The Sandlot

The Sandlot

This classic baseball movie touches kids hearts everywhere. The Sandlot shows all kids everywhere how to live in your wonder years. Scotty Smalls is the new kid in town, it is not until Scotty finds the sandlot and all the kids that play there. Even though there's not a full team, they play for fun and play simply just to play with kids, get knees bruised and their clothes dirty. The summer that Scotty moves into the new neighborhood, he is considered an outsider. To be more specific, he is a loser who sits inside all day in his room without any friends. This movie teaches kids about facing their fears, and not just sitting in their room all summer watching paint dry. But making memories that are truly unforgettable.

The movie takes place in 1962, with Scotty starting fresh. Not only does he not know how to throw or catch a baseball, he doesn't even know who the Great Bambino is. Eventually the star of the sandlots team, Benny brings Scotty to the field where at first he looks like a fool, but eventually had him playing like the guys who have been there are along. They play everyday that summer, until the ball gets hit out of the park and they lose it to the Beast, who is an angry mastiff dog who has been claimed to eat 173 kids, and 150 baseballs. At that point Scotty goes back to his house and takes his step father's autographed baseball, signed by Babe Ruth himself to play with. Sure enough the ball goes over the fence and into the Beasts territory. This is the beginning of a long and tough task between all the boys to get the ball back before his step father even knows it has gone missing. 

This shows the day by day life of any 10 year old boy, from the over night sleepovers, to ghost stories, and even going to the local pool to steal a kiss from the pretty lifeguard. My favorite part of this movie is that it doesn't have that typical win or lose feel to the game. It is simply about kids being kids, and having fun in their "wonder years".