Dear Grandkids,
Baseball season is winding down. My New York Mets are not going to make the playoffs… again. So this is a baseball related epistle about a classic baseball related movie that will help you be happy when you are sad because your team keeps losing.
The movie is The Sandlot.
It came out in 1993. It was about a kid named Scotty Smalls and the baseball team that took him under their wing in the summer of 1962. When you watch the movie you will be introduced to some unforgettable characters like Benny the “Jet”, Yeah-Yeah, Ham, Mr Mertle, The Beast, Wendy Peffercorn, and my favorite, Squints.
You will want to be on the listen for some classic lines from the movie.
- You’re killin’ me Smalls!
- First you take a graham. Then you stick the chocolate on the graham. And then you roast the mallow. And when the mallows flaming you stick it on the chocolate. Then you cover it with the other graham. And then you stuff it.
- Remember kid, there’s heroes and there’s legends: Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.
- He had kissed a woman and he had kissed her long and good.
- Some lady named Ruth. Baby Ruth.
And there are some classic scenes that will be forever embedded in your mind. It is a fun, funny, memorable movie that you will enjoy best probably when you are an adult even though it is about kids.
One of the great lessons to be learned from the movie is about friendship. Smalls is new to town. He has no friends. And he is terrible at baseball. Benny invites him to join their baseball team because they need one more player. All the other kids make fun of him and call him an “L-7 weenie.” But Benny stands up for him and helps him get established in the group.
You will have opportunities as you grow up to be the kind of friend that Benny was to Smalls. There will be people who will need you to come alongside them, stand up for them, and stand by them. Jesus was this kind of friend. Just read Luke 19:1-10 and the story of Zacchaeus or John 4 and His encounter with the woman at the well. Never underestimate the significant influence you can have in a person’s life just by being a friend.
Never forget that you are very loved!
Pop Pop
