Managing ‘The Sandlot’ Roster
I’m casting myself as skipper of this ragtag bunch
Making some assumptions from references made in the movie, we are pretty sure the nine man team from The Sandlot was good at playing baseball. They got together every morning at 9 AM, regardless of weather, to — more or less — just work on fundamentals.
We only saw them play one actual game in the film, when they were challenged by what looked like a local traveling team. From the 90's style sports movie montage, it looked like they beat down the traveling team pretty bad. Not one of the traveling team members even made contact at the plate.
Based again on the montage, perhaps it took only one inning for The Sandlot kids to embarrass the traveling team to some sort of slaughter rule. It looked like they batted through the lineup, eventually climaxing in a grand slam.
I will just assume the traveling team walked off the field at that point, running home and crying to their mothers.
But could the team have been even better? Well, this comes down to the often argued question in today’s baseball conversations: How much do managers matter?
The star of the team, Benny ‘The Jet’ Rodriguez, seemingly was a player-coach, keeping the team in line and was often shown running the practices. He also made mention of wanting the team to be pristine, as this would help himself have the best shot of improving his own play.
From footage shown, we can tell these kids could certainly toss some leather.
In the practices shown, the boys would always be at the same position with Benny “floating”, taking over at whichever position the player at bat had vacated. Since the team only had nine total, with one player batting, that left only eight in the field. They would make due by playing two in the outfield (left-center and right-center).
Here’s the defensive set-up, with an assumption Benny would play center, being the best athlete on the squad.
· First base — Timmy Timmons
· Second base — Bertram Grover Weeks
· Shortstop — Alan ‘Yeah-Yeah’ McClennan
· Third base — Tommy Timmons
· Pitcher — Kenny DeNunez
· Catcher — Hamilton ‘Ham’ Porter
· Left field — Scott Smalls
· Center field — Benny ‘The Jet’ Rodriguez
· Right field — Michael ‘Squints’ Palledorous
We won’t go too far into optimizing the defense as these are the positions these guys are lining up daily. (But are we really to believe the small-statured Tommy Timmons can make the throw across the diamond from third?)
But how about setting the perfect batting lineup? Now we’re talking.
We can try to go off the montage against the traveling team, but there may be some time-hopping involved. The first batter shown from The Sandlot kids coming to the plate is Ham, and perhaps they are trying a “Terry Francona putting Carlos Santana leadoff due to an exceptional on-base percentage”. Perhaps it’s just me, but Ham seems like more of a free-swinger.
Also Benny is shown taking his turn after everyone else had gotten their chance, and it would be like him to hit himself ninth, since he often put the team before him.
But what if The Sandlot kids had to enter a tournament against the best competition? Here’s my take if I was handed the reins on setting the lineup.
Again going back to the montage, it looks like the entire team was swinging for the fences. Maybe the traveling team pitcher was tipping his pitches.
Under my tutelage, I would make sure they weren’t always “calling their shots”.
· Leadoff: Alan ‘Yeah-Yeah’ McClennan
Yeah-Yeah looks like he is the type who knows how to get on base. I will be trusting him to take some pitches, helping his teammates get a good read on the pitcher. Once on base, Yeah-Yeah will be given an “open pass” to steal second when he believes he has his best shot.
(Not so) Fun fact: Marty York, the actor who played Yeah-Yeah, has fulfilled the common child-actor cliche. York has only been on TMZ for the wrong reasons the last few years, but he is rather jacked now.
· Batting second— Benny ‘The Jet’ Rodriguez
The Jet was made to hit second, as he can do it all: Hit for contact, power, and he can run. He is the Mike Trout of the 1960s’ youth leagues. Unlike Mike Scioscia, I’m hitting this “Trout-ish” player second.
(Not so) Fun fact: Mike Vitar played The Jet, and he hasn’t been doing so well as of late, either.
· Batting third — Bertram Grover Weeks
The Sandlot lineup has a giant flaw; all nine of their hitters are right-handed. There isn’t much I can do about alternating handed-ness, but Weeks’ size gives me promise he can hit towards the top of the order. He will also have to make sure he can take pitches, and his size may be related to being a little older than the rest of the team, perhaps adding in some maturity.
Fun fact: When Smalls is updating his friend’s futures in the conclusion of the movie, he mentions Weeks got “really into the 60s”. Grant Gelt, the actor who played Weeks, was in the TV movie The 60s, his last acting role (1999).
· Cleanup — Kenny DeNunez
Also mentioned at the end of the movie, DeNunez got as close as the minor leagues, so there’s a very good chance DeNunez was the second best athlete on the team. It’s also very common that the most talented player on youth teams is the pitcher. I’ll trust DeNunez in the very important cleanup position.
Fun fact: Rodriguez and DeNunez being the best athletes on the team apparently spread throughout Hollywood as both were featured in another youth sports movie: The Mighty Ducks. Brandon Adams, who played DeNunez, was in the first two movies in the hockey trilogy; Vitar was in D2 and D3.
· Batting fifth — Hamilton Porter
Ham is free-swinging, with presumably some added power due to his…girth, and will fit better in the “RBI-role” behind DeNunez. As for his “framing skills”, well, that argument is for another day.
Fun fact: Patrick Renna played Ham, but has gone on to have the longest acting résumé of any of the child actors from this movie.
· Batting sixth — Timmy Timmons
Next up, we’ll go with the elder Timmons as he does seem to have a bit of pop in his bat as well.
Victor Dimattia played Dennis the Menace in a TV movie, before appearing in The Sandlot. He must have had a few more lines in that one, but his scene in the aftermath of the vacuum cleaner explosion was Oscar-worthy.
· Batting seventh— Michael ‘Squints’ Palledorous
The bottom third of the order looks like it will be lacking production as the diminutive Squints will be up at seventh. Hey, the guy landed Wendy Peffercorn, so clearly it’s more than size that matters.
Fun fact: Chauncey Leopardi challenges Renna a bit in acting résumés as he had recurring roles on Freaks and Geeks and Gilmore Girls. He also starred in the movie Casper. But unlike Renna, Leopardi has not done much in the last several years.
Additional fun fact: Leopardi, Renna, McClennan, Adams, and Gelt all had roles on Boy Meets World in the years after The Sandlot. That’s over half the team!
· Batting eighth— Scott Smalls
Smalls’ learning curve at the plate didn’t seem like it took as much coaxing from Benny as it did in the field. He even showed his raw power, belting the homer of the “Babe Ruth” ball. Maybe he can move up later in the season as he got a late start compared to the rest of the team.
Fun fact: Tom Guiry played Smalls and continues to get acting roles. He will be in the upcoming film Brawl in Cell Block 99 alongside Vince Vaughn.
· Batting ninth — Tommy Timmons
Not to keep piling on the younger Timmons, but let’s face it, he’s a tag-a-long. His youth may pay off in the long-term, but for now he’ll be getting the least plate appearances on the team.
Fun fact: Shane Obedzkinski owns more than 30 restaurants, as his acting career ended shortly after The Sandlot.
There’s my lineup. Bring on the Bad News Bears!
