Some movies stay with you forever. 

For me, one of those movies is the 1993 cult-classic, “The Sandlot.” 

“The Sandlot”  takes place in the San Fernando Valley in 1962 and follows a group of kids living in a small Californian town. They spend their summer immersed in all things baseball at the local rundown field known as “the sandlot.” 

They embrace the new dorky kid nicknamed “Smalls” into their diverse group where he gets himself in “the biggest pickle of all time,” hitting a signed Babe Ruth ball into the junkman’s back yard.

There the whole group has to come up with crazy schemes to retrieve the ball from over the fence.

The one problem… the urban legend of “The Beast” on the other side. 

Local stories the kids have heard of the animal made them fear for their lives to even glance over.

I’ve always loved watching “The Sandlot,” especially with my dad and brother. It reminds me of how we would play in our front yard.

One thing though was that at a young age even I knew the importance of a signed Babe Ruth ball. To this day I can’t believe they used it. Thinking of using my signed Clayton Kershaw ball for anything but display would be insane.

Not to mention, this movie is jam-packed with classic movie lines.

“You’re killin’ me Smalls,” is easily one of the most recognizable quotes from any movie.

One aspect where I saw myself in the movie was that Benny, the leader of the Sandlot gang, loves baseball. I also like baseball a little bit more than my friends. But nonetheless, they all went along with him, and so did mine.

The kids say how Benny “eats, sleeps and drinks baseball,” and I relate to that.

One of my favorite quotes from the movie that really stuck with me is, “To us, baseball was just a game, but to Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez, baseball was life.”

Since the movie takes place in the San Fernando Valley it only makes sense that Benny is a Dodgers fan. This is where I saw myself in him. This movie means a lot to me because of its connection to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“The Sandlot” provides a perfect dose of nostalgia to all who watch it. Not only with the group of boys getting into old-school mischief, but also taking us back in time with the setting and music.

For all fans young and old, I highly recommend watching this film to rediscover your inner child and relive the simpler times.