aspects of life, and I thought I think it crossed not really crossed lines, but it kind of brought together the fact that in some places that wasn't as big an issue, or maybe it was, and they just glossed over that part of it as well, or or or it they just chose not to um show that part in this movie, like they purposely chose not to, and again, we don't, you know, listen, it doesn't need to be that's the thing, it didn't need to be a part of the the the thing. Like you and I taught if this movie was made today, the tones would be so different, totally different, yeah. And and probably in a bad way, yeah to me. It would take away from the movie. The fact that that wasn't an issue and never became an issue in the movie makes it that much more nostalgically cool to me.

SPEAKER_05 13:28

I I it's always been one of my absolute favorite movies. My daughter loves this movie. We watched it together, as a matter of fact. Today we're watching it together, and she was like, Daddy, I love this movie, right? And and I I I want to keep that innocence of that in in her, right? Um, there's other movies that we can watch um that will tackle uh racism, that will tackle discrimination, and that will tackle other things. Uh, this movie doesn't need to be this that movie. And listen, I as as a as as someone who is from another country, right? Like I am Puerto Rican, you know, I've I've faced my own share of discrimination uh while being here in the United States. And um at a much later time than this is depicted as well. Oh god, yeah. Like, I mean, we we're talking, you know, like in 90s, late 90s and 2000s, where I've experienced this, right? And it's been hell, even where you know, 14, 15 years ago uh it happened. Still it's happening now, right? Um, and with the climate in which we are in. Um, but the fact that we're watching this movie, and to me, I am choosing to see the positives of this movie. Are there some on you know, some some undertones that that they should be talked about, some racial undertones? God, yeah, absolutely 100%. There's no there's no disagreeing with that, okay. Um, but what we're gonna do with this movie, with this one, we're gonna review this movie as is you know, two fans of this movie. Okay, we're gonna review it, we're gonna talk about it. There's some things that I I I sent you a list of of questions, right? Uh, and it's as you and it and guys, as if you don't even know, I use Chat GPT a lot. I've been using Chat GPT a lot to help me with creating a lot of these questions. Um, and then uh it helped me with also working a uh summarization of the movie. Okay, the first paragraph says that the Santos follows Scotty Smalls. Okay, everybody knows him as Smalls, a shy, awkward boy who moves to a new neighborhood during the summer of 1962, struggling to make friends and knowing almost nothing about baseball. Smalls is invited by Benny the Jet Rodriguez, uh the neighborhood's best best players to join a group of kids who spent every day playing pickup baseball on a local sandlot. And this is why I'm wearing my hat today, my my bats. Uh obviously, I play sandlot baseball as a 44-year-old, okay? So I do. Uh no shame in that. Uh, and so we wanted to uh really talk about this movie, and this is the very first thing is it's like you know, it's some of these these questions is I I want to ask you because obviously you're a little bit older than I am, and I want to get your take when you first saw this

First Watches And VHS Nostalgia

SPEAKER_05 16:24

movie. When was the first time you watched the sandlive?

SPEAKER_02 16:27

I probably saw it you know, not long after it came out. I don't think I saw this in the theater. I don't recall that I neither did I. No, that I didn't see it in the theater, but I'm sure I'm sure I rented it. I probably went to Blockbuster and rented this on VHS more than likely. I watched it on VHS or DVD from Blockbuster.

SPEAKER_05 16:49

I did not watch it right away. Um, because this came out in '93. I was in, I was I was still living in Puerto Rico uh back then, and I watched it for the first time here in the US when I was living in Cleveland, and it was one of those situations in which we went to a I don't did you ever have a uh family video? Oh yeah, it was it was that kind of like it was, I think it was a family video or a blockbuster. We had both of them in the same town that I grew up in. Uh, and then we ran it, and then I fell in love with it. I've I've always been a fan of baseball, so like I was like, I was excited to see it's like you know, like kids my age, right? Like, you know, growing up playing baseball, pick up baseball, right? Because I that's what I did that as a kid.

SPEAKER_02 17:33

Same here. I mean, that was one of the things that that draws me to it. That's the nostalgia of it for me, is that it's basically just a bunch of kids getting together out there in the the sand lot, you know, in the neighborhood, putting together a game. And it's just nine of them, and they're just basically practicing with themselves. I mean, they're not playing a game, they don't have another team that they're playing against. They just get out right. But the the the whole thing about this group is that they just go out there and play amongst themselves, and they only had eight guys to start with, and he became the ninth kid uh as well. And um and it's just basically uh continuous, you know, just practice and playing amongst themselves and getting better at at the game, and um and and so like even like when I was uh uh you know in middle school, outside of baseball, there was also times you played pickup basketball, you played pickup football. We go out and play three on three, four-on-four football, you know, and stuff like that. It's that's what it's about. It's about just guys being like, hey, let's get outside and play. And that's why I go back to my first take is that it's got baseball in it, and baseball is the the vehicle in which drives the movie, but I don't know that I'm gonna continue to consider this a baseball movie. It's just I'll consider it a baseball movie. It's a base, it's a movie with baseball in it and sort of about baseball, but I don't know that um like there's other movies that are truly like baseball movies. I'll tell you why I consider this based. And again, that's why I said it's like a semantics issue with this, is whether it's baseball or if it's because everybody's gonna have their own opinion on this, like whether or not like you think it's a baseball movie or if you call it a baseball movie, that's fine. I'm not saying it's not a baseball movie. I'm just saying that for me personally, I see it more as a coming of age story, a nostalgia story about growing up, becoming a kid that's getting a little older, becoming a teenager almost in a lot of ways, because these characters are like supposed to be around 12, 13 years old.

SPEAKER_05 19:43

But why can it be a coming of age movie in a baseball uh setting, right? I mean that's that's how I see it. Okay, but but I I see you see it as a coming of age movie that has a baseball right uh aspect to it. Me, I see it as a baseball movie in which the kids are growing up, like they have that this coming of age experience through the game of baseball, yeah. Right?

SPEAKER_02 20:12

Uh and it can really go either way. I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a semantics.

SPEAKER_05 20:16

No, no, no. It's not just there's no right or wrong answer. Like you have your opinion, I got my opinion. It's like, listen, it's like an asshole, everybody's got one, right? So, like, it's fine. I I'm all I'm good with you saying that I'm you know, and just like a hot, you're good with me, you know, having my opinion about this movie, right? Like, I mean, there's no there's no right or wrong uh reason on this one. So um, okay.

Favorite Scenes And Core Message

SPEAKER_05 20:36

Uh so let me ask you this. Um, because there I I I guess some I I got some, you know, some opening questions, some character questions, movie moments, you know, baseball questions overall, some debate questions here, okay. Um, and so my question to you is because I mean this movie to you, what was one of your favorite moments in this movie?

SPEAKER_02 21:02

Probably, um it's probably the the the thing where Benny is like really trying to work with uh smalls to to catch the ball. He's like, listen, I'm you know, you just put your glove up and I'll I'll do what I gotta do. And I know it's not realistic that he can just hit the ball straight to the glove, but that's the point of the of the character, is he's so good that you could just put that up there. And he basically is is taking this kid under his wing, and he's like, you know, I'm gonna because everybody's picking on smalls. He's he can't throw the ball, he can't figure out which leg to go, you know, forward with first, and things like that. And he can't, and he's just like, Okay, you just put your glove up and I'll do the rest. And he hits it to him and he catches it. And then once he catches it, he kind of steps and throws like and that moment is all encompassed around what Benny says is you're thinking too much. Just don't think and have fun. And that's what baseball is. Don't think, have fun. It's just react and and don't overthink it. Because if you overthink it, then it's a problem. That whole scene for me was one of my favorite scenes. Now there's others that I really think are funny, just for other reasons, but that scene and that whole thing sort of is the the core of the movie right there. Don't overthink it, just just do it, just have fun.

SPEAKER_05 22:29

Money my favorite one was when Smalls and Benny go to Mr. Myrtle, right? And they they go in and say, Hey, you know, we're here to bring your dog back, you know, and all that. And he goes, like, oh, you guys are all the kids that are making all that ruckus, right? Right. Uh, and so like they apologize and everything, like they we were trying to get the ball, and he, you know, Mr. Myrtle goes, like, why didn't you just guys just come and knock on the door? And that's when everybody beats up on on Squints. Uh, like, you know, he's just like they're beating him up, you know what I mean? Right. And so, like, he they was like, All right, come on in, we'll talk about this baseball, right? Like, let's have a conversation about this baseball, right? And it's like, it's like, oh, you know, it's like, oh, I I refer, like, you know, he goes, uh, you're you're dead where you stand, right?

SPEAKER_02 23:15

Yeah, because it's like you you've just allowed this dog to destroy this babe roof. George said the George, yeah, George find this. That's what's fun. That's the that's the good part of that character, is that he always he referred to him as George each time, yeah. And um, and again, that goes back to what we taught about earlier. It's like these little nuggets, like like the the the monarch's hat, like the uh some of the other things. I mean, his character, they go in there and they look at this picture, and there's a picture of him in a um a uniform with uh with Babe Ruth, yeah, and Lou Gehrig, and it's like, oh, okay. So they're they're kind of throwing these little nuggets that you know those guys and and talks about playing against them because when they barnstormed, they did play against some of the Negro League players, even though they couldn't officially play against them, right?

SPEAKER_05 24:00

He even said himself like, listen, I would have beaten his his uh record if it wasn't that I went blind. It's like one day he got hit in the head, yeah and the lights went out on him, and he would like he admitted it's like I would have I was better.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

Exactly. So they did try to at least layer some of those little nuggets in there to to balance the the nostalgia of it being a 60s setting story, and the fact that they were constantly talking about Babe Ruth is the greatest player of all time, and we all know there's argument for that or against that because it didn't include the Negro League players, but well, even the broader society still believe him to be probably the greatest player, uh yeah.

SPEAKER_05 24:44

However, he himself said that he was not the greatest player of all time.

SPEAKER_02 24:48

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 24:49

Yeah, Bruce said it's like listen, if Negro League players would have played in his time, he would have been just another home run hitter, right? Like there would there was other players like Gibson was a much better hitter, right?

SPEAKER_02 25:00

You know what I mean? And that goes back to the fact that if this were made today, those types of tones would have been more involved in the story than they were in 1993.

SPEAKER_05 25:10

Yeah, we really we cannot we cannot take what we know now in 2026 and try to implement it in 1993 because it was a totally different time back then.

SPEAKER_02 25:22

Yeah, if you start picking apart the movie based on today's standards, then you know what are you doing? It is what it is, it just stands on its own.

SPEAKER_05 25:32

Again, do I do I believe that they were better Diger players than Babe Ruth? In my opinion, yes, 100%. Oh, yeah, they never got the chance, and he even said himself like when we were bar storming, dude. I I was getting my ass handed to me, right? Like, like that's that's that was George, you know, Babe Ruth who said that himself. You know, you you can see there's interviews of that, right?

SPEAKER_02 25:53

I I and and again, not just because I've I've met his great-grandson, but I still think Josh Gibson is one of the best hitters there probably ever was, and he had had yeah, and ever will be, and if he had had the opportunity and uh lived long enough to have a long career, uh it's crazy to see what he could have possibly done against uh those players. But but back to the movie, it's just that you know that's those tones are kind of sprinkled in okay a little bit, and and I like that they are. Um, but that that's a fantastic scene. With I mean, James Earl Jones is so good in both this and Field of Dreams. And what's funny is uh in real life, he doesn't like baseball. I've read that about him. He he he hates baseball. Who? But he James Earl Jones. Oh yeah, he now he hated, I should say in past tense, he hated baseball, but he had two of the most iconic roles in in baseball, in movies, yeah, baseball movies.

SPEAKER_05 26:47

Yeah, two of the like this one and obviously Field of Dreams, which we will be soon enough there.

SPEAKER_02 26:52

But um, but yeah, that's a great scene. So anyway, I interrupt you.

SPEAKER_05 26:57

James Roll Jones is one of my favorite actors, absolutely. I mean, you know, the voice of Darth Vader. Right. Um, anyways, listen, uh the list that was one of my favorite scenes. Like, you know, the the one favorite one one of my one of the scenes that hit home to me.

Dad Relationships And Which Kid We Are

SPEAKER_05 27:13

Um, and I think you you you're probably gonna laugh, but like when when Smalls was trying to act his stepdad to play baseball, and instead that's like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll show you, I'll show you. You know what I mean? Like dismissing, it was like, Oh, I got I I'm busy right now.

SPEAKER_02 27:26

He was kind of dismissive of him. He's like, Oh yeah, we'll do that, but they didn't give him any time frame or be like, okay, when right and the reason smalls was just like okay, okay, thanks.

SPEAKER_05 27:36

Yeah, yeah. The reason for that, I was like, I was smalls, right? With my with my dad. I love my dad, don't get me wrong, guys. Like, I love my dad, but like he was not, you know what I mean? Yeah, like he was not the the baseball guy, you know what I mean? He was not the sports person. Uh and every time we try to connect that through sports, because obviously I'm a massive baseball fan, right? We got their shows, we got the podcast and everything that deals with with sports and baseball, and I never got an opportunity to play catch with my dad, right? And so that was that was that one hit home. That one I was like, hmm.

SPEAKER_02 28:11

Well, and I I was kind of like I mean, to some extent, I think I was like that. I mean, my dad, well, my parents divorced when I was young. So um, I if I had catch with my dad when I was probably between five and nine, it's vaguely familiar, but I don't really remember it really well. Um and then you know, by the time my mom remarried, it was a whole different thing. So um I was older and already played had played for years and already knew how to do that. And I had plenty of friends to go out and play catch with.

SPEAKER_05 28:41

So yeah. Uh all right. So okay, so let me ask you this. Um which of the players do you identify yourself with? Or which are the characters, right? Not players, but which are the characters do you most most identify yourself with?

SPEAKER_02 29:00

Oh wow. Um I don't know. I think I'm probably closer to um oh, what's what's the kid with the glasses, the tall kid that that brought the chew into life? Oh, yeah, I know yeah. That part was my gosh, I'm I'm drawing a blanket. Hang on, I'll tell you his name here in just a second. Bertram. Yeah, Bertram. I think I was more of him um because he was kind of awkward. Um, and he's good, but he's not like like Benny good. Um, that was probably me. I was probably somebody like him because he seemed like he was sort of um he enjoyed it and loved baseball and was pretty good at it, but he wasn't great at it. But he also was trying to bring other things to the group, like the tobacco, the chewing tobacco scene and some of the other things. That would have been me. I'd have been uh not that I'd have brought the chewing tobacco, but but things like that. Like I'd have been like, hey, let's you know, let's do this or that.

SPEAKER_05 30:06

I you know it's funny, it could be smalls for me, or it could be uh Hambino.

SPEAKER_02 30:13

Yeah, there's a there's a there are some things about him that are probably me too, just like the the smart, wise ass ball types.

SPEAKER_05 30:20

Such an ass, you know what I mean? Like I talk so much shit, right? Like, so that's where I see myself like you know, talking because I'm listening I'm not gonna hold back, you know. I I'm at the point in my life I'm like, I don't give a shit, whether you like me or you don't. Okay, uh I'm gonna talk shit back to you. Okay, right. If you don't like it, good luck to you, right? Uh and so that's why I identify, but I also identify because of that story that I just said earlier, right? The the the the playing, the wanting to connect with my dad and wanting to play baseball and never got that opportunity, uh, for you know, various reasons, right?

SPEAKER_03 30:54

Right.

SPEAKER_05 30:55

Um so you know, a lot of people well, you know, obviously the movie stars, like you said, it's like you know, like they're just moving in, you know, this is their best year of their life as far as baseball is concerned. It's like this was like that that one year where everything was just it was amazing. This is where he got in the biggest pickle, as he says, of their lives, right? And right, and so uh this would that's what's how this was set up, right? And and then he I I really appreciate how his mom um was like, I need you to go out, go out there and go get in trouble, you know what I mean? Yeah, uh, and it's like, you know, how many moms you say, you know, my parents are like, okay, get in trouble, not too much trouble, right? Okay, I need you to go out, and then he had this plastic glove with him and everything. By the way, a lot of people had um uh a crush on Wendy Peppercorn. My crush was the mom. Didn't care, you know what I'm saying? And so just want to put that out there. Um, and so but that so like you know, the him you know, trying to sneak in into into the outfield, right? And so, like how he just tried to play, but like with that awkward looking hat. Jesus was that an ugly hat.

SPEAKER_02 32:11

That that was that was hilarious, and it reminded me, wasn't there a team? I don't know if it was this season, or I think it was a team last season that did a uh sandlot uh promotion game and they gave away hats with that super long bill. I can't remember who it was because that was a fishing hat that he was wearing. Yeah, it was like a fishing hat, super long bill.

SPEAKER_05 32:30

I love I love the comment that James like, you have a do you have a fireplace in your hat in your house? He's like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. Burn that. Yeah, exactly. Don't bring that hat again. He didn't have a glove, like you know, when when finally uh Benny invites him and he goes, Like, you know, he's sitting on on in his front porch and uh looking at it at the glove because he was playing catch with his you know his stepdad, right? And it broke it because like it just went through and then it got hit him in the eye. And the funny thing is right there, they put the steak in his eye, it was like, keep that in for an hour. Like, bro, we're not about to ruin this steak, a good, perfectly good steak. Give me a bag of ice, bro. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 33:06

But that's you know, that was the that was back then. That was the thing back then, is you yeah, you just put a piece of meat on it, yeah. And I guarantee you in 1962, after he put that on his eye, they just washed it off and cooked it.

SPEAKER_05 33:19

So right, uh first of all, how you doing, Val? Um, Val, the um City of Food Girl, that's right. Okay, um, we're talking about sandlot. Okay. Uh oh, I hope I uh in late. I hope he's not talking about the sandlot. Who were okay? Wait, he is talking about the sandlot. I'm crying. Yes, Val, we are talking about the sandlot.

SPEAKER_02 33:44

Yes, we are talking about the sandlot, Val. We're we're reviewing it tonight.

SPEAKER_05 33:48

We're reviewing the sandlot. And so so Benny goes and invites him the next day, right? He's looking at his broken, you know, plastic uh glove that he said that his grandma bought him. And he goes like, Yeah, well, okay, but I I can't because I don't I don't have a glove. And he was like, Don't worry about it here. Here's this glove, right? And then um Benny goes, I was like, you know, he just pulls it out of his back, you know. He he had an extra one. Of course, Benny had one, right? Of course he had that extra glove uh on the back of his belt. It was stuck tinned in between his jeans and his belt, yeah. Right, and he looks so awkward with a button-down shirt tucked in in the shorts with the tube socks. I'm like, You talk about the the the perfect nerd. He looked like young Sheldon coming in. He did. Oh my god, good job out of you there. And so so that happened. So they you know, like when he gets to um to to the field, you know, Benny introduces him, you know, to the rest of the team, and they're like, dude, why are you bringing this guy here, right? Like, what are you doing? Yeah, you know, he was like, We don't need him. We're like, he's so bad. Remember what he did, like he was that bad, yeah. And and one of the funniest things to me is that when he tried to catch the ball, when Smalls try to catch the ball, and he grabs the ball, instead of throwing it, he runs all the way out to the infield, and everybody's looking in absolute pure disbelief, right?

SPEAKER_02 35:11

And and that's that's why I go back to what I said is that being my favorite scene where Benny starts like working with him and like, dude, don't don't don't think about it, just just do it. And he hits him the ball and he catches it and he throws it in, and then everybody, it's like like Benny, you know, with because he was the best player, he was the one that's like, okay, I'm gonna make sure these guys accept him, and I'm just gonna make it happen. And he did, and like after he caught the ball, they were shocked that he caught the ball because Benny quote hit it straight to the glove, and then he throws it in, and they're like, Okay, not bad after all. You know, they just sort of like turned around on their their process after that. Like kids do, they're like, Okay, maybe he's not so bad. All right, all right, right, fine.

SPEAKER_05 35:55

He's like, but he's not that bad. We'll we'll we'll deal with it, right? Like I said, we're gonna continue and and play and like this, whatever. What it is, what it is at this point, right? Right. Uh, and so I I that that that whole piece right there, that really, you know, that was really cool to see that they were like, okay, we'll accept them into our grid, right? Now we got a full nine. Yeah, technically there was 10 of them, right? Because obviously all bases were full, and then you know, Benny being the uh the one uh batter, which was interesting to me because out of all of them, obviously Benny was the best one, but each and every single one of them, they all play baseball, but not all of them ended in baseball. Only technically uh two ended in baseball, right?

SPEAKER_02 36:41

Yeah, as far as the characters.

SPEAKER_05 36:43

As far as the characters, three. One of one one of them made it all the way to triple A.

SPEAKER_02 36:47

Yeah, that was Kenny, who uh was wearing the uh the Kansas City Monarchs hat.

SPEAKER_05 36:52

Uh Benny the Jet made it all the way to the Dodgers, yeah. And then Smalls, who was a play-by-play for the Dodgers, right? And this is not a spoiler at this point, guys. If you have not seen it, it's 1993, we're in 2026, okay. Right. It's been a it's been out a while. It's been quite a while since it's on you if you haven't seen it. Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 37:11

Um, the one thing that I never picked up on, and I've tried to find, and I didn't do too deep a dive, is what year was the Dodgers game? Because I don't understand if it took place in 62, that had to been a game in the 70s, technically, that he was um or or 80s, or or right around the very early 80s. I mean, yeah, if you think about the character in 62, he was supposed to be around 12 years old, so 72, 82, he'd be almost 30 something years old. He looked like a 30-something year old person. Might have been around the early 80s, but they net that's the one thing they never that I recall mention yeah, you're right, what the present day year is. It's obviously not 93 because he'd be in his 40s and that just wouldn't work. There's not a chance in hell it was in the 90s.

SPEAKER_05 37:59

Yeah, he's not still basically a 40-something-year-old, but I say it was early 80s for or for uh you know them to be playing. Um, and and like you, I didn't do too much uh uh research on this, not because I didn't want to, but because I didn't want to ruin the magic of that movie for me,

Plot Logic And IMDb Nitpicks

SPEAKER_05 38:19

right? Right, because sometimes the more you dig into a movie, the worse it gets.

SPEAKER_02 38:27

Yeah, and I'm I'm horrible about going to IMDB and like reading all the trivia or the goofs, the goofs in the movie, and I I I got I I got out of the goofs thing. I started going down through there, and it's like the way people dissect every little scene. I mean, the fact that they're talking about you know, this movie's set in 1962 and they got a 1963 car. I'm like, who cares? Who cares? You know, it's like I don't need to know all that. The one goof though, and this is the one thing that that that I I I didn't think about during the movie, is um when when Smalls goes and gets the babe Ruth ball. Because his dad's out of town uh for a week, yeah. And you know, they need another ball, and he's like, okay, and he comes back with the babe roof ball. The one thing I didn't think about that a lot of people brought up in in what I was just talking about is why didn't he bring back the ball that him and his dad played catch with instead of the babe Ruth ball? Dude, right? So, like, yeah, it's like okay, him and his dad had a ball, a regular ball, it had to be at the house because he never did bring it to the field. And so, why did he go get the bay?

SPEAKER_05 39:35

I mean, obviously, that you you know, you don't have a story if it's not the baby's ball, right?

SPEAKER_02 39:39

If it's not a story, then not that but when people start picking apart the story, that comes up, and it's like, damn, I never thought about that.

SPEAKER_05 39:45

That's when you really are going down the weeds uh in a movie. You know, it's funny because he was so very nonchalant about like when the ball tore, and he was like, I got a ball, yeah. Why didn't you say something earlier? Right, right, and then they tell him, I go get it, go get it, right? Um, and so yeah, that that's an interesting, yeah, that's an interesting uh little tidbit right there.

SPEAKER_02 40:07

And one other one, too, when he did knock the cover off the ball and he ends up catching the ball, like this the ball of twine basically is left over. One of the other comments in IMDB was like, You can't knock the cover off of a ball. Mythbusters proved that it couldn't happen. Yeah, I'm like, okay, you're diving way too deep into picking this thing apart here.

SPEAKER_05 40:29

Again, we're talking about like if anything, this is an over-emboli, you know, like they someone is like over-dramatizing this movie, right? Right.

SPEAKER_02 40:40

I mean, Superman can't really fly, is what you're basically saying. It's like, come on, just let it be.

SPEAKER_05 40:45

Like, dude, chill out, right? Like, I mean, again, you just stop. I I think this is what happens when we become adults, yeah, is that we ruin our own childhood memories and our own childhood movies, right?

SPEAKER_02 41:00

And that's why I say I had to get out of reading that. So I was like, you know, I don't want to I don't want that to ruin the movie of this movie alive, and that's all I want. It's just a fun movie, though.

SPEAKER_05 41:09

Great movie. Listen, if you don't like it, that's okay too. Yeah, there's plenty of other sports movies out there that you can say this is my favorite sports movie, which we will cover on this podcast, right? Yeah, we will go over a lot of baseball, basketball, football, all these sports movies and sports shows and and all of that. So, like we're gonna get through this.

SPEAKER_02 41:29

Yeah, and if you're that one or two guys in our friend group that don't like this movie and you know who you are, that's okay too.

SPEAKER_05 41:34

If you're wrong, but you know, those specific two, exactly. There's just those two. Uh okay. I got a couple more questions for you because I have a lot of them here, obviously, as you already uh know.

Wendy Peffercorn And Ending Updates

SPEAKER_05 41:48

Um so they have it here as uh so here's one. The is the pool scene with uh Wendy Peppercorn still one of the funniest moments in your for you or in this movie, or is there another one that was funnier?

SPEAKER_02 42:08

That is that is one of my all-time favorite scenes outside of the one that I talked about earlier that kind of encompasses the movie for me. That that I almost went to this scene, but it's not my favorite scene of the movie as the movie story. I think it's hilarious because he had planned it for a long time and he's like, I'm just gonna jump in the deep end, even though I don't know how to swim and let her save me. Like he had this whole thing cooked up, yeah. And none of his friends knew that he had it cooked up, and then when he kind of looks over and smiles and and and all that when she's giving him mouth to mouth, yeah. That's that that look is hilarious.

SPEAKER_05 42:49

See, not the look that wasn't the look that was hilarious to me. It was the look of his friends that was hilarious to me. Oh, yeah. When they were like, Huh? Like, wait, did we just see that?

SPEAKER_02 43:00

Hey, wait a minute, what also that's when they got that he was faking it.

SPEAKER_05 43:05

Yeah, also, can we say Wendy was the C was a tease? It was a cock tease, okay. Oh yeah, always smiling, always doing the the flirty look and everything. So, like, she knew exactly what she was doing.

SPEAKER_02 43:18

So, like the fact that she flirted with him earlier in the movie when she was going across the street, yep, and and boom, boom, boom, boom, walking away from him. Yeah, you can say that after shaking. Yeah, go ahead. And then afterwards, when he you know they all run out and he stops and he's looking through there, and she kind of waves back at him. It's like, all right, I got you, I got you, kid. I got you.

SPEAKER_05 43:42

I see what you did. Okay. And then the fact that the later on they say that they got married with nine kids is hilarious to me.

SPEAKER_02 43:48

I know that's that's one of the to me, when you have movies like this that sort of give you like the the the what happened to the character kind of thing, that one right there is the fun one of the funniest. All-time ones for me. But let me ask this then. All those kids with her.

SPEAKER_05 44:04

Let me ask you because a lot of movies do this, but then there's other movies that they don't give you um a full, complete, like they don't close it out, right? They want you to develop your own imagination, use your imagination on how their lives would have ended. Right. You know what I'm saying? Obviously, the main character, Smalls and Benny, like they knew what where we were at. Like we knew exactly how he that story continued for them. Right? One is a major league, one's a play-by-play. But like the other ones, I do you prefer for the director to give you and the writer to give you um those endings, or do you prefer to come up with those those endings yourself?

SPEAKER_02 44:52

Um I don't know. When movies do it, I don't I don't expect every movie to do it, and I don't need it for every movie, but there are some where you really kind of get invested in in the nostalgia of the characters, and it's kind of cool that they give you, you know, what what they went on to do. Some of it's done just to be funny, and it's like uh almost a a non-realistic future that they had. Um, the thing I liked about this one is that, like you said, you knew two of them. You know, the the the fact that the one kid played all they said is he played triple A ball. They didn't say he played for so and so. They didn't go into too much detail. You know, the one kid, he just got too into the 60s and we never heard from him again. I love that because it's like I can picture, and that's the kid I was talking about with me. The you know, the kid with the glasses, like, okay, like somehow he just turned into either this crazy hippie or maybe he went off to Vietnam, whatever. It's like they just like he just disappeared from their life. And then you have you know the the brothers. Now the the one about the brothers that like started mini malls and stuff, it's like eh, did they really start mini malls, or you know, did they just get into you know into real estate or something? Like they yeah, but the fact, but it again, I liked it. I liked all of the stories that they gave, and um and and I like the idea that you can kind of uh at least have just a a fun take on okay, these kids grew up and went on to do something. But the fact that they they kind of started showing how you know people moved away. Like after a couple of years, a couple of guys moved away. And and I go back to um to like my situation in in life with high school. When I graduated high school, you know, we didn't have the internet, we didn't have cell phones. You either had a you had somebody's phone number, and if they changed phone numbers and you didn't have it, you lost contact with them or you had an address. And until Facebook came around, you know, there's a lot of my friends that there's a 20-year gap between when we finished high school and when we reconnected. And a lot of us, when we reconnected, it's like the sandlot. It's like we got back together, we start reminiscing, we start having these stories, and and and kind of almost like you pick up where you left off, even though you're 20 years older than you were.

SPEAKER_05 47:18

That's still awesome as as guys with our friends and everything. Like, you know, we can have a convers, I can have a conversation with someone, you know, 10 years ago, and then see them 10 years later and be like, man, you know, keep going with the same conversation, but it but it's been years since we've seen each other, right? Like it's we can do that um as friends and all that.

SPEAKER_02 47:36

So I can see where, like, oh yeah, this guy moved away and he got too into the 60s and we never heard from him again. I've got friends like that. I got friends that just I no idea whatever happened to them. Still to this day don't know what happened to them. Uh okay, so um it's true.

SPEAKER_05 47:55

I I have some friends like you know, that's it's just you know, they just disappear with time. Yeah. Um, and so uh all right, so let me take a look at other uh questions here.

SPEAKER_02 48:06

Um let me ask you one I saw sure do you which character do you think deserved more screen time? Because they all kind of got a little bit, but do you think there's one that they maybe should have done more with?

SPEAKER_05 48:24

Good question. Um the kids, I think I think a lot of them they got um an equal amount. Um so I can't go with that. Um maybe well I got two. Uh uh that relationship with his uh his stepdad, yeah, you know, developed out a little bit more in the storyline, and then the James Earl Jones character.

SPEAKER_02 48:56

I would have liked to have seen uh James Earl Jones just somewhat briefly earlier in. Like they they kept trying to get the ball or uh or multiple balls that had gone over. There was all these all these things they were doing, and the fact that the kid has the clubhouse next door overlooking the yard. You I don't mean I don't know, you you would have thought there would have been like even just hear his voice, like what are you kids doing out there, or something like that, you know, and just like, oh, I know that voice. Because it first time watching the movie, you don't know James Earl Jones is even part of this until the very end of the movie when that scene happened.

SPEAKER_03 49:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:37

So, you know, the fact that he just comes in at the end and and all it's like, man, I would that would have been cool to have had like uh the dogs out there barking, and and one of the kids is trying to figure out how to get it, and he's like, What are you kids doing out there? But he had like all that stuff that went on out there, and it wasn't until that last moment that he finally comes out there, like when they knocked on the door, like you had to have heard the stuff going on. I know his character's blind, again, spoiler alert, but um because he's blind, you would think he would hear more and have come out there and questioned more early on.

SPEAKER_05 50:20

Okay, okay, yeah. Uh the way I was looking at it is I was looking at it from a standpoint of I wish they would have like done like a little bit of a flashback back to when he was playing, you know.

SPEAKER_02 50:35

They did, but yeah, because technically uh he is the guy that ran the junkyard, all right. As far as the names of the characters go, or either his dad was one of the two, I'm not sure which, but um, but the the guy that ran the junkyard that had the dog was the same name. But the uh but the the the younger version of him didn't look anything like him, so I was a little confused on that. That one didn't make it didn't connect with me, but like you said, I think yeah, if they would have had um him as a player, like some kind of flashback to that sort of stitched in there, that might have might have done something.

SPEAKER_05 51:16

I can I can see that, yeah. Uh absolutely. Um, and so I I wish we would have been able to see that a little bit more uh after that. So but uh what I want to do here, uh, before we continue, do you see that? Can you see that right there? Okay, I was wondering what was going on. It's like, wait a way where we go. I'm gonna I'm gonna I wanna do something for the for the crowd.

Watching The Trailer Together

SPEAKER_05 51:39

Okay. Do you know what this is?

SPEAKER_02 51:42

No. I mean, I know what that I don't know what you're going to do, but I do.

SPEAKER_05 51:46

This is the movie trailer for the Sandlot.

SPEAKER_02 51:49

Oh, okay. Are you ready for this? Yeah, let's see the trailer because now having rewatched the movie, I'd like to see how the trailer was done.

SPEAKER_04 51:56

I know you're smart and I'm proud of you. I want you to make some friends this summer.

SPEAKER_00 52:01

Me Scotty's mom.

SPEAKER_04 52:12

Look at that. Stick it left.

SPEAKER_02 54:29

God, that movie was awesome. Yeah, and it's um it's funny to see how they chopped it up because most everything that we've really talked about is what they sort of put in there. And I love that the the uh you play like a girl was like the biggest offense. Like everybody's like, he said that. It was almost like the triple dog dare comment, and everybody's like, oh, he went there.

SPEAKER_05 54:54

But to to say that now, that's like yeah, you'd be like, there's some girls that play way better than not some, a lot, yeah, probably a whole lot better than I'll ever play, right?

SPEAKER_02 55:04

You wouldn't you wouldn't want to like they would be offended that you use that as an insult now at that age for those kids, right?

SPEAKER_05 55:10

Which was awesome. It was it was hilarious to me.

SPEAKER_02 55:13

Uh, and so I I just had to play that that uh that trailer because it was just too good. Well, and the thing too is when they end up playing the uh the organized team at their field, because those guys are like you're just a bunch of sandlot punks that you know don't even play like real like a real team, and then you go and they they realize how you you realize how good they actually are playing against these other kids, like and of course it's meant to you know it's it's made to be that way, but yeah, it's like all of them are making contact, they're all putting the ball in play, and it's like these kids are like, wait a minute, these they're actually good, they're actually playing really good, right? Because all they do is just practice all the time, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 55:56

And they don't really play against the other other teams, right? Um, okay, so um, I have a question for you.

Could Kids Still Have A Sandlot

SPEAKER_05 56:04

Like, we're all like we're 55 minutes in as we're talking about this movie. It's such a great movie, right? And and and and guys, you know, for those of you that are listening or watching right now, here's what I want you guys to do. Some of these questions that I'm about to ask next. I really want to hear from you guys on this, okay? I want you to give me your opinion on these very specific questions that I'm about to ask. Okay. Um obviously we're you and me are having this conversation, uh, Donny, but I want everybody to whoever is willing to give me uh their specific answer to this, okay? How accurately does the soundlock portray pickup baseball, in your opinion?

SPEAKER_02 56:43

Um, I I think it does pretty good. I mean, I can like I said, uh they're just going out there, you got you don't have enough for two teams, so you're just sort of like, okay, you play your position, you got one guy that's just like you know, hitting balls, and and you're feeling like, okay, give me two, you're like turning plays, you're doing stuff. It that's to me what sandlot is. And then if you know like nowadays you have organized sandlock like you play, where you've got other teams that are just getting together, they're doing their thing, and then they play games against each other. They just didn't have that back then. You know, I'll tell you this. Again, they didn't play the organized league, they just went out to the sandlot and just played.

SPEAKER_05 57:22

I'll tell you this the opens, yeah, just like that.

SPEAKER_02 57:26

Yeah, I mean that's that's what it is exactly what I would expect it to be. You just go out there and and you just you know, you just show up and you just start playing for a few hours, just hitting the ball and throwing the ball and just practicing.

SPEAKER_05 57:38

Here we go. Uh question number two. If the sale out took place right now, 2026, would it be the same or would it be different?

SPEAKER_02 57:52

It'd be way different. I just think the depiction of kids they would try they would try to, but like if you said it based in current time rather than 1962, it it's it's totally different. I mean, you're gonna have kids with that.

SPEAKER_05 58:11

Yeah, so here's my question, don't know. And I'm sorry, I should have rephrased this better. If this film was not oh, it was made in made in 2026, but still in that time period, but still in 1962 period, and or you know, 1993 made in 1962, would it be different or would it be the same?

SPEAKER_02 58:30

I think it would be a little different. I think you could I think it would be made basically the same. I just think there's a few of those little nuances that we've talked about that would be probably portrayed a little differently. I don't know how they would be portrayed differently, but I think they would probably uh yeah, I think there are some things that would just be they would be more modernized, even though they probably shouldn't be for it to be that time period.

SPEAKER_05 58:59

Okay. I I think it'll be made differently. I think there'll be a lot more period correct um things. Obviously, we don't know. I didn't grow up in California. Okay. Uh I grew up in Ohio. I, you know, I was born in Puerto Rico, but grew up in Ohio. So like my experiences would have been a totally different, like, you know, or or if you know, it that would the experience in in California be different than the experiences in let's say, you know, in the South, in South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, um, you know, Florida, right? Even that, like that experience, would it be different? Would it be the same? I would love to hear from people that were, you know, grew up in during that time period that would say, oh no, God, this this, you know, if that movie like was really portrayed the way it was, it would be different. Obviously, I don't know, and I can only go by what other people are going to be able to tell me. Um, and so I I think it'll be made differently um with respect to also what we also know about Negro League baseball, right? Yeah, with this with segregation, with the way that they play, right? And now also being accepted as a true major league, you know, that played during you know, during that time period as well.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:11

I I think um so when all of the kids are talking about the great bambino and and smalls doesn't really know who that is at first, and they're talking about Babe Ruth. I think to your point, if it's made now amongst the kids themselves would be more argument that oh no, it satchel page would have played again, like they would throw that kind of you think so. I think they would. I think somebody would probably like, no, if you know, if if so and so played against them, I think they would I think they would try to incorporate some of that into it. I don't know, I don't think so. I think that unless it's the I mean if it's the Zact same people making it, then they're sticking basically to the story of the book. I just think if someone was to remake it now, I think they would tweak some of those things. I and I don't think they should. I'm just saying that I think they would.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:02

But I don't think kids nowadays know the history of baseball, like you and me know the history of baseball. Well, I don't do I don't think they know like who Satchel Page was, right? Like they'll they'll know um they don't think I don't think they'll they know who uh you know Jackie Robinson was, but they won't know who Josh Gibson was, or right because a lot of that story was never really told until later on in years. And obviously, I didn't even learn all of this stuff in high school, learned it later on, right? Right, and so I don't know if they would be able to talk about it the way that you and me talk about it with our friends.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:42

You know, I would think like I could see somebody being like, we're gonna do a remake of the sandlot, but we're gonna sit, you know, set it in a little bit later period so that they could do things like that. I think that that's what would probably happen.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:58

I would love to see it during that time period, but really do tackle that the the the the the racism tackle all those things because I that's part of whether we like it or not, that's part of the base the history of baseball, uh, and everything that happened with a lot of those players, right? Like, you know, as kids, you don't you don't grow, you don't grow racist, right? You you learn to be that, right? Yeah, and so I would have loved to see how um they would tackle that uh during that time period as kids uh in a in a different setting of a movie. So but obviously we we're not going to because obviously we we already have the say a lot movie, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:43

Uh all right, a couple more questions here because we're already uh at a full hour here. You and me, we're having too much fun with this. Um this is conversation. This this question goes to a conversation that you have been having. Uh I've been having uh Eric, uh a good friend Eric of the Earn for an Average podcast that we've been having about travel baseball, right? Has travel baseball made it harder for kids to have that sandline experience?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:15

I think so. I I don't think kids I well, I don't know if it's just travel baseball. I just think um kids in general just don't go out and play like that. There's too many other things that kids are involved in that keep them indoors. I mean, we all know video games, electronics, computers, and things like that. Um I mean, back then they we even back then didn't have all those things that kids today have, um despite travel baseball. We we didn't have any of the other stuff. So you you went out, you found people around your neighborhood, and you played like I said, you played baseball, basketball, football, whatever. You just ran around and played. You know, that's the thing. All the other stuff, and this goes back to my original thing about it being more of a uh a coming of age movie. It's about the tree house, it's about going to the the carnival, riding the rides, and and like, hey, let's you know, let's take some chewing tobacco and try that. Um, you know, I remember sorry, did you just call it tobacco? Tobacco.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:18

Oh, I heard tobacco. I'm like, Tobacco.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:20

Okay, well, I might, I might have, I might have drawn it that way. I don't know. I might have southernized it. Some tacky tobacky. Yeah. Um but I like I I I because I remember one of the one of the kids on my high school baseball team that wanted to try it, a little black kid. He's like, give me some of that. Because we had guys that that did that. And and the funniest line is he got sick at practice, and one of the guys is like, I've never seen a black kid turn green. I'll never forget that line because because he absolutely got so sick off of stuff like that. But again, those kind of things kids don't experience today because that's just not how they're raised, they're not raised to just go out and play. I'm sure there are some areas of the country that that might still be the case, more rural areas. But in general, no. I mean, kids just don't go play stand on baseball and stuff. They they if you play on a travel team, then you're regimented by the schedule of that. You don't just go play pickup with anybody.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:19

No, I I I I agree with that part. I you know, travel baseball has winning, but I still think that people do go out and do these kids to go out and play and they they they still uh do things. It's just it just looks different um now than than it did before, right? We are in the in a time where there's like a lot of social media and there's like cell phones and everything, and you're recording a lot of stuff, so they're doing a lot of other things. It's just they're they're doing it differently than us. I think that yes, they're getting outside. I think they're still playing, you know, football, baseball, basketball, and all these other games. Uh, I just think they do it differently. I don't think uh the San Lot experience the way that it was back then, even 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, you know, like it's It's every year, every you know, 10 years, like it changes during those decades. Uh, it's different than that it has been.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:08

I mean, kids, I I see kids, you know, up the street. There's kids up the street that play baseball, they play travel baseball, but I see them with their friends out in the front yard all the time, like throwing ball to each other. Uh, they'll have like a pitching, like a net that they throw to and it bounces back to them, stuff like that. I think dad's even got a batting cage in one side of his garage now for them to to take batting practice in there. So they have that, but you don't have any of these kids. I mean, here in a lot of other places, they're not getting on their bikes and riding halfway across town to a ball field, they're not leaving the neighborhood because in this day and age, parents aren't letting their kids just go willy-nilly riding around town somewhere.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:49

No, no, it just doesn't happen. And that's where you know my point is it's like it's it's being done differently now than it was done before. Uh, obviously, I wouldn't, I'm not gonna let my kid go out. Like, I I let her go around right here in the front of the street of my house, you know what I'm saying? But either my wife or I will be out in the front porch looking and keeping an eye on them just because you know it's a different time, it's it's a totally different time.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:14

And think about smalls. I mean, dad's going off for a week, mom rides off with him to the air airport or wherever he, you know, she him they leave smalls at home by himself. What does he do? He goes down to the sand line, he plays baseball, and they lose the baseball, and he comes back to the house by himself. He's running around town completely by himself. His parents aren't even home for who knows how long.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:36

But he wasn't all with he wasn't home, anyways, right? When she went to go take him to the airport, he was already at even though he was on his way out to the baseball field to play. So, like by the time that he was done, probably his mom would have been back uh from the airport taking you know his stepdad uh to the airport, right? So, but it's a it's a different time, it was different time period.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:58

You wouldn't uh my point is you wouldn't let I mean I know she's eight, but if she was that age, you wouldn't let Mia just be like, go play with some friends while we while Darla takes you to the airport and she's just out playing on the streets somewhere. Getting in the car, you you know, you're going with us or you're staying inside this house till we get back.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:14

No, not even that. No, there's no ifs or buts. They're like, you know, you're getting in the car, you're going, you know what I mean? Right. No, that's different, it's a different time period uh than it was back then. So uh for obviously uh many, many, many

Why The Movie Still Matters

SPEAKER_05 1:08:26

reasons. So um I you know, you know, in closing, honestly, I think again, I want to keep the innocence of this movie still alive for myself, for um, for my daughter who loves this movie. She absolutely adores this movie, and I think it's a great movie. Um, you know, baseball, camaraderie, friendship, uh, the things that you did, uh, the s'mores, right? All of these things is one of those things that I truly do enjoy about this movie. It's it's obviously one of my favorite movies. Um, I I play Sandlot baseball as a 44-year-old, soon to be 45. I, you know, like that magic of getting out in the field, and even if there's like four or five or six of us, right, we're still gonna try to find a way to play baseball and and have fun in the field. And to me, it all started when I saw this movie.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:24

Right. Yeah, I mean, and and again, I I love the nostalgia of this movie. It's one of those I can just sit there and I think about myself as a kid running around in the 80s and you know, going out and just riding off with my friends and playing, whether it was playing ball or or or just riding bikes somewhere, you know, you're gone, you you leave the house just like these kids like mom, I'm going to the sand lot, I'll be back. You know, yeah, exactly. It's like, you know, that that that's lost on today's kids.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:54

Yeah. Uh all right,

Listener Picks And Subscribe

SPEAKER_05 1:09:56

guys. I want to thank you guys for joining us tonight. And we did review and we watched a trailer for the sandlot movie. Uh, I would love to hear from you. Give me your thoughts on this movie, put it in the comments, send me a message, what your thoughts, text me, whatever it is. I want to hear from you on why do you like this movie, why do you hate this movie? Um, you everybody's entitled to their opinion on every single sports movie. Now, what I would also love for you guys to do and tell me is once we finish season two of Brockmeyer, that's going to be our next episode. Season two uh of Brockmeyer, episode one, we're gonna be tackling that episode here next week on Sunday night. What movie should we do once we finish with season two of Brockmeyer? Because we're not we're not just tackling baseball, guys. We can watch whatever movie it is, if it's you know, uh fill the dreams, if it's you know, um any movie, any movie, okay. Uh whatever it is, I would love to roller ball. Hell, we'll leave when watch that one, even though North Dallas 40. Oh Lord, whatever. We'll find it, we'll figure it out, right? Right. Uh Hoosiers, yeah. It doesn't matter. Whatever movie you guys think, the the one that gets the most um you know mentions, we will watch that one next and then we'll go from there.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:12

Make sure you're following Donnie, make sure you're following me, make sure you're following the Dad High Chronicles uh on YouTube, on TikTok. Uh, we're both live on this one tonight. Um, and then uh yeah, we're on our on our way to hit a thousand. That's the goal right now. Uh, we I would love to hit a thousand on both TikTok and YouTube. Uh, hit that subscribe button, and guys, we will see you guys on the next one.