One of my all-time favorite movies is “The Sandlot,” not just because it’s a movie about the greatest game there is, baseball, but it’s also a wonderful coming-of-age film.
My favorite scene in the movie is the Independence Day scene in which the kids get a chance to play under the “lights” — a chance to play at night while the fireworks are going off. The kids stop their game to be amazed at the fireworks with Ray Charles’ rendition of “America the Beautiful” in the background. I get goose bumps every time I see that scene and at least for a moment I do believe I live in the greatest nation on earth.
Well the Milwaukee Brewers have enacted my second favorite scene from the movie and it’s an absolute classic. The Brewers have released a 2 minute, 35 second video re-enancting the scene to celebrate the 25th anniversary of “The Sandlot.”
In the video, Brewers catcher Stephen Vogt plays Hamilton “Ham” Porter, “The Great Hambino,” and his performance is dead on. Vogt has definitely got a career as a comedic actor after baseball.
When he was with the Oakland A’s he appeared on MLB’s Intentional Talk as an NBA official and it was absolutely hilarious. He was also just as hilarious on that show when he portrayed Chris Farley’s character, Matt Foley, from Saturday Night Live.
The Brewers video ends with Hank, the Brewers’ mascot, portraying The Beast, which is also absolutely hilarious since Hank is an adorable, small white mixed breed.
Here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEXqcyhpL9g. And here’s my favorite scene from the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao0vXBJqODE&t=3s. Enjoy.
— Charles Whisnand
