Friendship and Acceptance

In the summer of 1962, Scotty Smalls moves into a new neighborhood but struggles to make friends. He is awkward and doesn't know how to play baseball, making it hard to fit in with the local boys who play daily at the sandlot. When his mother encourages him to go outside, Smalls joins the game but embarrasses himself with his lack of skill. The team's leader and star player, Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez, sees Smalls' potential and takes him under his wing. Over the summer, Smalls becomes a trusted member of the gang, sharing in their adventures, including a victory over a rival team and a dramatic, ill-fated tobacco-chewing incident at a carnival.

The Lost Babe Ruth Baseball

The main conflict of the story begins when the team's only baseball is ruined during a game. Trying to replace it, Smalls "borrows" a baseball from his stepfather's trophy room, not realizing it was signed by baseball legend Babe Ruth. Smalls hits his first home run with the ball, sending it over the back fence and into the yard of a famously fearsome dog known as "The Beast". The boys are horrified when they learn of the ball's significance and Smalls' mistake, since they all believed The Beast to be a vicious monster that eats any ball that lands in its yard.

Confronting the Beast

Desperate to retrieve the priceless ball for Smalls before his stepfather finds out, the team spends the rest of the summer concocting hilarious, increasingly elaborate plans. After their various schemes fail spectacularly, Benny has a dream in which the ghost of Babe Ruth appears and tells him that he will forever be haunted if he lets "the pickle" get the best of him. With renewed courage, Benny decides to face the dog directly. A chase ensues, leading Benny and The Beast all over town until they end up back at the sandlot, where the fence and a portion of the brick wall fall down.

Resolution and Legacy

Benny and the team discover that The Beast is actually a friendly, if enormous, English Mastiff named Hercules. The dog's owner, the reclusive Mr. Mertle, reveals himself to be a former professional baseball player who knew Babe Ruth. He was blinded by a stray pitch, ending his career. Mr. Mertle trades Smalls the ruined baseball for a new one signed by the entire 1927 New York Yankees team, including Babe Ruth. The film concludes with an older Smalls, now a sportscaster for the Los Angeles Dodgers, narrating the future of all his friends. He sees Benny—now a professional player for the Dodgers—steal home during a game, and the two exchange a thumbs-up, demonstrating that their bond has lasted long past that fateful summer.