The Sandlot (released in some countries as The Sandlot Kids) is a 1993 American coming-of-age sports comedy film written by David Mickey Evans and Robert Gunter. Evans also directed the film and served as a narrator. It tells the story of a diverse group of young baseball players during Summer 1962. It stars Tom Guiry, Mike Vitar, Karen Allen, Denis Leary, and James Earl Jones. The film is set in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California and the filming locations were in Midvale, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, Utah.

The film was released on April 7, 1993, by 20th Century Fox. It grossed over $34 million worldwide. It was followed by two direct-to-video sequels The Sandlot 2 (2005) and The Sandlot: Heading Home (2007)

In the late spring of 1962, Scott "Scotty" Smalls moves to the San Fernando Valley outside of Los Angeles with his unnamed mother and new stepfather, Bill. When Scotty's mother encourages him to make friends, Scotty tries joining a diverse group of eight boys—Benjamin Franklin "Benny" Rodriguez, Hamilton "Ham" Porter, Alan "Yeah-Yeah" McClennan, Kenny DeNunez, Michael "Squints" Palladorous, Bertram Grover Weeks, and brothers Tommy and Timmy Timmons—who play baseball daily at the neighborhood sandlot. Scotty leaves in embarrassment when everyone except Benny, the group's leader, laughs at his attempt to throw a ball. Benny later invites Scotty onto the team and helps him improve his skills and earn the other boys' respect.

After Kenny taunts Ham with his trademark pitch, "The Heater", Ham hits a home run into an adjacent backyard, angering the team. They stop Scotty from retrieving the ball and tell him of "the Beast", a large and fearsome English Mastiff living behind the fence of Mr. Mertle. Over the years, many baseballs have previously gone over the fence, with the Beast claiming all of them.

One hot day, the team goes swimming at the neighborhood pool instead of playing baseball. They end up getting kicked out after Squints pretends to drown so the lifeguard, Wendy Peffercorn, kisses him while giving mouth-to-mouth. The group later plays against a snooty rival Little League team and win. When celebrating their victory at a fair that night, each get sick after chewing tobacco and riding the Trabant.

One day, Benny hits the cover off the team's only ball. With Bill away on business for a week, Scotty keeps the game going by borrowing his stepfather's prized baseball autographed by Babe Ruth. Unaware of its value, Scotty hits his first home run, sending it into the Beast's yard. When the team learns of the autograph, they quickly forge Babe Ruth's signature on a new ball to be a temporary replacement while attempting to recover the autographed ball. The Beast then thwarts every makeshift device they use for this goal.

That night, Benny has a dream in which he meets Babe Ruth. Ruth tells a reluctant Benny to climb into the backyard with the Beast, which Benny does the next day. A standoff ensues between the two: Benny takes off running for the ball, slides and grabs the ball and takes off running. The Beast's chain rips off, resulting in a chase through town. Benny outruns the dog all the way back to Mr. Mertle's yard, but the Beast crashes through the fence, falling down on top of him. Scotty and Benny free the Beast, who gratefully licks Scotty's face and leads them to his stash of baseballs. The two then meet Mr. Mertle, discovering he is a retired baseball player and friend of Babe Ruth who went blind after being struck by a pitch. Mr. Mertle trades them the chewed-up ball for one autographed by all the 1927 Murderers' Row in exchange for meeting with him weekly for baseball discussions.

Bill loves the Murderers' Row ball but still grounds Scotty for a week for ruining his Babe Ruth autographed ball. Their relationship improves, and Scotty begins to call him "Dad". The sandlot boys appoint the Beast—whose real name is Hercules—as their mascot. As the years pass, they all go their separate ways: Yeah-Yeah enlists in the army and becomes one of the pioneering developers of bungee jumping; Bertram disappears into the counterculture movement; Timmy and Tommy become an architect and a contractor; Squints marries Wendy, has nine kids with her, and the two run the local drug store; Ham becomes a professional wrestler: "The Great Hambino"; DeNunez plays triple-A baseball before owning a business and coaching his sons' Little League team; and Benny earns the nickname "the Jet" after word spreads around about his encounter with the Beast.

As an adult, Scotty becomes a sports commentator and remains friends with Benny, now a pinch runner for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Scotty and the fans celebrate as Benny steals home plate to score the winning run of a game against the San Francisco Giants. In his broadcast booth, Scotty owns and keeps on display the chewed-up Babe Ruth autographed ball, the Murderer's Row ball, the forged Babe Ruth ball, some pictures of Babe Ruth, and a large picture of the Sandlot kids from 1962.