Dinner and a Movie: ‘The Sandlot’

A boy named Squints (Chauncey Leopardi) tricks the buxom teenage lifeguard into giving him his first kiss. The team’s misadventure with Big Chief chewing tobacco at a summer carnival induces a messy bout of nausea on the Tilt-a-Whirl. And future L.A. Dodger Benny Rodriguez dons a pair of black PF. Flyers sneakers, “guaranteed to make a kid run faster and jump higher,” to retrieve a much-prized ball that has sailed over the backfield fence into Mr. Mertle’s yard — where a ferocious dog dubbed “The Beast” has gained a reputation for eating both balls and wayward children. Mertle’s fence offers another callback for baseball fans: It’s a corrugated metal barrier painted a deep green — just like the Green Monster, the nickname for the 37-foot, 2-inch high left field in Boston’s Fenway Park.

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Where to Watch The Sandlot?

There are many websites and apps you can use to find out where to watch films, including:

• Justwatch.com
• Reelgood.com
• TV Time
• WatchWorthy

When we finally meet Mr. Mertle, the owner of the local junkyard and keeper of the ball-chomping Beast, we get another surprise: He’s played by none other than James Earl Jones, who only four years earlier delivered a memorable ode to baseball in the Kevin Costner classic Field of Dreams. Here, he’s a former pro player who palled around with Babe Ruth until a high fastball struck him in the eye and robbed him of his vision. He heroically offers Smalls a replacement for the precious Ruth-signed ball that the boy foolishly swiped from his stepdad and then lost to The Beast’s rough paws and slobbering.

Some aspects of The Sandlot depict experiences of growing up that remain universal, but there are many ways in which the childhood of the 1960s — and even the 1990s — may no longer be recognizable. And it’s not just that it’s difficult to find reference points like Sugar Crisp cereal (with baseball trading cards on the back of the box), PF. Flyers or chewing tobacco.

The ’90s may be the last time when the ’60s-style free-range summertime childhood — picking up a mitt, snatching a snack on the way out the door and then spending a full summer day, unsupervised, just throwing and hitting and running around at the local park — still resonated with audiences. Aside from a black-and-white werewolf film playing at the Boys Club auditorium during the town’s Founders Day celebration, there’s not a screen in sight.

It’s an experience that may seem alien to today’s super-scheduled, smartphone-abled youth. And a modern standout like Benny would likely be shuttling between baseball camps and hypercompetitive traveling leagues.

But if you’re longing for a glimpse of how childhood used to be, cue up The Sandlot while squishing together some s’mores. The smell of roasted mallows and the squishy sugary goodness amid the crunch of the graham cracker will bring you all the comfort of a red-stitched ball landing solidly in the heel of a well-oiled glove.