The nostalgic baseball movie The sandlot James Earl Jones stars in a small but crucial role as Mr. Myrtle, whose character hints at a dark part of baseball history that the film completely glosses over. Mr. Myrtle joins Tom Guiry’s Scott Smalls and Mike Vitar’s Benny “The jetRodriguez about their shared love of the great American entertainment, but the endlessly quotable movie The sandlot does not delve into the details of Mr. Myrtle’s exact past in the professional world of baseball.
Smalls’ friends live and breathe baseball, and they pass their passion to Smalls in the summer of 1962, loosely based on the writer/director’s childhood. Mr. Myrtle saves Smalls’ skin by giving him a priceless artifact from his days as a professional baseball player himself. In the process, Mr. Mertel shares a heartwarming story about his legendary contemporary, Babe Ruth. However, while this moment is presented as a wasteful piece of nostalgia, It also ignores one of the most uncomfortable aspects of baseball’s history What the rest of The sandlot Does not address.
The Sandlot ignores an obscure fact about baseball in the 60s
Ambiguity allows for different interpretations of a character’s backstory
The sandlotReleased in 1993, is set in the 1960s to evoke a sense of nostalgia, harking back to a time when kids could enjoy unsupervised outdoor time until suppertime. The spirit of Babe Ruth, portrayed by Art LaFleur, appears in a dream sequence to motivate Benny when all hope seems lost. The parting words of the Sultan of Swat echo to Beni: “There are heroes and there are legends. Heroes are remembered, but legends never die.“
When Mr. Mertel learns that Smalls ruined his stepfather’s autographed ball, he offers Smalls a different ball signed not only by the King of Crash, but by the entire murderers’ row of 1927. Mr. Mertel reveals that he used to play ball himself. He didn’t just know Babe Ruth, Babe knew him. In James Earl Jones’ dulcet tones, Mr. Myrtle starts to explain that he may have broken Babe’s home run record, then trails off. Smalls fills in the blanks that Mr. Mertel is blind, and Mr. Mertel confirms it.
If Mr. Mertl had played at the same time as Babe in the 1920s and 30s, he would have played in the Negro Leagues, which were active in the early 20th century, before the sport integrated in 1947. Players of color were relegated to Teams with less funding, and their stats are excluded from official records. Mr. Mertel’s conversation with the boys is purposely pointless. He does not specify when or for which team he played,or how or when he was blind. Perhaps his eyesight cut short his career, or perhaps he broke Babe’s record, but in a different league. In any case, the movie does not address this dark chapter in baseball history.
Why The Sandlot Forgoes Historical Accuracy
The sandlot is both a children’s film and a light sports comedy. Keeping Mr. Myrtle’s background ambiguous or textually unspecified is the right call. It would feel exposed and clunky to introduce this part of baseball history at this point in the film, which is already in the denouement. The scene with James Earl Jones can be open to interpretation. A viewer with an eye for critical analysis can apply historical context without disrupting the narrative, but the conversation can be taken at face value with the scene losing impact.
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Because the movie is narrated by an adult Smalls, The sandlot Can be interpreted as seen through the rose-colored glasses of someone who loves recalling and perhaps exaggerating their childhood. The dog was not only big, it was a beast. Benny wasn’t just strong, he split a baseball at the seams. Smalls may have missed clues during the conversation with Mr. MertlEspecially as he jumps in when Mr. Myrtle trails off. However, given the movie’s childish tone, unpacking baseball’s traumatic story in the finale would have felt extremely jarring.