NEWSLETTER
When I ranked the top-20 baseball movies a couple years ago (I know, I know, I forgot Little Big League), the 90s classing “The Sandlot” landed near the top of the rankings, despite not actually having all that much baseball in the movie, itself:
Check out my preferences, plus the actual amount of people playing baseball in each movie):
- Bull Durham (1988) – 26 minutes 30 seconds
- Moneyball (2011) – 21 minutes 43 seconds
- Major League (1989) – 40 minutes 11 seconds
- Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) – 14 minutes 45 seconds
- The Bad News Bears (1976) – 40 minutes 0 seconds
- The Sandlot (1993) – 14 minutes 50 seconds
- 42 (2013) – 30 minutes and 54 seconds
- A League of Their Own (1992) – 28 minutes 30 seconds
- Major League II (1994) – 45 minutes 14 seconds
- Rookie of the Year (1993) – 44 minutes 4 seconds
- Fever Pitch (2005) – 7 minutes 56 seconds
- 61* (2001) – 25 minutes 0 seconds
- Field of Dreams (1989) – 10 minutes 20 seconds
- Eight Men Out (1988) – 28 minutes 30 seconds
- The Natural (1984) – 36 minutes 0 seconds
- Hardball (2001) – 22 minutes 30 seconds
- The Rookie (2001) – 33 minutes 52 seconds
- For the Love of the Game (1999) – 35 minutes 15 seconds
- Major League: Back to the Minors (1998) – whoops…reset the clock
- Angels in the Outfield (1994) – 28 minutes 3 seconds
And it didn’t surprise me in the least. Growing up, The Sandlot was an all-timer. Everyone I knew loved it and reenacted every scene every time we put on a glove or stepped up to the plate. It was an absolute classic and I watched it more times than I care to count.
So, as you can imagine, I was unwaveringly excited when they announced The Sandlot 2, back in 2005 … and understandably upset when it didn’t come ANYWHERE CLOSE to recapturing the magic of the original.
But one bad sequel shouldn’t squash an entire, beloved movie universe, right? I don’t think so. Which is why I am once again letting some recent Sandlot news settle right into the soft spot of my heart: The original cast is reuniting for a TV reboot.
The original writer/director, David Mickey Evans, recently revealed his plans to reboot The Sandlot as a TV Show and his description has got my drooling: “I already got all the original castmembers back. 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.”
I’m willing to bet the original cast won’t be the primary focus of the show – also didn’t Bertram Weeks get really into the 60s and no one ever saw him again? – with a focus, instead, being on their kids, but their presence alone will likely draw fans of the original back into the fold.
And if all this wasn’t enough, Evans revealed that he’s already sold not one, but TWO seasons of the show to the secret streaming service that’ll host it (my bet is on Disney Streaming, but I guess Netflix, or even Hulu, isn’t out of the question). Needless to say, I’m full stoked on it and will be binge-watching the entire first season as soon as it’s up.
And for all of you Sandlot-psychos out there, get this: There is ALSO a prequel movie in the works, set to take place before the events of the original movie, which, who knows what that’ll be about, but I thought you’d want to know. Needless to say, if you want your Sandlot fix, the universe is providing all kinds of options.
And if that’s still not enough for you, check out the original case back together during the 25th anniversaryhttps://www.bleachernation.com/baseballisfun/2018/04/13/the-cast-of-the-sandlot-reunited-on-the-25th-anniversary-to-play-a-little-baseball/:
The Cast of ‘The Sandlot’ Reunited on the 25th Anniversary to Play a Little Baseball https://t.co/Y3BReh8hC5 pic.twitter.com/lDioifIT7P
— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) April 13, 2018
The Brewers Absolutely Nailed Recreating a Scene from “The Sandlot” https://t.co/hhmzUWjfK9 pic.twitter.com/kfSnGtJHJg
— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) March 19, 2018
The Yankees Reenacted The Sandlot Two Years Ago, And It’s Still Fantastic https://t.co/9hATTTa25M pic.twitter.com/7eLAwk8uDF
— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) March 30, 2017
What can I say? Everybody loves the lot.
