The Sandlot

The Sandlot is the story of a summer in the life of one Scottie Smalls, told to us by Scottie himself (as an adult). It’s 1962, and the Smalls family has just moved to town when Scottie is taken under the wing of a group of rough-and-tumble neighborhood kids who invite him to join their pick-up baseball team. “Small” problem, though: he can’t play. So as the rest of the youths teach him about the game and why it’s the best thing in their brief little lives, the audience is treated to an A Christmas Story-esque series of funny and eminently quotable vignettes from their time together, all drawn up in a mission to get their ball back from a yard protected by a mythologically vicious dog.

Sharpen those #2 pencils, because it’s SAT analogy time. The Sandlot is to Field of Dreams as The Goonies is to Raiders of the Lost Ark — a kids-aimed take at the same settings and some of the same ideas, that manages to stay just as much fun for grown-ups. But The Sandlot is a stealth period piece, too, like Raiders is (but The Goonies isn’t). Filled with the songs and set-dressing of the late ’60s, it tells a timeless story about coming of age, losing innocence, making life-long friends, getting into trouble and playing your way right out of it.

The Sandlot is presented in partnership with the Tampa Bay Rays. Be sure to come early for photo ops with DJ Kitty in the lobby, starting at 2:00pm!