Sandlot Sundays

Baseball club brings Texas vision to Tulsa

Driven by nostalgia, like-minded friends, and cold beer in the dugout, the Tulsa Sandlot Society has grown in reputation and size since its start this summer.

At the heart of the Tulsa Sandlot Society are two brothers, Drew and Rhett McNeil. Drew, a local attorney, and Rhett, a Tulsa Artist Fellow, dreamed of creating something they couldn’t previously find in Tulsa: an inclusive social club centered around baseball.

The idea of bringing a contemporary, loosely-structured sandlot league to Tulsa was inspired by the Texas Playboys Baseball Club. Founded in 2006, the Playboys play ball in their own five-acre facility in Austin, leading what they call “the Sandlot revolution.”

“For everyone who plays, there is definitely a built-in nostalgia—a connection with our families, growing up and our childhoods,” Drew said. “Baseball is a sport that’s difficult to just play a pickup game. You need to have all the equipment; you need a field to play on and you need to have at least 18 people.”

That’s what pushed the McNeil brothers to pull together a group of friends and start two interchangeable teams, the Saturns and the Tramps.

The teams play each other wherever there’s an empty field. With youth baseball leagues occupying highly prized fields like LaFortune Park, they typically find themselves at Chandler Park.

There’s only one rule for the Tulsa Sandlot Society: Don’t be a dick.

“Everyone is welcome to play, unless you’re the type of person that makes other people feel unwelcome,” Drew said. “There’s not a void for competitive leagues in Tulsa. If you want to be competitive with a bunch of agro 25 to 30 year olds, you can find that. Our thing was to have these kind of cool, chill baseball events that involve the game in a fun party atmosphere.”

Bobby Carter is a third founding father and also serves as the group’s manager. Before game time, he’s assigning positions, drafting lineup cards, and chewing sunflower seeds. Once the game starts, he’s either on the pitcher’s mound or holding down shortstop.

“I’ve met a lot of people I wouldn’t have met otherwise and have become good friends with them,” Bobby said. “That’s kind of been my favorite part. I think we have all grown in this positive environment, so if you’re going to be that guy yelling at another teammate because they dropped a ball, then you gotta go.”

That’s another alluring thing about the society: there’s no hierarchal structure. Once a player makes it to a Sunday sandlot session, their name is added to the roster. Weekly participation isn’t required, but is always encouraged.

“We all had connections to one another before baseball to some degree,” Drew said. “But the Tulsa Sandlot Society kind of solidifies that connection for us and finds this common ground where we can all get excited about something great.”

Tulsa Sandlot Society receives support from Clean Hands, The Saturn Room, and Coop Ale Works. Clean Hands co-founder Justin Baney is providing the group’s badge design and jerseys, which are set to debut in the coming weeks. He also plays center field. After towing multiple cases of cold beer to the dugout each week, Coop Ale Works sales rep Jeff Dickason takes the diamond. The Oklahoma City-based brewery has also donated money to the league. After the scrimmage, the group typically fills The Saturn Room’s tiki patio with laughter and camaraderie. They even named one of their teams after the bar.

“To have something that is truly inclusive, regardless of age, marital status, sexual orientation, race, or ethnicity has been a beautiful thing,” Rhett said. “We get along grand and it’s a great party every Sunday. Yes, we play baseball together, but it’s also a method of organizing socially that previously didn’t exist for us.”

The Saturns and the Tramps will head to Austin later this month to compete in the Sandlot World Series. The invitation came from none other than The Texas Playboys.