Two boys sit in a lantern-lit wooden tree house at night with s'mores and a baseball mitt.

Original artwork, not a still

Hamilton “Ham” Porter

You’re killin’ me, Smalls!

— The Sandlot  ·  1993

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

A throwaway insult about a boy who has never had a s'more became the film's most repeated line. It works because it is pure kid logic: Ham cannot believe anyone could be so deprived, and Smalls cannot understand what he did wrong. Fans now use it for any friendly exasperation, and the s'more recipe scene is a childhood-summer touchstone for a generation that grew up on the film's home-video life.

Context reviewed

In context

Spoilers for The SandlotShow the scene

In the summer of 1962, shy new kid Scotty Smalls is trying to fit in with the boys who play ball every day on the neighbourhood sandlot. Around a campfire, the heavyset catcher Hamilton "Ham" Porter offers him a s'more. Smalls, who has never heard of one, asks "Some more what?" and says he can hardly have more of nothing. Ham, exasperated, delivers the line, then walks him through the recipe step by step, ending with a blunt instruction to scuff it down. The Sandlot opened in the US on 7 April 1993.

Sources (2)

Context reviewed

Share this quote