PHOENIX -- Even before the start of the season, the Milwaukee Brewers have their first hit.
Milwaukee released a 2-minute, 35-second video celebrating the 25th anniversary of the movie "The Sandlot" last weekend, featuring Brewers players dressed as characters from the film reciting the movie's lines.
ICYMI: You're (still) killing me, Smalls. pic.twitter.com/257xYFkwdN
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) March 20, 2018
Hank, the dog who is Milwaukee's mascot, played The Beast -- a ferocious dog in the movie that the kids were frightened of when they went to retrieve home run balls. Hank is a cuddly white mixed-breed whom the Brewers adopted as a pup during spring training in 2014.
"It's probably my all-time favorite baseball movie," said infielder Eric Sogard, who with the spectacles he often wears was asked to play the role of Michael "Squints" Palledorous. "Anytime that movie's on, I love watching it. Squints, man, I play wearing glasses, so I feel like that nickname has been thrown around at me every once in a while."
"The Sandlot" is about an adult reminiscing on his younger days playing ball with his friends in an empty lot and the baseball history they learned.
"We had a blast doing it," said catcher Stephen Vogt, who played the role of the portly Hamilton "Ham" Porter. "It's pretty cool to hear from people that they enjoyed it, and that's kind of why we did it, was to make people smile and make people laugh."
Caitlin Moyer, the Brewers' director of new media, said Vogt helped direct.
"He really took ownership of it," Moyer said. "He was that passionate about the movie."
Outfielder Christian Yelich, acquired from Miami during the offseason, played the true baseball talent in the movie, Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez. Other Brewers in the video included outfielder Brett Phillips, pitchers Chase Anderson, Josh Hader and Jeremy Jeffress, catcher Jett Bandy and utility player Hernan Perez.
"Obviously remembering the lines was pretty hard at the time. It makes you appreciate actors," Yelich said. "Acting is hard, I don't think our acting was great but we had a lot of fun with it."
