"The Sandlot" (1993) and Nostalgia as a Genre
When The Game Becomes a Universal Metaphor For Childhood
So.
Some nerdy ass kid moves into a suburban neighborhood on the sweet, sweet cusp of summer and has absolutely no friends. He basically stalks this group of kids until they take pity on him and have him join their game of baseball that never ends. Which sounds like a great premise for a horror movie, but is more of a feeling: of time being dripping honey when you’re a kid and you just can’t wait to be grown up to do grown up things.
What fools we were.
Anyways. With the stalker they finally have enough players to play the game, albeit just for fun and never with any point of keeping score.
It’s the joy of playing with your friends that goes on and on as long as the summer lasts.
And that’s what this entire movie is about: shenanigans with your friends.
Being a kid and enjoying an American summer full of sweaty days and silly adventures.
It has that zeal of innocence and happier times that somehow, slowly, disappears as life goes on.
A fun, nostalgic coming-of-age dramedy, David Mickey Evans’ The Sandlot is a fun and memorable watch even if, like me, you have no working knowledge of baseball.
What is Baseball?
Baseball is more than a sport. I’m not saying that as some sort of American propaganda riding off the failure of the Supreme Court and July Fourth, but it’s such a metaphorical thing for America that it really does transcend being just a sport.
You say America, I immediately think of hot dogs, baseball, and fireworks. Also guns but I dislike having that being America’s known calling card.
This ball game is America’s pastime, yes, but it’s the fabled summer diamond, a pickup game after school, fun moments of cracker jacks, pitches, and baseball belly itchers.
For many, playing a game of catch with dad soon translates into pitching and batting practice; memories of simpler times and when things made sense.
Baseball is that feeling of what was when you get tired of what is.
So to it’s credit, the baseball they talk about and play here is all of the above, with all the physical exertion and emotional baggage it claims.
The Isekai Effect
Unpopular opinion: The Sandlot is the American version of an isekai from anime. In like, a loose, poorly derived version of an isekai where the stakes are super low and everything is mostly about having fun. Like a white-washed, beginner’s guide to isekai, if you will.
Of course there are other western versions of this subgenre of fantasy, namely Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and The Wizard of Oz. But The Sandlot is the most basic version of this genre in that it strips away the fantasy elements to highlight a kid’s fear of finding friends and fitting in in a new neighborhood.
In The Sandlot, Scotty moves to a new neighborhood with nigh a friend in sight and he has to make due with the terrible hand he’s been dealt as a kid that’s just reached double digits. How is he supposed to make friends when school’s out and he’s the new kid on the block? How is he supposed to overcome his awkward tendencies to befriend anyone his age? How is he supposed to play with the other kids when he can’t even throw a ball?
Scotty is us and we love Scotty. We love seeing an outcast protagonist in adventure or high fantasy narratives because we see ourselves as being ostracized in normal society, no matter what it is we do.
It’s encouraging to our poor, delusional souls.
Having him face childhood fears and overcome them to find a better, happier stasis? All within that hyper-realistic summer of our childhood that was just too perfect to be true? Ding ding we have an isekai.
Being basic isn’t bad either. Recognizing the genre and pulling the structures and elements that you need to elevate your story is the mark of a good narrative. And this movie has proven to be a fan favorite and a classic in spite of its simple plot and generic coming-of-age themes.
It avoids being too melodramatic or indulgent in its reminiscents of that one summer; instead stringing along child-like imagination with the joys of being young and surrounded by friends.
I don’t play baseball or have 8 other friends, but the emotions this movie evokes because the world Scotty (Tom Guiry) is inducted in makes me feel so much nostalgia.
Do you know how weird that is? To feel nostalgic for something that you haven’t experienced??
It’s a trip dude.
Nostalgia
And to that effect, this movie thrives on nostalgia. The feeling of it as well as the narrative uses of it.
This movie is a flashback, derived from Scotty’s adult self where he interjects odds and ends of narration when the plot dries up in their fabricated summer heat.
Knowing that Scotty is looking back on this summer fondly gives the glimmer and the glamour of the summer more meaning. It was the perfect summer where he goofed off with newfound friends and made unbelievably cherished memories.
The Beast being larger-than-life, the relentless toil under a boiling sun in pursuit of a fastball, the joy of slamming a screen door and yelling a brief goodbye so you could wander the streets of the neighborhood.
I don’t have nostalgic memories of baseball like this from my childhood.
But I do carry nostalgia from my childhood. A certain smell will knock me back 20 years and the familiar shape of a cartoon character will send tears down my cheeks.
I didn’t relate to all the emotional markers in this movie, but it still got me to reminisce in my childhood, and for that, I am thankful.
