I was reflecting on a recent team road trip, where we watched “The Sandlot” a film I’ve seen at least 100 times over the years. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve watched it through a much different lens, and today, instead of laughing and enjoying it like I usually do, sadness was the general feeling.
When someone my age watches The Sandlot, we experience it differently than the kids nowadays, which makes me sad.
My youth parallel parallels The Sandlot story almost too much. Every day, the neighborhood kid’s got back from school, and all during summer vacation, we will congregate in the court and play until the street lights came on. We played baseball, basketball, football, street hockey you name it.
My favorite youth memories wasn’t family vacations or anything I have seen on screen. My favorite memories were a group of us playing wiffle ball in my backyard, where the stroke zone was taped to the sliding glass door, and my dad had painted faul on the backyard fence.
In 2024, most youth are consumed by screen and organized athletics and will never get to experience what the movie The Sandlot embodies. The landscape of America’s neighborhoods and athletics has changed, but hopefully, we don’t have to say R.I.P to the likes of Benny The Jet, The Great Hambino, Smalls, and the rest of the gang.
Hopefully, we can still get out there and just play!
What do you think? Do you agree?