The Sandlot Cast Reunites for 'Dugout Dads,' a YouTube Series with Chris Paul Producing
The boys from The Sandlot are back together — this time as grown-up Little League parents causing more chaos than their kids.
Dugout Dads, a nine-episode short-form comedy series, premiered on YouTube this week, reuniting much of the cast from the 1993 coming-of-age baseball film The Sandlot for a brand-new story about unruly adults on the youth-sports sidelines. The series was created by Patrick Renna and Kyle Howard through their company Hambino Media, a name that nods to Renna's breakout character Hamilton "Ham" Porter — the kid who delivered the film's legendary insult, "You're killing me, Smalls" (Variety).
Renna stars as an idealistic father who volunteers to coach his children's Little League team, only to discover that the other parents are far wilder than any child on the diamond. The storyline draws directly from Renna's own life: meeting other dads at his kids' games and realising the adults were the ones worth watching (Variety).
The cast reads like a Sandlot roll call. Alongside Renna, the series features Tom Guiry, Chauncey Leopardi, Marty York, Brandon Quintin Adams, Victor DiMattia, Shane Obedzinski, Grant Gelt and Will Horneff — names that will land instantly for anyone who grew up with the film. Michael Peña also appears in the ensemble. Danielle Fishel, best known as Topanga from Boy Meets World, stars as the wife of Renna's character (Variety).
Behind the camera, the series brought in an NBA connection. Oh Dip!!! Entertainment, led by NBA All-Star Chris Paul and his brother CJ Paul, came on as executive producer. The brothers formed the company last year in a joint venture with documentary studio Words + Pictures to produce sports and entertainment content (Variety). Sebastian Jones and Dan Kopelman wrote the scripts, Victor Nelli Jr. directed, and Victoria Fradkin produces.
The team is treating these nine short episodes as something closer to a pre-season — a proof of concept they hope will lead to a full-length season down the line. Short-form means each episode runs a few minutes rather than a traditional half-hour, a format increasingly common on YouTube as creators and established producers alike test audiences outside the usual streaming and cable pipelines.
For fans who have waited three decades to see the Sandlot kids together again, the reunion carries its own weight regardless of where the series goes next. Renna built Hambino Media around the legacy of a character who defined a generation's idea of summer, friendship and backyard baseball. Now he has turned that legacy into a story about the next generation's dugout — and the parents who refuse to act their age.
