'The Sandlot' at 20: Diamonds are forever

Bryan Alexander | USA TODAY

The coming-of-age cult classic The Sandlot turns 20 this year, which is still a surprise to David Mickey Evans, who directed, narrated and co-wrote the film.

"The film never gets old, it doesn't seem like 20 years," says Evans. "It's never going to be anachronistic. Those kids in this movie are immortal."

The sentiment might seem like a stretch for those not familiar with the nostalgic tale about a group of neighborhood kids who play baseball in an empty lot in the summer of 1962 near a dreaded dog known as 'The Beast.'

The English mastiff was impressive. Sandlot's opening in April 1993 was not. It crawled to a distant second with $5 million behind the hit Indecent Proposal.

But after leaving theaters with an unspectacular $32 million haul, The Sandlot turned into a cult classic, re-watched repeatedly by its ever-growing legion of fans. The film has sold more than 7 million video/DVD units since and has spawned two belated sequels: 2005's The Sandlot 2 and 2007's The Sandlot: Heading Home.

This summer, Evans has celebrated the anniversary and the success of the original film with a nationwide tour of ballparks big (including Target Field in Minneapolis, Busch Stadium in St. Louis and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles) and small to meet fans and screen the film on stadium scoreboards (the film is also available in a 20th anniversary edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack).

The six-month, 23-stop tour will make it's final screening stop on the first day of autumn, September 21, in Lawrenceville, Ga., at Coolray Field.

"It's all so surreal, 20 years later," says Chauncey Leopardi who played the smart-aleck Michael 'Squints' Palledorous. "When you do a film you never have any idea that it's going to be any good, let alone stand the test of time. But everyone can relate to this film, and they can take a piece of it and say, 'That was me and my friends.'"

Evans, 50, who sports a Sandlot tattoo on his left arm, traveled to each of the screenings, preferring to move from location to location in a well-traveled Honda Pilot.

In Salt Lake City, where the film was shot, the local field was rebuilt to look like the movie set. During the field dedication in front of 1,500 people in July, Evans got dramatic with his longtime girlfriend, Stacey McGillis.

He called her out to the field and dropped to his knee to propose.

"Stacey is not a wallflower, nor is she a shy person. But that's the first time I have ever seen her terrified," says Evans. "There were a bunch of local film crews filming and as I put the ring on her finger all the people were applauding."

"I asked, 'Do you like it?' And she just said, 'It's big and shiny.' So there you go," he adds.

It seems all diamonds are forever, even if the physical sandlots have been built over.

"Today, I don't think the sandlot exists anymore. But as an idea it will never die," says Evans. "Some people are like, 'I did that.' And even kids of this generation, who don't have this kind of life where you get up in the morning at 6 a.m. and don't come home until the sun goes down -- they watch that movie and go, 'Man that would be really cool to do.' I think it will always be like that."