Grays Almanac

Home/Episodes/The Sandlot

‘The Sandlot’ With Bill Simmons, Mallory Rubin, and Mina Kimes

August 4, 2020 · The Sandlot (1993) · Comedy · Drama · Family · 1:29:30

IMDb ↗Letterboxd ↗

Categories

Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 23:01Seven nominees including: Smalls joining the Sandlot ('don't be a goofus'), learning to throw scene with Benny, big game against rivals, Smalls homers with Babe Ruth ball, pool scene, triple vacuum explosion, and Benny stealing ball from beast
Mallory Rubin▶ 29:15Added five scenes Bill didn't mention: Legend of the Beast sequence with s'mores and 'you're killing me smalls', the entire ball retrieval sequence with multiple attempts including erector set, and emphasized the campout/storytelling scenes

What's Aged the Best

Bill Simmons▶ 40:53Kenny wearing the Kansas City Monarchs hat and Ham Porter (the great Ham Beano)
Mallory Rubin▶ 45:01The early to mid-90s kids' baseball and sports movie genre that The Sandlot represents, plus the film's retro fashion (jeans, Chuck Taylors, P.F. Flyers)
Mina Kimes▶ 45:18The music choices - though incredibly obvious and on the nose (This Magic Moment, Green Onions, Tequila, Wipeout), they were perfect for kids and create lasting associations with the scenes

What's Aged the Worst

Bill Simmons▶ 50:42The color photograph of the Sandlot kids at the end (should be black and white for 1962) and the Wendy Peffercorn pool scene with consent issues
Mallory Rubin▶ 51:34The Wendy Peffercorn pool sequence - the tricking into the kiss, him being rewarded for it, and the cringe-worthy narration about kissing 'long and good'
Mina Kimes▶ 51:25The Wendy Peffercorn pool scene, particularly where he grabs her head and tricks her into the kiss

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 52:48Pablo P. Vitar — Shares casting trivia: older and younger Benny played by real brothers Pablo and Mike Vitar, casting directors originally wanted kids age 9-10 but upped it, and Yeah Yeah actor originally auditioned for Bertram but got Yeah Yeah role when original Yeah Yeah actor got sick

Joey Pants Award

Bill Simmons▶ 53:45Art LaFleur — Art LaFleur (the actor who played Babe Ruth and was also in Field of Dreams)
Mallory Rubin▶ 53:49Patrick Renna — Patrick Renna (Ham)

Half-Assed Internet Research

Mallory Rubin▶ 55:54Five actors played the character because of the heat while filming

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 56:26James Earl Jones — Uncertain between Squints and James Earl Jones - acknowledges difficulty with category rules since kids are in movie a lot, but says if it's someone not in movie much it's James Earl Jones, if it's a side character kid it's probably Squints
Mallory Rubin▶ 57:23James Earl Jones — Supports James Earl Jones based on his charisma and magnetic screen presence, quotes his scene about knowing Babe Ruth
Mina Kimes▶ 56:46James Earl Jones — Questions James Earl Jones's acting ability after seeing him in Best of the Best, wonders if he just has a cool way about him rather than being a good actor

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 1:03:30The Bad News Bears — Bad News Bears and Bad News Bears Breaking Training for little kid baseball movies
Mallory Rubin▶ 1:01:59Swinging dog balls/testicle cam throughout the Benny and the Beast sequence
Mina Kimes▶ 1:03:45A League of Their Own — Mentioned A League of Their Own was really big for her generation but didn't make a definitive apex mountain pick

Best Quote

Bill Simmons▶ 1:13:10You're killing me, Smalls
Mallory Rubin▶ 1:13:30Three quotes: Babe Ruth's 'Everybody gets one chance to do something great' speech, 'Heroes can't remember, but legends never die', and 'Baseball was life. And I was good at it'
Mina Kimes▶ 1:13:15Two quotes: 'I haven't had anything yet. So how can I have some more of nothing?', Ham calling Scotty an 'L7 weenie', and 'We're clearly dealing with a superior intelligence here'

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 1:16:21Multiple questions: Smalls vs Cameron Ferrari comparison (Cameron was more hostile), Benny's baseball career (12-15 seasons like Brady Anderson - .290, 13 homers, 29 steals with a couple gold gloves), why Benny didn't become a huge star in real life
Mallory Rubin▶ 1:16:35Smalls wasn't aggressively hostile, just foolish and misguided unlike Cameron. Benny had longevity (15+ year career) as a 20-homer/30-steal player like Jacoby Ellsbury or pre-injury Grady Sizemore, brought in to pinch run in his final years
Mina Kimes▶ 1:16:53Agreed Cameron was worse than Smalls, speculated Benny didn't become a star due to lacking empathy gene based on arrest, noted confusion about Benny being brought in to pinch run despite being old

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 1:25:07Benny Rodriguez — Benny the Jet (though he noted it was close with Ham)
Mallory Rubin▶ 1:25:13Patrick Renna — Ham (Hammer) or Hercules, specifically noting they steal scene after scene on rewatch
Mina Kimes▶ 1:25:45The sport of baseball itself - arguing the movie is about baseball for baseball's sake

Movies Referenced (27)

Hercules (1997)

12 mentions · Mallory Rubin, Bill Simmons, Mina Kimes▶ 3:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Field of Dreams (1989)

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Mallory Rubin▶ 1:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Rookie of the Year (1993)

6 mentions · Mina Kimes, Mallory Rubin, Bill Simmons▶ 1:28IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Halloween (1978)

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Mallory Rubin▶ 58:35IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Rushmore (1998)

4 mentions · Mallory Rubin, Mina Kimes▶ 1:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Best of the Best (1989)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Mina Kimes▶ 56:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bull Durham (1988)

2 mentions · Mallory Rubin▶ 1:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Little Giants (1994)

2 mentions · Mina Kimes▶ 1:56IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 47:07IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Stand by Me (1986)

2 mentions · Mallory Rubin, Bill Simmons▶ 12:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Teen Wolf (1985)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 0:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

A Christmas Story (1983)

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 19:39IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (1)

Earl Jones

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Holes▶ 1:26:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (43)

Babe Ruth

31 mentions · Bill Simmons, Mallory Rubin, Mina Kimes▶ 4:53IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bill Russell

11 mentions · Mallory Rubin, Bill Simmons, Mina Kimes▶ 6:40IMDb ↗Lb ↗

James Earl Jones

8 mentions · Bill Simmons, Mallory Rubin, Mina Kimes · Known for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Field of Dreams▶ 4:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Mike Vitar

5 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Sandlot▶ 52:56IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Vin Scully

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Mallory Rubin · Known for For Love of the Game▶ 1:21:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jonah Hill

4 mentions · Mina Kimes · Known for 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street, The Wolf of Wall Street▶ 39:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Luke Perry

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Mallory Rubin · Known for The Fifth Element, Buffy the Vampire Slayer▶ 19:36IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Hank Aaron

3 mentions · Mallory Rubin · Known for Summer Catch▶ 1:09:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael Jordan

3 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Space Jam, He Got Game▶ 6:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Art LaFleur

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Sandlot, Cobra, Field of Dreams▶ 53:32IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bambino

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Mallory Rubin▶ 28:15IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Brady Anderson

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:20:24IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (5)

David Mickey Evans

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Sandlot, Radio Flyer▶ 18:20IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Judd Apatow

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The King of Staten Island, Knocked Up▶ 39:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Frank Thomas

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Incredibles▶ 10:14IMDb ↗Lb ↗

J. David Stem

1 mentions · Mina Kimes▶ 48:48IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Roger Ebert

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 19:39IMDb ↗Lb ↗