The Sandlot Star Reveals Scrapped Plans for Sequel, And How New Original Series Will Satisfy Fans [EXCLUSIVE]

For more than three decades now, The Sandlot has remained a favorite in homes across America. A slice of life movie that follows a group of boys in the summer of 1962 as they obsess about baseball, the movie is remembered fondly for its quotable dialogue, un-apologetic insults and one giant dog. Little leaguers and baseball die-hards seem to throw it on every year just as opening day comes around. Its young cast had such amazing chemistry, that its hard for audiences not to recognize their relationships with their childhood friends in the performances. Sandlot has had such staying power that fans have often wondered how is it there has never been a sequel? While it may sound great, would doing so diminish what they loved about it? One star of the film decided a reunion was in order, but not as a continuation of what came before.

Recently, the Great Hambino himself, Sandlot‘s Patrick Renna, has found a way to bring most of the original cast back together. Dugout Dads is an original series premiering August 26th on Youtube that reunites the denizens of the sandlot as new characters navigating the world of little league from the perspective of the put-upon pops, instead of the players. The series features Renna, Boy Meets Worlds Danielle Fishell, and appearances from stars like Michael Peña During an exclusive interview with ComicBook, Renna explained the cast had previously been approached to do a more direct continuation, but questioned if that was the best thing they could do to support the original’s legacy and revealed why he and his castmates arrived at their new series.

“They were toying with doing a sequel, and it’s tough,” Renna said, “because it’s not like taking the actual original IP and trying to better it, because to do that is impossible. How do you better that? That was lightning in a bottle. So I get very nervous about doing something like that anyway. I don’t know, if Disney did decide to do it, or someone decided to remake it, it would be great. I always joke I’ll do it if Shawn Levy directs it, because you want it to be brilliant. You don’t want it to tarnish that legacy that’s meant so much to people.”

Sandlot’s Legacy is More Valuable to Fans than Any Legacy Sequel Could Be

Renna’s caution may be exactly what has allowed The Sandlot to retain so much of its magic. While technically movie did have two direct to video sequels, neither could capture the magic of the original films cast. While Disney+ was reportedly developing a Sandlot series, a legacy sequel would have to turn the perfectly preserved characters from 1962 into adults with mortgages, jobs, children and disappointment. An interesting thought, but one that certainly tarnishes the hope and discovery of the original film. While it might be fun to see what happened to Squints, nobody wants to see his divorce proceedings from Wendy Peffercorn. Answering those questions would replace the head canon fans have created themselves and we’ve learned that can be the worst kind of buzzkill.

Any sequel Disney did attempt, certainly couldn’t replace the perfection that was James Earl Jones as blind Negro League player Mr. Mertle. In our interview, Renna remembered Marty York, who played Yeah-Yeah, approaching James Earl Jones at craft services during production. “He went up to him and said, ‘Sir, my mom told me you played Darth Vader,’” Renna recalled. “And he looked at him and said, ‘No, I am your father.’” You’d be hard pressed to recreate that kind of magic with a modern cast, and suddenly the legacy in your legacy sequel would be a bit stale.

Dugout Dads gets the value of a Sandlot reunion without the baggage of ruining anyone’s childhood. Based on the trailer, just seeing the cast get back into their quick rhythm of barbs and baseball should be more than enough to satisfy the itch, without risking any foul balls.

Dugout Dads premieres August 26th on Patrick Renna’s Youtube Channel.