The Savannah Bananas served up a little Ham in a recent game.
Patrick Renna, who starred as Ham in 1993โs โThe Sandlot,โ suited up for the baseball team during its game May 31 in Anaheim, California.
Renna relished the opportunity, while also taking a moment to reflect on the enduring popularity of โThe Sandlotโ in an Instagram post featuring a series of photos of him in uniform, with one of him calling his shot, just like his character did in the movie.
โPeople ask if it ever gets old talking about the same movie for over 30 years. It doesnโt. How could it?โ he wrote. โIโve gotten to meet so many amazing people because of it. Itโs been passed down through three generations at this point. Thatโs pretty crazy. Why else would you want to be an actor, director, or filmmaker if not to be part of something that means as much as The Sandlot does to so many people?โ
Renna, who came out to thunderous applause from the fans, said getting to play with the Bananas was an amazing experience.
โThis night with the Savannah Bananas reminded me how special being part of this movie is. A night to remember. Even more special was that my 8-year-old was there to see 45,000 people cheer on his pop,โ he wrote. โThank you everyone for doing that.โ
Renna ended up popping out, but that didnโt detract from the moment. He also told the pitcher, โCome on, DeNunez, you call that the heater?โ in a reference to a line in โThe Sandlot.โ
โIโm sorry I didnโt hit it out of the park,โ he wrote. โ400 feet is a lot longer than the sandlot was. But, hey, I got a piece! Was it a meatball? Yes. But it was still a 70 MPH meatball. Fine, 63. Whatever whoโs counting? Not the point! Is yellow slimming? No, no itโs not. Also not the point!
โThe point is, I just wanted to say that moment meant a whole lot to me, and I just wanted to say thank you to all the people who still love this movie us 9 boys made over 3 decades ago.โ
Renna wrapped up his post by hoping he can one day find something else that will resonate with fans the way โThe Sandlotโ has.
โHopefully I can continue to entertain you with more projects that mean even a fraction of what โThe Sandlotโ has meant,โ he wrote.
Renna has marveled at how โThe Sandlotโ has stood the test of time.
โI donโt think any of us imagined that the movie would turn into what it has,โ he told TODAY.com in 2019.
โWe knew that it was good, but I donโt think that thereโs any way to know that it would mean this much to so many people as it does now,โ he continued.
