The Sandlot

There is one all-time greatest

moment in the history of sports,

and it happened

in the 1932 World Series.

The story goes that in the bottom

of the ninth inning with two outs,

a full count

and the tying run on base,

Babe Ruth raised his arm and pointed

to the center field bleachers.

No one believed it,

because nobody had ever done it before.

But The Babe

was calling his shot.

On the next pitch, the Great Bambino

hit a towering 400-foot home run.

And even although he'd been

a hero before that,

that's pretty much

how he became a legend.

Thirty years later, a kid named

Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez...

became a neighborhood legend.

It was in the greatest summer

of my life...

when he taught me

to play baseball,

and he became my best friend.

And he got me out of the biggest

pickle I'd ever be in.

% % ['50s Rock]

[Kids Shouting]

- Go! Go! Go!

[Shouting Continues]

% % [Snapping Fingers]

Come over at 9:
00.

All right.

See you later.

I moved to the neighborhood

two weeks before school let out.

It was the same summer

that Dodger Maury Wills would

break the stolen bases record.

It was the same summer

that Dodger Maury Wills would

break the stolen bases record.

So with something

that incredible going on,

it should've started off with loads

of great things happening for me,

but it didn't.

I was from another state,

and I didn't have a single

friend in a thousand miles.

It was a lousy way

to end up the fifth grade,

'cause I had zip time

to make friends before summer.

And that's about

where it all started.

My real dad died

when I was just a little kid.

My mom had married Bill about a year

before we moved to the Valley.

At the time, he and I were still

getting used to each other.

- [Knocking]

- Yeah.

- Um, Dad?

- Mm-hmm?

L-I mean Bill.

- Remember you... you promised

you'd teach me to play catch?

- Mm-hmm.

Um,

w-well,

could you teach me?

Yeah. Sure.

Okay.

- Okay?

- Thanks.

Sorry.

[Man Narrating] I'd followed them

to the sandlot once after school.

- I'd never seen anyplace like it.

- [Boys Shouting]

It was like their own little

baseball kingdom or something.

It was the greatest place

I'd ever seen anyway.

- Bertram.

- But they were good,

- real good.

- Come on, Bertram!

And all I had was a plastic toy mitt

that my grandmother gave me...

for my birthday when I was six.

But when I finally got up enough guts to

go out there and try and make friends,

I found out that they never kept score,

they never chose sides,

they never even really

stopped playing the game.

It just went on forever.

Every day they picked up where

they left off the day before.

- It was like an endless dream game.

- Come on! Come on!

There was only eight of them,

so they didn't have a whole team.

So even though I didn't know

how to play, I figured

I could be the ninth man...

and maybe just stand in the outfield

somewhere and take up space.

- Squints!

- Of course, if I'd have known what was

gonna happen when I got there,

- I got it!

- I probably never would've gone.

- Nice catch.

- Yeah.

- Come on!

- [Rustling]

[Dog Barking]

[Clattering, Banging]

[Growling]

Come on, Benny,

hit a homer!

- Come on!

- Hey, batter, batter, batter!

- Whoa!

- Watch out!

[Boys Shouting]

- [Screams]

- [All Laughing]

Okay, I'll get it!

Get it.

Don't be a goofus. Don't be a goofus!

Don't be a goofus!

[Rumbling Sound, Dog Growling]

- Throw the ball back! Come on!

- Yeah, hurry up!

[Barking]

We are waiting!

Come on! Throw it!

[Boys Shouting]

[Shouting Continues]

- Come on, toss me the ball!

- Come on!

Come on!

[Boys Laughing]

- Oh, my God!

- [Laughing Continues]

My life's over.

Did you see that hand?

[Boys Chattering, Laughing]

[Man Narrating]

If it wasn't for Benny,

I never would've made

a single friend that summer,

'cause all the rest of those

guys thought I was a lost cause.

- Even before we became friends,

- [Mechanical Whirring]

Benny and me were connected, connected

for the one moment later that summer...

when I'd get us all

into the biggest pickle...

any of us had ever seen.

[Knocking]

Night, hon.

[Grunts]

Oh, I'm sorry, Mom.

It was an accident.

Scotty, have you made

any friends yet?

- No.

- Why not, honey?

'Cause I'm still new.

I don't want you sitting around in here

all summer fiddling with this stuff...

like you did last summer

and the one before.

I know you're smart,

and I'm proud of you.

I want you to get out into the fresh air

and make some friends.

Run around,

scrape your knees, get dirty.

Climb trees, hop fences.

Get into trouble,

for crying out loud.

Not too much, but some.

You have my permission.

How many mothers do you know who

say something like that to their sons?

[Chuckles]

Well, none mothers, I guess.

Honey, I want you to make

some friends this summer. Lots of them.

Yeah, I know.

But I'm not good

at anything, Mom.

Face it,

I'm just an egghead.

Honey, you'll always be just an egghead

with an attitude like that.

[TV:
: Indistinct]

[Whispering]

Well?

Well?

- He's too busy, Mom.

- Oh, no, honey, he's not.

He has some time.

You go on back out there

and ask him.

[TV Continues]

- Uh, Bill, uh...

- Yeah?

I mean, Dad, uh, can we...

I mean, could you, like you said,

teach me to play catch?

Yeah. Sure.

But I gotta get

this done, okay?

- Okay, thanks.

- All right.

- Bill?

- Yeah?

Uh, couldn't you take a break

and teach him now?

- Mom, it's okay, really.

- Honey,

I said I would, and I will,

but I'm under the gun here.

How long could it take?

Can't you spare half an hour

and show him now?

- Mom, really, it's okay.

- All right.

Okay. I'll get my glove.

See? I told you.

Oh, great.

All right, Scotty, get down

to that end of the yard.

Okay.

Now, the key to this game

is keeping your eye on the ball.

No matter whether you're in the field

or at bat, eye on the ball, okay?

All right. Uh, yeah.

I think so.

Where the ball goes,

your glove should go. Got it?

Okay.

Okay. All right.

[Grunts]

Darn. Sorry.

It's all right.

All right.

Um... Uh, here.

Okay.

Okay, I'm ready.

Eye on the ball, okay?

Got it?

Okay.

If the ball moves,

move your glove. Got it?

Yeah.

All right. Here we go.

Okay. You just need a bigger glove.

Throw it back to me this time.

Throw it back.

Okay. Scotty,

keep your eye on the ball.

Okay. Got it.

Okay.

Ow! Oh, my eye!

Ow! Ow! Oh!

Ow! Ow!

- What happened?

- [Groans] My eye.

- Honey, get some ice. Ice.

- No, I got it.

- Here you go.

- Those were for dinner.

- Oh!

- Just hold it up there.

Nice and hard.

Press it against... Yeah.

- I just took my eye off the ball, Mom.

- Yeah, but you caught it.

- [Groaning]

- Just keep that on for, like, an hour.

It'll still be black,

but it won't swell.

Sorry.

Gotta watch out

for that curve.

[Crying]

Hey.

I'm gonna play some ball.

We need an extra guy. You wanna go?

- No. Thanks.

- Why not? Don't you like baseball?

- Oh, yeah, but...

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