Historians discuss '90s movie, 'Sandlot'

By Jonah Unger
Staff Writer

LCC history instructor Wade Merrill and LCC Head Baseball Coach Steven Cutter hosted “Historians at the Movies” on Jan. 17. The movie being watched was “The Sandlot.”

The event started with an introduction from Merrill, introducing the movie. 

“Today is a film I am actually excited for us to watch together,” Merrill said. “I’m not going to lie, I am a big baseball fan.”

Merrill went on to explain the purpose and significance of the event. 

“Historians at the Movies is a monthly event where we get together and we watch a movie that generally has some sort of connection to history,” Merrill said. “It doesn't have to be a historical film, per se, but some we can dig into a little bit historically.”

Merrill said he thought “The Sandlot” would be a good choice to watch for the event due to the movie's wide variety of perspectives. This was an important factor that played into inviting Cutter as co-host for the month of January. 

“This is an interesting year to watch this movie,” Merrill said. “It looked at the 1960s through the lens of the 1990s. Now the movie itself this year is also 30 years old.”

Merrill introduced Coach Cutter after explaining the significance this movie had on history involving nostalgia and “the good old days.”

When Cutter had the floor he spoke of how sports is more than a game, and all the positives that can come from them.

“This is an incredible movie … it’s one of the beauties of sports in general,” Cutter said. “Sports is a lot more about the positive things that come out of them besides winning and losing.” 

The movie played after Merrill and Cutter were finished introducing their thoughts on the movie. Once it was finished there was a short group discussion as well as some shared perspectives on the movie.

“Historians at the Movies” is presented each month at LCC in person and via WebEx by the college’s history professors. The next film will be “The Color Purple” on Feb. 21. For more information and upcoming films, click here.