Rebekah Cook - The Sandlot and Christianity

The Sandlot, a favorite 1990s classic that focuses on childhood, friendship, and the love of sports.  It’s a unique film not only for its plot storyline, but underneath the surface it brings pop culture and religion together.  Many Biblical symbols are seen throughout the film and it becomes very clear to see that it represents a direct parallel to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

The film takes place in the summer of 1962 and stars two kids, Scotty Smalls and Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez.  Smalls has just moved to the outskirts of Los Angeles with his mother and stepfather and is desperately in need of making new friends.  As Smalls adjusts to his new life, he realizes that in order to be friends with the neighborhood kids, he must learn how to play baseball.  His stepfather tries to teach him, but Smalls just can’t get the hang of it.  Still none of the neighborhood kids have come to meet or even welcome Smalls; however, this all changes when Benny, the town baseball star and leader of the neighborhood baseball team, ends up taking Smalls under his wing and teaches him how to play.

In short to summarize what each character represents: Benny represents Jesus through the way he reaches out to Smalls when no one else will and also battles the beast for a mistake which was not his own.  Smalls represents the common human because of the way he follows Benny’s advice.  Babe Ruth represents God because He appears to Benny as a spirit and shows him the way to get the ball back.  Mr. Mertle also represents God through his gesture of giving Smalls a much more valuable priceless ball in exchange for his now worthless ball like God gave his only Son to the world.  The beast represents Satan and death due to how everything is broken in his territory.  The team represents Jesus’ disciples the way they follow Benny like a leader.  And, lastly baseball represents a relationship with Jesus because if it were not for baseball, Smalls and Benny would have never become friends.

Analyzing religion in film has brought a lot of academic attention to the connections between pop culture and religion.  To quote Christian pastor and author Timothy Keller, “Every good story is a version of the one true story. Danger and despair and all is lost suddenly changes into hope, light, and restoration.”  The Sandlot contains not only a heartwarming story, but one which directly parallels to the gospel of Jesus Christ.