PATRICK RENNA-YOU GOTTA BELIEVE

This is Later with Lee Matthews the Lee Matthews Podcast more what you hear Weekday Have to Do is on the Drive. Although you've seen him in a lot of films like Disney's The Big Green, Son in Law, Punk's Ricky Six, Very Mean Men, Lifeblood, and many more, Patrick Renna is mostly known as Ham in the sports classic The Sandlot, and he's back with another baseball story in You Gotta Believe out now in theaters. It's great to have you Patrick Renna along with us today.

Yeah, Hey, how you doing. Thanks for having me.

So what will we see in You Gotta Believe? This is more than just a sports story?

Yeah, it sure is. I mean that's a great part of it. You know, it's about the two thousand and two Fort Worth Little League team that made it way further than any one could have even imagined. But then there's another, you know, really heartfelt you know, family store had a really cool message in in the title of the.

Movie You Gotta Believe.

And it's about the Ratlift family and the Kelly family and you know, overcoming some you know, pretty uh intense life life moments that unfortunately they went through. But I suppose finding at the end of it.

The story and you Gotta believe, you know, and.

That inspiration co stars Luke Wilson. By the way, Greg kinnear, along with Sarah Gaddin, h Kelly Kellysy and Molly Parker. Patrick Renna is also in its You Gotta Believe? What role do you play?

I played Cliff, So when I met the real Cliff last night, that was pretty cool because it was the premiere here in Fort Worth. But I played the you know, I suppose the superintendent or the he kind of run.

The whole sports program at the school.

So Greg kennears and as well, I didn't I don't know if you had mentioned him, but he played the coach of the team, and so my role is to convince him to take this group of kids that you know, maybe it will be an embarrassment for everyone involved to even stow up to the you know, the city championships, and I have to convince him to do it. So, you know, obviously glad he did it because then they went all the way.

You know, I as a child that played little league baseball for two years, and I don't know if there was a more pathetic, abysmal, unathletic and uncoordinated baseball player ever made. But somehow, somehow I made it through.

Well. Isn't that the beauty of baseball is? No matter how bad you are at it, you're you're gonna make it through.

Yeah? Yeah, Uh. Later I discovered that, uh me being kind of the encouraging one, encouraging all the other players to do well, pat them on the back when they made a run, that that was my better job.

There you go, radio, Yeah, found you found your voice. There you go.

Patrick renn as with us. You remember him as Ham in the Sand Lot. His new movie is you Gotta believe even if you didn't play little league baseball, you can relate to these stories, can't you?

Oh? Yeah, I agree?

I think so.

You know, baseball also is you know, people ask why baseball is so uh the sport that Hollywood kind of makes movies about. But I think also the sport is very easy to follow, no matter if you're you know, just an avid sports fan or to someone just you know, watching with the family. Everyone knows you hit it and it goes over the fence, you win. So uh, I think that's what makes that sport in itself very watchable.

So especially as little leaguers. That's where that's the real uh. And this is this this is different than the bad News bears, where you have these scrappy kids who are who are well are they? I don't know. Maybe are the kids on this team scrappy and underprivileged?

I don't think it's as much underprivileged as it is sort of how you describe yourself. Maybe they did.

They weren't the most talented.

I think they were obviously pretty good, and when they started playing as a team, they really surprised everyone. But that's the most exciting part about it is they weren't the college prospect guys. They weren't, you know, they weren't getting scholarships to high schools and college they were you know, I don't. I think they were just the team that shouldn't have been there, and they banded together and became an all star team.

Patrick ren Us with us you know him as Ham and the classic sand Lot, also son in Law, Bad Roomies, and many more. But you got to believe us out now and also co stars Greg Kinnear and Luke Wilson and many others Major production and also produced there in the Dallas Fort Worth area.

Yeah, that was.

Really cool, and we had the premiere here in Fort Worth, and you know it's about Fort Worth, so coming back here is really special.

Was a lot of it filmed in the same area, in the same maybe fields.

I think they filmed some of it.

What they could, you know, it's I think you have to move around and then find where the easiest places.

Are to film. But I know that they.

Did as much as they could, and then of course they wanted to have the screening and the premiere here. They wouldn't choose another city to release the film then back home.

The movies based on the real life two thousand and two West Side Little League gold Stars from Fort Worth, so it does hit pretty close to home. Oh, our tye clever.

You should put together a little pamphlet on all these little punge you got. I love.

Yes, jeez, I'm going to hell Patrick, Renna, but you got to believe out now.

I'll go with you.

I'll drag this sure, sure. Yeah. As far as baseball is concerned, have you ever played competitively? I?

Okay, well, that's just that's an interesting word you chose.

Competitively.

I don't know. It was definitely competitive in my mind against the other guys that maybe weren't college prospects themselves. But I played baseball. That was my sport. I never you know, I played in high school a little bit.

I was in a smaller private school.

But I made the team and I played second base.

That was pretty decent.

You know. Again, I didn't go to college for baseball, so I wasn't wasn't that good, But I definitely, you know, that's my sport, and I'm a generally athletic guy.

Well, when I said competitively, I didn't know if in your acting career something like little league was something you could do.

Oh well, I started. My first movie was Samlot, So I started at thirteen. So I had my whole childhood and played all those sports leading up to that. When I turned thirteen, I only did two.

I did three movies from thirteen fourteen fifteen, so I was still in.

School during all that time. And then when I turned sixteen in to drive. Then I started really getting into acting full time.

I am upbringing Yeah.

Yeah, all right, Well his name is Patrick Renn and you can see his work in the new release You Gotta Believe, which is out now and it's in theaters everywhere. It's about the two thousand and two West Side Little League Goals stars that come from behind. You'll have to