Rewatchables Reference

• The pool / Wendy Peppercorn scene (Mina's pick).
• The Legend of the Beast storytime / campfire sequence (Mallory's pick).
• Benny steals the ball back from the Beast – the pickle / chase sequence.
• The s'mores monologue.
• The conversation with Mr. Mertle at the end / James Earl Jones scene.

• Ham Porter aka 'The Great Hambino' – 'Ham walked so Jonah Hill could run'; proto-Jonah Hill paving the way for Judd Apatow comedies.
• James Earl Jones – high PVR; nice crossover with 'Field of Dreams'.
• The film's fashion – retro T-shirts, cuffed jeans, Chuck Taylors / PF Flyers.
• Kenny DeNunez rocking the Kansas City Monarchs hat (subtle Negro Leagues nod).
• The kids' baseball movie genre hitting its peak in the early '90s.

• The Wendy Peppercorn pool kiss scene – Squints tricking her into giving mouth-to-mouth, then grabbing her head; does not fly in 2020.
• The narrator (adult Smalls) – the writer-director himself; should have hired a real actor.
• Nobody from the cast became a breakout star.
• The parenting – Bill ignoring Smalls, mom shaming Smalls for being smart.

• The older and younger Benny were played by real-life brothers (Pablo and Mike Vitar).
• The kid who played Yeah-Yeah originally read for Bertram; the first choice for Yeah-Yeah got sick and got 'Wally Pipp'd'.

• Squints – 'forever... forever... forever' line about the Beast.
• Adult Smalls (the narrator).

Art LaFleur as Babe Ruth – also the sarcastic guy in 'Field of Dreams' ('what a dick' about Ty Cobb).

• James Earl Jones – really good in the Mr. Mertle scene despite limited screen time.
• Squints – if giving it to a side-character kid.

• Originally called 'The Boys of Summer' – Roger Kahn threatened to sue.
• The chewing tobacco was made of licorice, bacon bits, and beef jerky; kids got genuinely sick.
• 5 English Mastiffs used to play Hercules because of filming heat.
• 'The Sandlot' location was also used in 'Halloween' 4 and 'Halloween' 5.
• The real-life 'Squints' sued claiming the character was derogatory; won initially but reversed on appeal.

• Every kid in the movie – yes, this is Apex Mountain for all of them.
• David Mickey Evans the director – yes.
• English Mastiffs – yes.
• Little kid baseball movies as a genre – though Bad News Bears may still hold the crown.

• They spell Babe Ruth's name wrong on the forged ball – set up like a red herring that never pays off.
• Bill has a signed Babe Ruth ball on an unprotected stand – no glass or plastic case.
• The narrator says Hercules lived to 199 dog years – impossible for an English Mastiff.
• Nobody tells Mr. Mertle his fence fell down; they never repair it.
• None of the boys had ever seen a Playboy magazine – unbelievable for 1962.

Disney+ is making a series with the original cast; hosts are 'fearful' about it.

• Is Smalls ruining the Babe Ruth ball more or less defensible than Cameron ruining his dad's Ferrari?
• What kind of baseball career did Benny the Jet actually have? (Comp: Jacoby Ellsbury / Grady Sizemore type).
• Could any 12-year-old really be that bad at baseball without having some sort of disorder?

• Benny 'The Jet' Rodriguez (Bill's pick).
• Ham Porter / Hercules (Mallory's pick).
• Baseball itself (Mina's pick).