What The Cast Of The Sandlot Looks Like Today
In 1993, one of the most beloved sports films of all time was released: "The Sandlot." Set in the early 1960s, the film follows Scotty Smalls, most often called by his last name, and the neighborhood kids he meets after he moves to a new town and joins them in playing baseball all summer.
"The Sandlot" is a comfort movie for many children of the '90s and an essential sports movie for several film buffs. As David Mickey Evans, the film's writer and director, said to The Athletic, "It's a piece of time. It'll never be anachronistic. The entire experience of seeing that movie is never going to change. The experience of seeing the movie will give you that feeling."
Fans love the movie so much that about every five years now there's some sort of fanfare to mark its anniversary. In 2023, the film turned 30, and the former cast was interviewed, held meet-and-greets, and celebrated the legacy of "The Sandlot." Naturally, the milestone anniversary had fans wondering what the cast is up to now, and we've got that information. Here's what the cast of "The Sandlot" looks like today.
Patrick Renna was on a Netflix series
If there's anyone from the cast of kids who starred in "The Sandlot" that is easily recognizable today, it's Patrick Renna. Renna, who played Ham in the film and is responsible for uttering one of the most famous movie lines of all time — "You're killing me, Smalls" — looks almost exactly the same now as he did when he was in "The Sandlot." Renna is also known for his work as a child actor in other iconic '90s movies like "Son in Law" and "The Big Green."
After filming his youthful trifecta of '90s films, Renna kept acting, and he's never stopped. He's had roles in films and small arcs on television shows, including the popular Netflix original "GLOW," starring Alison Brie. "I hadn't seen the show when I got the job, so my wife and I binge-watched it. I think we binged all 10 episodes over two days. It's so good. The women are so talented," Renna said of the show during an interview. Renna played Cupcake, an obsessed fan of Rhonda's who earns his name by baking her cupcakes. The actor even pointed out that at the end of "The Sandlot," Ham turns from baseball to wrestling, making "GLOW" the perfect show for him to join later in life.
James Earl Jones is still an icon
Mr. Mertle, the owner of the dog known as The Beast, was played by the inimitable James Earl Jones. Casting Darth Vader himself was a big get, and the kids on set were all eager to meet him. In an interview 30 years after the release of "The Sandlot," the former kids dished on their favorite memories from filming, particularly working with Jones. Per Patrick Renna, "Marty has the best story. He went to introduce himself and said, 'Are you Darth Vader?' and Jones said, 'No, I'm your father.'"
It's not hard to keep up with what the legendary actor is doing today. He's still lending his voice to "Star Wars" projects as Darth Vader, and in 2019 he reprised his role as Mufasa for the live-action adaptation of "The Lion King." At the 2012 Oscars, Jones was honored by the Academy with an honorary Oscar, and Jones accepted the award after a performance of "Driving Miss Daisy" on London's West End. "There's a word I've learned here in Britain. They'd say 'I'm gobsmacked,'" Jones said in his acceptance speech. "That's the only word that I can think of that's appropriate for this improbable moment in my life," he added. This award gave Jones his non-competitive EGOT status.
Grant Gelt owns his own business
Grant Gelt played Bertram in "The Sandlot," the glasses-wearing baseball player who famously shared chewing tobacco with his friends at a carnival, which ended terribly. (We later learned it was actually a formula of beef jerky and licorice — no wonder the kids got sick.) Bertram is also known for his unclear fate at the end of the movie. When Smalls shares what his baseball team goes on to do later in life, he mentions that "Bertram got really into the '60s, and no one ever heard from him again."
In real life, Gelt is still very much a part of the old gang. He stopped acting when he became an adult, but he now runs a business called Masscult, and one of his old castmates, Victor DiMattia, works with him. Gelt enjoys seeing the rest of his castmates, too. As he said in an interview, "[Filming] felt like summer camp. That's why it's always so great to get together for these things and see the guys again because it still feels like summer camp. Being on set was fantastic. Getting to know the guys as adults has been even cooler. It's been really nice to grow up with kind of everybody at the same time."
Tom Guiry still has an acting career
It'll make "The Sandlot" fans happy to know that the kid who brought Scotty Smalls is still acting. The film's main protagonist, played by Tom Guiry, was at the heart of the story as he moved to a new town, started playing baseball with some local kids, and made lifelong friends. "The Sandlot" was the second film in which Guiry ever had a role, and he hasn't stopped acting since. Television fans might recognize him from various episodes of "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," or "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," among other projects.
Like a lot of the cast, Guiry was instantly taken with the script, but he couldn't imagine the impact it would have. "I knew it was gonna be a good movie, because I was 11 and I got the script and I read the whole thing, and it's hard to keep an 11-year-old's attention ... So if it was good enough for me to read the whole thing at 11, it was probably a good movie. But I don't think any of us had any idea how big it was gonna get," Guiry said of the film. Guiry added that he believes the friendships the boys forge in the film are part of the reason it's remained so popular all these years later.
Mike Vitar is a firefighter
Mike Vitar played Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez in "The Sandlot," who became Smalls' best friend and grew up to play in Major League Baseball. Vitar's acting career was limited to his childhood roles, and his last professional credit was an episode of "Chicago Hope" in 1997, just four years after "The Sandlot" had premiered. Vitar still lives in Los Angeles, but instead of working as an actor, he works as a firefighter in California.
Vitar found himself in the headlines again in 2015 when he was arrested for choking a civilian while off-duty. Vitar pled no contest to his charges, and he was sentenced to serve three years of probation and complete 90 days of community service. Vitar was suspended from his firefighting duties for six months without pay, but after that time, he returned to the job in full capacity. Vitar's name was in the news again about four years later when the man who had been choked was awarded a settlement of $7.4 million because of the incident. Since then, Vitar has not been in the public eye, and it seems he did not participate in any events celebrating the 30th anniversary of "The Sandlot."
Chauncey Leopardi sells cannabis
Some characters from "The Sandlot" have become more iconic over time than others, including Squints, who was played by Chauncey Leopardi. Squints was known for faking a drowning to kiss the lifeguard, Wendy Peffercorn, among other quirky antics. The stunt worked out for him, though, because the two ended up together. And in real life, seemingly every city across America sees at least one couple dressed as Squints and Wendy on Halloween.
Leopardi kept acting after wrapping "The Sandlot," appearing in shows like "7th Heaven" and "Freaks and Geeks," and he even had a recurring role on "Gilmore Girls." His acting career has largely waned since the mid-2000s, though, and Leopardi now focuses on his cannabis business in Los Angeles. Like many of us, Leopardi can hardly believe that three decades have passed since "The Sandlot" was released. "I feel like our perception of time changes as we get older, and it keeps going faster and faster as responsibilities grow. So yeah, but it's beautiful to see that people are still interested, and it will live way past us, so that's a cool thing. It's awesome to see it stand the test of time," the former actor said of the movie's legacy.
Marty York is a personal trainer
Marty York played Yeah-Yeah in "The Sandlot," earning his nickname for his catchphrase. Since the film, York has had small roles in various projects, but he's also found other work. "I'm a personal trainer. I do a lot of personal training online through Zoom and in person. I shot a documentary about my life. After I got in a bad accident in '97, I had to learn to walk again, so I shot the documentary for NBC, for the Peacock channel ... I'm also on a really funny 'Old Spice' commercial," York said of his current endeavors.
York, like many of his castmates, didn't realize the impact "The Sandlot" has had on so many lives until more recently. The actor recalled visiting Dodger Stadium to celebrate the film's 25th anniversary in 2018 and taking his old position on third base with his former castmates. "We got a standing ovation from like 60,000 people. And I just remember the first time I had seen a lot of these guys, like the first time I'd seen Tom in 25 years ... I was like, wow, a lot of people have seen this ... I never understood the gravity of it till, I think, that moment," York said.
Brandon Quintin Adams is still acting
Brandon Quintin Adams played Kenny in "The Sandlot," the pitcher known as The Heater. "The Sandlot" was hardly Adams's first professional acting role, and it isn't the only famous sports movie he's had a role in — Adams played Jesse Hall in "The Mighty Ducks," the also-iconic '90s sports movie about a pee-wee hockey team. Adams still acts today, with the 2021 movie "The Resort" and the 2018 television series "Reborn" among his recent credits.
Adams knows "The Sandlot" is special. "At the end of the day, man, it's just a good American coming-of-age story about friendship," he said in an interview. "It is something we can all relate to. You know, kids growing up with their friends from the neighborhood. Having a good time, you know, and that transcends to each generation," he added. Adams joined his castmates to celebrate the 30th anniversary of "The Sandlot," but he was basking in the film's glory prior to that, too. In 2021, Adams and some of his former castmates joined forces to create NTFs in the form of baseball cards.
Shane Obedzinski owns a restaurant
As is such in any good little league team, there was a pair of siblings on the roster in "The Sandlot," Timmy and Tommy Timmons. Tommy was played by Shane Obedzinski, and according to Chauncey Leopardi, he was the worst baseball player in the cast. "You know, I don't blame him for saying that I was the shortest. I was the youngest. But I've kept my skill intact, and now all those old guys. They don't have it anymore. So the tables have turned. Now, now I got it, and they don't," Obedzinski quipped in response to his former castmate's jab.
Aside from one short film in 2017, Obedzinski stopped acting in the early '90s, with a role on two episodes of "Clarissa Explains It All" and a role in "My Girl" being his only other notable credits. Though Obedzinski is getting back into the entertainment game with a project for Disney+, the actor's main gig is running Bay City Pizza, a brick-oven pizza restaurant that Obedzinski opened over a decade ago. Obedzinski also noted that he uses his own original recipe at the pizza parlor.
Victor DiMattia resumed his acting career
Tommy Timmons's older brother Timmy Timmons was played by Victor DiMattia. Timmy played first base for the team and, as it's revealed at the end, he and his brother went on to invent mini-malls. In his real life, DiMattia had a busy acting career in the '80s and '90s. DiMattia played Dennis in "Dennis the Menace," lent his voice to multiple "Adventures in Odyssey" videos, and had a recurring role in "A Peaceable Kingdom." After 1995, DiMattia took a break from acting, but he did return to the craft at a professional level in the late 2010s and has been booking roles since.
DiMattia still shares a strong bond with his former co-stars, no matter how much time has gone by since the movie wrapped. "The time just flew by, you know. It feels like when we get back together, all the guys together, man, it feels like we're 12 years old all over again," DiMattia said in an interview. DiMattia seemingly has a particularly close bond with Grant Gelt. In 2022, the castmates co-founded the nonprofit Play Forever. Inspired by "The Sandlot," the organization works to ensure all kids have access to play sports.
Denis Leary is still writing and acting
"The Sandlot" fans will also remember that comedian Denis Leary was part of the film. Leary played Bill Smalls in one of his first professional acting gigs, and he would go on to have roles in other famous films like "Ice Age" and "The Thomas Crown Affair." Leary also created, wrote, and starred in his own television shows, "Rescue Me" and "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll," and he created and wrote "Sirens." Today, Leary is still writing, acting, and performing stand-up, and he's got four Primetime Emmy nominations to his name.
Leary looks back at his time filming "The Sandlot" fondly. In an interview, the comedian noted that he was immediately drawn to the script, and although old adages had told him not to work with children, Leary was impressed by how professional the kids were on set. "You never know if a movie's gonna have staying power, but those kids, they were funny, they were energetic on camera. They were great," Leary said.
Leary was also complimentary of James Earl Jones. Although the two actors didn't film any scenes together, Leary praised Jones for his kindness and, of course, for his incredible acting skills.
Karen Allen acted in Indiana Jones
Another parental figure in the movie "The Sandlot" was Scotty Smalls' mom, played by Karen Allen. The film's writer didn't give Allen's character a first name, but we did know that Mrs. Smalls was a fan of Babe Ruth as she explained the meaning of the signed baseball to her son.
Like the other adults in the movie, Allen's acting career is defined by more than just her role in "The Sandlot." One of her most notable roles was Marion Ravenwood in the "Indiana Jones" series, which she reprised again for the 2023 installment "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny." Allen spoke to EW about her "Indiana Jones" role reprisal, saying, she "can't say that there wasn't initial disappointment in the sense that I wasn't more a part of the adventure of this story." She added that there "simultaneously was a sense of gratitude that Marion was going to come back into the story." Allen added how much she admires her character and ultimately was happy to join the cast once again.
Marley Shelton is part of the Scream universe
When thinking about famous lifeguards in television and film history, the cast of "Baywatch" might come to mind, but so might Wendy Peffercorn. The lifeguard of the entire baseball team's dreams in "The Sandlot" was played by Marley Shelton, and the actor is still part of notable projects today. One of Shelton's most recent credits was playing Emma Dutton in 1923, a "Yellowstone" spin-off starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren.
Shelton is part of another famous cinematic universe: "Scream." The actor played Judy Hicks in "Scream 4," and she reprised her role for the 2022 reboot of the horror series. "I was thrilled. I couldn't believe it. I got this call out of the blue that they were relaunching the franchise and that Judy Hicks was coming back, and I was over the moon. I loved playing Judy in Scream 4," Shelton told Screen Rant of the opportunity to play Judy again. Perhaps the next role she'll reprise will be Wendy Peffercorn. There'd be more than a few happy fans if "The Sandlot" were to get a sequel.