The Sandlot, an indispensable baseball film for kids and those who remember being a kid, was released nearly 26 years ago. The entire team is grown up now. Smalls, Hamilton Porter, Squints, Benny the Jet, and Ya-Ya all have 30-year mortgages. Babe Ruth is no longer second on the all-time home run list. The dog who played Hercules has been dead for a long, long time.
Sorry, but the truth hurts.
There is some good news to go with the reminder of animal mortality, though. It sounds as if the gang is getting back together.
“I just sold a Sandlot television show,” director David Mikey Evans told the Rain Delay podcast. “We’re about to get an order for the first two seasons.”
There was no indication which streaming service is going to host the reboot.
“I already got all the original castmembers back,” he added. “It takes place in 1984, when they’re all, like, 33 years old and they all have children of their own, and that’s all I can tell you.”
The original movie took place in 1962, the year Maury Wills stole 104 bases for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
This television show is unrelated to a Sandlot prequel also in the works.
Selfishly, it would be great if the writers could address two major investigations I launched into the movie. First, did Smalls’ foot come off the bag during the big game against the real team? And also: what’s the deal with Tommy Lasorda using a 44-year-old pinchrunner to steal home?
The people demand answers.