Donnie Wilson

Stanley Sandlot Baseball Teams Donnie Wilson

Before technology, cell phones, and the internet stole our attention away from the simpler things in life, kids spent their days outside, running around, hanging out with friends, and playing ball. Kids would end up in one person's yard, field, or pasture, and pick up a game using whatever was available for bats, balls, and bases. The shrill of laughter, raised voices, and excitement would echo throughout the neighborhood. Kids just being themselves and hoping-dreaming-of what was to come. A time when it was okay to kick back, participate in a leisurely game... and just be. Baseball. America's past time for a reason. A simple game of runs and hits. Of strikeouts and swings. Of statistics and averages. Of laughter, fun, camaraderie, and friendship. Such was the case in Stanley, Virginia, a sleepy mountain town a hundred miles from our nation's capital, in the summer days of 1955 and 1956, when the local kids gathered together and formed a baseball league of their own to pass the time. Not just that, but they kept diligent notes and records of each players' statistics - runs, hits, errors, strikeouts. A simple enough task, but one that-over sixty years later-would land them in a place of history and lore: as a part of the Baseball Hall of Fame. In this true-life story, journey along with the kids from the Stanley Sandlot, sliding down memory lane, and learning of their passion for the game of baseball and how it influenced their lives.