The Savannah Bananas served up a little Ham in a recent game.
Patrick Renna, who starred as Ham in 1993’s “The Sandlot,” 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 “The Sandlot” 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.
“People ask if it ever gets old talking about the same movie for over 30 years. It doesn’t. How could it?” he wrote. “I’ve gotten to meet so many amazing people because of it. It’s been passed down through three generations at this point. That’s 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?”
Renna, who came out to thunderous applause from the fans, said getting to play with the Bananas was an amazing experience.
“This 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,” he wrote. “Thank you everyone for doing that.”
Renna ended up popping out, but that didn’t detract from the moment. He also told the pitcher, “Come on, DeNunez, you call that the heater?” in a reference to a line in “The Sandlot.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t hit it out of the park,” he wrote. “400 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 who’s counting? Not the point! Is yellow slimming? No, no it’s not. Also not the point!
“The 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.”
Renna wrapped up his post by hoping he can one day find something else that will resonate with fans the way “The Sandlot” has.
“Hopefully I can continue to entertain you with more projects that mean even a fraction of what ‘The Sandlot’ has meant,” he wrote.
Renna has marveled at how “The Sandlot” has stood the test of time.
“I don’t think any of us imagined that the movie would turn into what it has,” he told TODAY.com in 2019.
“We knew that it was good, but I don’t think that there’s any way to know that it would mean this much to so many people as it does now,” he continued.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
