A ‘Sandlot’ Reunion (Of Sorts) Is on the Way Thanks to a New Series

My kids just finished up their second year of tee-ball, third “season” overall (they did Fall Ball), and I was lucky enough to be their coach throughout it all. There’s a beautiful chaos to the game. Some kids on our team could hit the ball without the tee by the end of the season, while others still needed to be shown how to put their gloves on. Ya know, because they’re between the ages of three and five. It can be challenging, but it’s mostly fun, and so worth it to see those kids smile and feel proud of themselves. The parents? It depends.

I’m not breaking any new ground here, but some parents strip the fun out of the entire process. The number of parents I’ve seen take this whole process way too seriously is staggering. Do we want the kids to make progress? Absolutely! But that is secondary to making sure that they are outside, getting fresh air, and having fun with other kids. That’s the goal. Tee-ball games for the league I’m in aren’t even games; they’re basically practices, and yet grown adults still find ways to act like maniacs. And I’m at the early level.

Seeing how parents react to tee-ball has made me incredibly apprehensive about putting my kids in the next level. Both of them are having fun, and one of them has taken to the sport really well, so I’d like that to continue. Still, I’m not itching to see my kid get screamed at by a fifty-year-old with expensive Oakleys, failed dreams, and an unfulfilling tech job. That’s probably going to happen at some point, whether I like it or not, if my kids want to keep playing, but I’m not rushing headlong toward it.

It did make my ears perk up, though, when I read about a new show starring Sandlot star Patrick Renna. The actor, along with actor Kyle Howard, will be producing the show, which is called Dugout Dads, according to Deadline. Renna will play a dad who becomes a coach of his kid’s little league team, only to become frustrated with the parents (and himself) for not letting the game be fun. On top of all of that, Renna will be joined intermittently by other cast members from The Sandlot, including Tom Guiry, Chauncey Leopardi, Marty York, Brandon Quintin Adams, Victor DiMattia, Shane Obedzinski, Grant Gelt, and Will Horneff.

The legacy of The Sandlot has been a pretty enduring one, and with so much from the 90s being dusted off and repurposed, I’m honestly kind of floored that this isn’t just some sort of Sandlot legasequel. If I had to guess, they just don’t have the rights. So, putting Renna in something baseball-related may just be the easiest path forward as far as getting something off the ground.

It probably also helps that the idea sounds pretty straightforward and fun. If anything, I’m surprised that it hasn’t been done before. That said, I would not be surprised to find out that it has, but it’s too early for me to do that kinda searching. I did, however, look into whether or not Renna was still deeply tied to Scientology, and it sure looks like it. So, ya know, react to that how you’d like (there’s a certain phrase that will probably work just fine).