I have a picture of Ham Porter in my boys’ bathroom. He’s standing there, pointing to the outfield, mid-smack talk, big grin on his face. Every time I take care of business in their bathroom, I’m reminded of something simple: The Sandlot gets it right.

That movie isn’t just about baseball. It’s about friendship, courage, and figuring out who you are. Pretty much everything that matters in life, especially for dads raising boys.

Here’s what that movie keeps teaching me.

1. Every kid just wants a team

Scotty Smalls moves to a new town. No friends. No skills. Total outsider. But when Benny invites him to play, none of the other kids care how bad he is. They just want to know if he’ll show up tomorrow. That’s the secret to fatherhood too. Your kid doesn’t need the perfect dad. He needs the one who shows up. The one who picks up the glove and plays catch, even when he’s tired.

2. Let them get dirty

That sandlot field was a wreck. Uneven dirt. Rusty fence. Half the gear probably stolen from a garage. But it worked because the kids made it theirs. We’ve turned childhood into a safety seminar. Hand sanitizer, supervision, rules for everything. Kids need dirt. They need bumps and bruises. That’s how they figure out what they can handle.

3. Every kid needs a Benny

Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez saw something in Smalls before Smalls saw it himself. That’s the blueprint for being a dad. Your job isn’t to control the game. It’s to see the spark in your kid and fan it until it catches. Let them dream. Let them try. Be the guy in their corner saying, “You got this.”

4. Let them chase the beast

The boys spend half the movie running from that dog. Then one day they stop running. That’s the moment they grow up. Courage isn’t about being fearless. It’s about doing the thing anyway. As dads, our job isn’t to protect our kids from every fear. It’s to teach them how to walk toward it.

5. The game ends, but the story doesn’t

By the end, the field is gone. The boys grow up. Smalls calls games from the booth. Benny steals home. Different roles. Same team. That’s the goal for all of us. Our kids won’t need us forever, but if we do it right, they’ll still want us around.

The takeaway:
Every time I see that picture of Ham pointing to the outfield, I think about how simple it really is. Show up. Let them get dirty. Teach them to chase what scares them. Believe in them when they don’t yet believe in themselves.

That’s fatherhood.

Go outside. Throw the ball. Talk some smack. Laugh a little. Those moments build more than memories. They build men.