The 1993 movie The Sandlot is pretty much what childhood dreams are made of. If you were born in the ’80s or later, you likely watched the move about Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez and his merry band of aspiring athletes no less than 1.3 bajillion times growing up — and if you were born pre-’80s, the film’s nostalgia and accurate portrayal of simpler times still touched that special place in your heart.
The Sandlot quickly became a classic piece of Americana, spawning an endless supply of quotes and timeless one-liners — but despite the fact that so many of us have seen and loved the movie, none of the stars really moved on to mainstream success. What’s up with that?
We got super curious about what happened to all the child actors who brought The Sandlot to life, so we did a little light internet stalking. Here’s what we found.
Originally published July 2012. Updated August 2017.
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Scotty Smalls
Image Credit: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/Island World Smalls grew up to become a sports announcer. In the final scene of The Sandlot, he gives a play-by-play of his ol’ buddy Benny stealing home in a Major League game.
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Thomas Guiry
Image Credit: WENN Guiry’s turn as Smalls led to a steady stream of roles, including heavy-hitting dramas like Black Hawk Down and Mystic River. He has appeared on some of TV’s hottest shows as well, such as CSI: Miami, Law & Order and, most notably, NBC’s The Black Donnellys.
He also played Billy Brother Trapper in Leo DiCaprio’s Oscar winner, The Revenant.
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Benny Rodriguez
Image Credit: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/Island World After Benny pickled The Beast, he earned the nickname “The Jet” — a moniker particularly fitting when he became a fleet-footed Major Leaguer.
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Mike Vitar
Image Credit: dharma-bum/Tumblr Vitar cemented his pre-teen heartthrob status as Luis Mendoza in two Mighty Ducks movies. After several roles on TV during his teenage years, Mike walked away from acting altogether and has served as a City of Los Angeles firefighter since 2002.
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Hamilton “Ham” Porter
Image Credit: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/Island World Hamilton “Ham” Porter graduated from the dusty baseball diamond to the arena ring upon becoming a professional wrestler known as “The Great Hambino.”
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Patrick Renna
Image Credit: Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images The chubby-cheeked actor followed up The Sandlot with films like The Big Green and Son-in-Law (OMG, who could forget him as Pauly Shore’s horndog pseudo-little-brother-in-law-to-be?). The practicing Scientologist has also appeared on TV hits like The Closer and Bones.
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Michael “Squints” Palledorous
Image Credit: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/Island World Squints actually married lifeguard Wendy Peffercorn! They popped out nine kiddos (hoping to field their own baseball team?) and bought Vincent’s Drugstore. See? He wasn’t really just pervin’ a dish.
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Chauncey Leopardi
Image Credit: Mark Sullivan/Getty Images Leopardi teamed up with Renna on the movie The Big Green. Other movie appearances include The Opposite of Sex and the third installment of The Sandlot. The actor’s bountiful TV castings also include Freaks and Geeks and Gilmore Girls.
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Alan “Yeah-Yeah” McClennan
Image Credit: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/Island World Yeah-Yeah capped off military school with a stretch in the Army. After doffing his military duds, he became a pioneering developer of bungee jumping.
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Marty York
Image Credit: Tasia Wells/Getty Images York’s portfolio includes popular shows like Wings, along with a few movie roles and voice work in Hey Arnold! Most recently, he played Pauly D on The Eric Andre Show in 2015.
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Kenny DeNunez
Image Credit: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/Island World Although he never made it to the Majors like Benny, DeNunez did play Triple-A ball. He later became a business owner and the coach of his son’s little league team, The Heaters.
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Brandon Quintin Adams
Image Credit: Bobby Bank/Getty Images Adams was one of the few young actors of The Sandlot boasting prior hallmark moments — most notably in Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker, The People Under the Stairs and Mighty Ducks. He’s still kickin’ around Hollywood and has steadily worked since his Sandlot days. Though he does keep a relatively low profile, you can follow him on Instagram.
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Bertram Grover Weeks
Image Credit: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/Island World According to Smalls, Bertram got really, really into the ’60s… and no one ever saw him again.
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Grant Gelt
Image Credit: Mark Sullivan/Getty Images Quite accomplished prior to The Sandlot, Gelt walked away from the iconic film and continued booking bit parts (think Saved By the Bell spin-offs). After the TV movie The ’60s, however, he dropped off the acting radar — a little life imitating art, no?
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Tommy & Timmy Timmons
Image Credit: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/Island World Tommy and Timmy turned into an architect and a contractor, respectively, and became multimillionaires upon inventing mini-malls.
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Shane Obedzinski (Tommy)
Image Credit: Mark Sullivan/Getty Images Obedzinski didn’t really do much in the way of acting after The Sandlot, but his IMDB credits do list a 2017 short film. Does this mean he’s posturing for a comeback?
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Victor DiMattia (Timmy)
Image Credit: Tasia Wells/Getty Images DiMattia was a regular on the CBS drama A Peaceable Kingdom from 1989 to 1995, but fell off the map after that. However, like Obedzinski, he has an acting credit under his belt on IMDb for 2017.
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