Source: The Sandlot Collection
I have to admit that I was at sea when the film The Sandlot released. We were deep into a WestPac headed to the Gulf so 25 years ago I didn’t get to experience the phenomenon of the film The Sandlot. Honestly, I’ve never seen the film from beginning to end. I often catch it on television with commercial breaks so unlike Space Jam, or Blue Chips, or He Got Game, or even Field of Dreams, I don’t have a true connection to the history and importance of The Sandlot. What I do know from catching bits and pieces of the film it feels like childhood. The difference for me is that we hung milk crates on telephone poles and played basketball all day when the old heads were running the courts and we couldn’t hoop inside or outside at the rec center.
I do know about PF Flyers and I like what New Balance has done by taking ownership of the brand and presenting it as a part of the New Balance platform. The landing page on the site was intriguing enough that it made me stop and write this. The idea of presenting the retro brand in both its original makeup and with a cleat for Ben Zobrist shows a love for the game by New Balance; and baseball needs a lot of love.
In Memphis we have the Redbirds the farm team for the St. Louis Cardinals. The Redbirds have an incredible history as the team that preceded the Redbirds was the Memphis Chicks. The Chicks are directly connected to an iconic sports figure in Tim McCarver, but they are also responsible for developing Bo Jackson before sending him to the Kansas City Royals. That history is lost in a basketball crazy city. Just as the history of baseball is getting lost as the next generation often sees the game as too slow, or too long.
New Balance is utilizing an emotional connection to the game that will appeal to 30-40 somethings and tying it to a current player while reminding everyone of America’s pastime and that’s a smart thing to do and it’s done very well. Use the source link at the top to check out better pics of the drop.
