Patrick Renna addressed why his real-life friend and THE SANDLOT costar Mike Vitar is missing from DUGOUT DADS, the new baseball comedy series reuniting nearly the entire cast of the beloved 1993 movie.
“There’s nothing contentious” between him and Vitar, Renna said on the premiere episode of his new podcast, explaining that Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez’s absence from the reunion has nothing to do with old grudges.
Vitar hung up his cleats not long after THE SANDLOT made him a household name to ’90s kids, trading Hollywood for something Renna considers real heroism. Renna called his old costar a “real-life hero,” noting that Vitar has spent more than two decades working as a Los Angeles firefighter instead of chasing another acting credit.
The DUGOUT DADS producers “asked Vitar a lot” to join the reunion, Renna said, but Vitar turned them down, choosing the quieter life he’s built for himself over another turn in front of the cameras. According to ScreenRant, Vitar has largely stayed out of the public eye since leaving acting behind in the late 1990s, a decision that seems to suit him just fine.
Movieguide® has followed this reunion since it was first announced. Back in June, Renna said that returning to work alongside his onscreen brothers meant reliving “a unique bond and brotherhood” the cast has shared for more than 30 years.
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That brotherhood, it turns out, doesn’t require every original kid from the sandlot to show up. DUGOUT DADS isn’t a sequel and doesn’t borrow from the original story. “There’s no Sandlot IP,” Renna said in July, explaining that the show brings back only the actors, not their old characters.
Instead, Renna plays an idealistic Little League coach who discovers that the real chaos on any given Saturday comes from the grown-ups, not the kids. Tom Guiry, Chauncey Leopardi, Marty York, Danielle Fishel, Brandon Quintin Adams, Victor DiMattia, Shane Obedzinski, Grant Gelt and Will Horneff round out the cast as fellow parents and coaches whose competitive streaks threaten to embarrass their own children.
Renna produces the series through his own company, Hambino Media, with Sebastian Jones and Dan Kopelman writing and Victor Nelli Jr. directing. It’s a show built on nostalgia, but not one that needs a gimmick to sell the reunion.
There’s something worth sitting with here for families. Renna never treated Vitar’s absence as a snub or a scandal to spin. He spoke plainly about a friend who traded fame for public service, without a trace of bitterness, and that kind of loyalty says as much about the man as any script he’s ever produced.
THE SANDLOT has held up for over thirty years precisely because it valued friendship, summer freedom, and a kid’s-eye view of the world over spectacle. DUGOUT DADS seems to be betting that the same cast, all grown up, can find that same warmth in a very different season of life.
DUGOUT DADS premieres on YouTube on Aug. 26, with new episodes releasing weekly. Christian families who grew up quoting “You’re killing me, Smalls!” may find themselves cheering for the same actors in brand-new roles, while quietly wishing Vitar well on his next shift.
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