Utahns celebrate 20 years of 'The Sandlot'


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GLENDALE — Twenty years after "The Sandlot" debuted in theaters, the director of the film says people still tell him how much they loved the film. As he arrived back in Utah to commemorate the film's anniversary, the neighborhood in which the iconic field sits is planning a celebration of their own.

On Navajo Street in Glendale is a baseball diamond on which David Mickey Evans brought to life the story of nine boys living in 1962. Nearby Rose Park and Poplar Grove were also featured in the movie based on Evans' childhood and his encounter with "The Beast."

As Evans stepped back onto the diamond Thursday, he said he was overcome with extreme emotion at its sight.

"To walk in here where I could see the dugout and stuff and then the backstop, and I looked around and I said, 'Was I not literally just here yesterday?' " he said of stepping onto the diamond from a road nearby.

Evans said people the world over tell him how much they love "The Sandlot." His national tour to baseball fields throughout the country has allowed him to give back, he feels.

"I wanted to meet as many people as possible who love this movie," Evans said. "I wanted to hear why and I wanted to thank them back. And, so far, it's been a thousand times a bigger deal than I could have imagined."

Carnival and Screening Information
1122 Navajo St. Salt Lake City
2:00pm- Carnival with live music, food, and games
2:30pm- Live music from Calico Sage
4:00pm- Live music from The New Electric Sound
6:00pm- Sandlot Plaque Dedication
6:05pm- Cast autographs & signings
7:30pm- Seating begins for screening of The Sandlot
8:00pm- Remarks
8:30pm- Q&A with Tony Toscano, cast, and David Mickey Evans
9:30pm- Screening of The Sandlot begins

More information on Facebook

Members of a neighborhood council in Glendale helped arrange the weekend's anniversary celebration. On Saturday, evening following a carnival, some 1,500 will fill the old field at 1122 Navajo Street for a screening of "The Sandlot." The tickets to the screening are sold out, but the carnival does not require a ticket. In a separate event, members of the movie's cast and crew will also attend a Friday Bees game.

Longtime neighbors of the diamond said they remembered watching the filming, and the buzz it created around the neighborhood.

"My twin boys used to sneak out of the house, or they used to get out of the house, in the middle of the night and come over (to the diamond) because they used to film at 2 o'clock in the morning because it was so hot during the day," said Glendale resident Randy Sorensen.

Some, like Glendale resident Jay Ingleby said they got to know members of the crew, and had an open invitation to watch the filming.

But for many who watched the film, it is a dose of nostalgia and a nice reminder of their childhood.

" 'The Sandlot' itself, is just so much a part of our lives and our childhoods and it just rings true. It's like an old friend," said Director of the Utah Film Commission, Marshall Moore.

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Carole Mikita and Celeste Tholen Rosenlof

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