‘The Sandlot’ Cast Then and Now

Born in October 1981, Tom Guiry made his film debut as “new kid in town” Scotty Smalls in The Sandlot at age 11. Projected into an acting career after the movie’s success, Guiry went on to star in the 1994 film Lassie and 1996’s The Last Home Run. Moving on to more serious roles, Guiry landed the part of Yurek in 2001’s Black Hawk Down and carried on with a performance in Mystic River in 2003. He also appeared in the 2015 Oscar-winning film The Revenant with Leonardo DiCaprio. Guiry missed the 20th reunion of The Sandlot cast after being detained in a Texas airport for alleged drunken behavior and made headlines again after a run-in with a neighbor. 

As for his more recent work, Guiry played a priest in the pro-life film Roe v. Wade (2019) starring Jon Voight, Nick Loeb and Stacey Dash. He then appeared in Sandra Bullock starrer The Unforgivable (2021) and a comedy called Killin Smallz (2022), in which a mob plots to kidnap Guiry, playing a version of himself. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, Janelle, and three children.  

Making his debut in Diplomatic Immunity (1991) after being discovered by a casting agent while waiting in line for a carnival ride, Mike Vitar went on to have a five-year acting career. He played the baseball-obsessed Benny in The Sandlot (with adult Benny portrayed by his older brother Pablo) and went on to play Luis Mendoza in the Mighty Ducks movies. His last credit was on a 1997 episode of Chicago Hope, after which Vitar retired from acting and eventually joined the Los Angeles Fire Department. 

He’s lived out of the public eye since then, except for a 2015 incident that led to him pleading no contest to misdemeanor battery. He served no jail time and kept his job with the fire department.  

Vitar and his wife, Kym, have three children.

After stealing scenes in The Sandlot as Ham, Patrick Renna went on to appear in a multitude of work. Most notable were his performances in the 1993 film Son in Law, the 2000 film Very Mean Men and 2003’s National Lampoon Presents Dorm Daze. Through the years, he’s also guested on television series including Boy Meets World, The X Files, ER, Boston Legal, Bones and CSI. More recently, he played Cupcake in GLOW and an umpire in Mel Gibson- and Mason Thames-starring Monster Summer (2024). 

Renna is active on social media, with 3.8 million followers on TikTok, and in February 2025 published a children’s book, A Little Slugger’s Guide to the Unwritten Rules of Baseball and Life. He has three kids with his wife, Jasmin.  

Making his television debut at age 9, Chauncey Leopardi already had a credit in Father of the Bride under his belt when he was cast as Squints, the love-obsessed kid with near-sighted vision. After the success of The Sandlot, Leopardi went on to appear in 1995’s Casper and the comedy Houseguest. After getting recurring parts in the TV series Freaks and Geeks and Gilmore Girls, Leopardi made an appearance in the third installment of Sandlot movies, The Sandlot: Heading Home, as his childhood character Squints.

Leopardi said in a recent interview with People that he stepped away from acting because he didn’t enjoy the business side of Hollywood. But he still lives in Los Angeles, where has five kids and runs a cannabis brand called, you guessed it: Squintz. 

Known for starting each sentence with “yeah” said in repetition, Marty York’s portrayal of “Yeah Yeah” McClennan served as a highlight of his entertainment career. He went on to act in TV shows including Saved by the Bell, Boy Meets World and Hey Arnold! More recently, he’s guested on SMILF, appeared in the short Super Bois and popped up on season five of Abbott Elementary. 

York has been through some difficult times, including a serious car accident at age 17 where he says he officially died on the scene before being resuscitated. It took nearly six months to relearn how to walk, after which he stepped away from Hollywood. The 20th anniversary of The Sandlot prompted him to reunite with his co-stars, which reignited the spark for acting.  

Tragedy hit his family when York’s sister died of a drug overdose in 2017, followed by the murder of his mother, Deanna Esmaeel, in 2023. Her boyfriend, Edward Patrick Davies (aka Daniel James Walter), was convicted of the crime in March 2025.  

After starting his acting career in 1986 and playing Zeke in the “Smooth Criminal” segment of Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker, Brandon Adams went on to act in several films and TV series. His appearance in The Sandlot was bookended by a role as Jesse Hall in the first two Mighty Ducks movies, working alongside co-star Mike Vitar. Adams also had guest roles on the hit shows The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Moesha, Boy Meets World and Sister, Sister and voiced Rai in the video game Kingdom Hearts II. After a hiatus, he recently returned to the industry and starred in the BET+ original movie War Dawgz.

Beginning his career by voicing Franklin in the 1988 miniseries This Is America, Charlie Brown, Grant Gelt expanded his acting résumé with his portrayal of Bertram Grover Weeks, The Sandlot’s tobacco chewer. With 1993 bringing him success in both film and television, Gelt went on to act in Boy Meets World and The ‘60s. Gelt’s last role onscreen was in 1999.

After attending Cal State University Northridge, Gelt went on to a career in the music industry, including artist management. He is the co-founder of Nashville-based creative agency Masscult and separately co-founded The Play Forever Project, a Sandlot-inspired nonprofit that seeks to remove barriers for kids who want to play youth sports, with co-stars Victor Dimattia and Shane Obedzinski. He and his wife, Melissa, have been married since 2014. 

The eldest of the two Timmons boys, Victor DiMattia’s performance as Timmy was not his first time in front of the camera. Beginning his career in 1986, DiMattia had television and film experience before coming to The Sandlot, most notably starring in the 1987 TV movie Dennis the Menace, and did sound and looping work for films like 1990’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and 1991’s Sleeping With the Enemy. After the success of The Sandlot, DiMattia went on to voice a character in the Adventures in Odyssey projects before taking a hiatus in 1995. Returning to the industry in 2008, DiMattia directed a pair of shorts. More recently, he hosted a podcast from 2017-19 and appeared movies including Get Married or Die (2018), Death Rider in the House of Vampires (2021) and the prison-set action movie Breakout (2023). 

DiMattia is the director of web3 initiatives at Masscult, where he works with co-star Gelt, and co-founded The Play Forever Project with Gelt and Obedzinski.  

Timmy Timmons’ shadow and “broken record” repeater was his little brother, Tommy, played by Shane Obedzinski. Starting his acting career at age 3 in a Kool-Aid commercial, followed by a part in 1991’s My Girl, Obedzinski appeared in five movies from 1991-93, including The Sandlot. He has not been in a feature film since.

A Florida native, Obedzinski toured with rock bands as a drummer in the early 2000s and now lives in the Tampa area, where he co-owns a restaurant. He also co-founded The Play Forever Project with Gelt and DiMattia. 

Known as the mom who tried everything to get her son and new husband to bond, Karen Allen’s portrayal of Mrs. Smalls was a wholesome counterpart to the boys’ antics. Allen brought a wealth of acting experience with her to The Sandlot. Beginning her career in 1978, she had starred in films including Animal House and Raiders of the Lost Ark. After playing Mrs. Smalls, Allen went on to roles in films including 1992’s Malcolm X and reprised her Raiders role in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, as well as Dial of Destiny. Allen also directed the 2016 short film A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud, which won best original short at the Manchester Film Festival. She is set to appear in Jessica Chastain-starring Other Mommy in 2026. 

As the man who not only owned the Babe Ruth-signed baseball but who slapped a piece of steak on Scott Smalls’ bruised eye, Denis Leary’s portrayal of stepdad Bill is one to remember. Starting his career as a comedian in the 1980s, he later went on to appear in films including The Matchmaker and The Thomas Crown Affair. Leary earned three Emmy nominations for starring in the television show Rescue Me, which ran from 2004-11 and which he also co-created. He additionally voiced beloved characters in animated films such as Ice Age and A Bug’s Life and played Coach Penn in 2014’s Draft Day. Leary has branched out into the producing world, notably behind the 2012 documentary Burn, winning the Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award. He next appears opposite Michell Pfeiffer in the 2025 Netflix holiday movie Oh. What. Fun. 

The man who owned the Beast, the neighborhood dog that terrorized the boys and destroyed their legendary baseball, was played by none other than James Earl Jones. Debuting as a stage actor in the 1950s, Jones was widely considered a versatile actor with a mellifluous voice and received an honorary Oscar in 2012. Having already starred in films including The Hunt for Red October and Field of Dreams and voiced Darth Vader in the Star Wars trilogy, Jones brought an extensive résumé to The Sandlot. He went on to voice Mufasa in The Lion King, a role he reprised for the Disney animated classic’s 2019 remake. He also reprised the role of Darth Vader in Rogue One and other Star Wars projects. 

Jones died on Sept. 9, 2024, at the age of 93. 

The apple of Squints’ (blurry) eye was Wendy Peffercorn, the beautiful pool lifeguard. Played by Marley Shelton, Peffercorn was the boys’ longtime crush. Shelton began her career in the 1991 film Grand Canyon and went on to appear in films including Pleasantville, Never Been Kissed and Uptown Girls. Redirecting from big-budget works to independent films, Shelton appeared in the dark comedy Just a Kiss in 2002 and the 2005 film Sin City. Her portrayal of Dr. Dakota Block in the Quentin Tarantino horror film Grindhouse brought her widespread recognition. More recently, Shelton appeared in the short-lived NBC show Rise and played Sheriff Judy Hicks in Scream (2022). She went on to portray Emma Dutton in Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone prequel 1923 and appeared in season one of the Kathy Bates-starring reboot of Matlock.

Known widely as a character actor, Art LaFleur used his resemblance of Babe Ruth to bring the baseball legend to life. Prior to The Sandlot, LaFleur was already well-versed in playing sports icons, having portrayed baseball player Chick Gandil in the 1989 film Field of Dreams and a New York Yankees coach in the 1992 film Mr. Baseball. The actor, whose early career included appearances on TV shows like Charlie’s Angels, Lou Grant and M*A*S*H, went on nab parts in the 1995 comedy Man of the House and 2000’s football comedy The Replacements. He later brought humor to his role as the Tooth Fairy in Tim Allen’s Santa Clause franchise.

LaFleur died on Nov. 17, 2021, at the age of 78. 

This story was originally published March 30, 2018.