Editor’s note: In the spirit of holiday movie-watching, we asked NESN.com readers to vote for their favorite sports film of all time. The debate was fierce, but the votes spoke for themselves. Fans of “The Sandlot” likely are saying, “You’re killin’ me, Smalls,” after the movie finished fifth among NESN.com readers’ No. 10 sports movie of all time.
Why it’s a top-10 sports movie: “The Sandlot” is geared toward children, so it usually winds up being one of the first sports movies that people remember watching. It’s also highly quotable and really doesn’t get old, unless you’re an L-7 weenie.
Biggest star: The movie’s biggest star actually barely appears in the film. James Earl Jones plays Mr. Mertle, the sandlot’s reclusive neighbor and owner of “The Beast,” an enormous English Mastiff who steals every baseball hit over the outfield fence.
Marquee moment: Lead character Scotty Smalls is just trying to fit in with the rest of the sandlot kids, but instead, he creates the movie’s turning point when he loses a Babe Ruth-signed baseball belonging to his stepfather (Denis Leary). Smalls borrowed the ball — which he thought was signed by “some lady named Ruth. Baby Ruth.” — after Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez destroyed their last baseball with a hit. Once the Babe Ruth ball goes over the fence and is stuck in the lair of “The Beast,” the boys realize the huge mistake Smalls made, and shenanigans ensue.
Did you know? In the movie, Benny has a dream about Babe Ruth, who looks at a Hank Aaron baseball card and says, “I don’t know why, but can I have this?” It’s an reference to the fact that Aaron broke Ruth’s home run record.
