The bats are wooden, the beer is cold, and the merch is a home run. Sandlot baseball clubs in Texas run on an “everyone’s welcome, just grab a bat” ethos—once you score a coveted spot on a team, that is. Choose your playing level: most of the clubs include a handful of teams that offer everything from local pickup games to competitive travel opportunities, known as barnstorms. Texas teams can end up playing one another even if they’re based in opposite corners of the state. The sandlot spirit is one of Texas nostalgia—from the makeshift dugouts to the new communities made inside them.
Even with friends and neighbors on the diamond, it’s the vintage-inspired team gear that truly caught our eye. Sandlot teams get creative with their merch: pink embroidered nylon caps, ringer T-shirts, monogrammed bandanas, and even a vinyl record celebrate (and often, raise money for) these local leagues. Even if your own baseball abilities discourage you from stepping up to the plate, you can shop our favorite pieces of merch from clubs around the state.
For the Fashion-conscious Fan (Austin)
It’s not a surprise that most sandlot teams based in the capital city have stand-out merchandise for sale. Show up on a game day to home field the Long Time, and you’ll stand amidst a sea of bandana neck ties, embroidered jerseys, and upcycled Wrangler denim uniform shirts. The Long Time has inspired its own line of gear, including red, blue, and green bandanas designed by Jack Sanders, the founder of the Texas Playboys. But you can support a team, not just a field, with the East Austin Ramblers water-resistant nylon cap embroidered with the team’s red and pastel pink logo.
For the Béisbol Fan (Houston)
Match the Houston Toros’s game day ‘fits in a black snapback, with the team’s horned, bright orange ‘H’ embroidered on the front and name on the back. The Texas Oil Dawgs play to the motto, “No yards, no leashes,” with gear designed in shades of black and brown. Specially created for the team’s barnstorm trip down to Mexico City in June, this brown cotton T-shirt has an oversized fit and a retro lettered-design reading, “Los Oil Dawgs De Tejas.” We also love this mesquite brown wool cap featuring the white embroidered slogan “Throwin’ Smoke” and a smiling Lone Star beer can, designed by Oil Dawg Garrett Huls.
For the Fan Who’d Be at a Concert If They Weren’t at the Game (Lockhart)
In April, a baseball diamond called the Wishing Well opened up nine miles north of downtown Lockhart. Built as another iteration of the Long Time in Austin, it doubles as a live music venue during the sandlot showdowns. In an effort to raise money for their new home field, the Lockhart Hawks and the Meat City Smoke are leaning into their bullpens full of musicians with a vinyl record. For $20, you can listen to the sounds of the sandlot from your living room. Written and produced by team members—and even pressed locally, a rare feat—the ten-song album is titled Stolen Base Records Presents: Sandlot Season One.
For New School and Old School Fans (Oak Cliff)
The Oak Cliff league is made up of five teams from around the DFW area, but its “Let’s do Baseball” T-shirt is for everyone—it features a fun, vintage-style illustration of a boy holding a baseball bat, and comes in a rainbow of colors. The club’s first pickup team, the Oak Cliff 86ers, hit the ground running in 2022. They sell white snapbacks emblazoned with the signature Oak Cliff caricature of the rowdy baseball man, designed by Bri Leflore, the owner of local shop Lady Magnolia Tattoo. Nothing says baseball in America quite like a red, white, and blue ringer tee; the White Rock Mudbugs are selling one for $25, featuring an illustration of their mascot, a freshwater crayfish, on the front.
For Baseball Fans of All Ages (San Antonio)
The San Antonio club plays most of their games at Pittman-Sullivan Park, a field christened by decades of Black players who hit dingers at the field with the South Texas Negro League starting in 1949. Your child can rep that history with merch from the Texas Dingers, who sell toddler-size T-shirts for fans who are both tiny and unafraid of cartoon dingo skulls. Adults can match in a cream crew-neck cotton tee that features a design of a disoriented umpire. Then bring the sandlot cheer back home with this Alamo City Warhawks pint glass, complete with the team’s olive green emblem.
