Jack Sanders the "Modern Godfather" of sandlot is an artist, designer and builder who started the Texas Playboys in 2006 and The Long Time Texas in 2015. He and his field have been featured by MLB.COM, Sports Illustrated, and YETI among others. We talk about Sandlot, his Sandlot Manifesto, and how it all started. Check these out... YETI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNk61iDebno SI: https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/10/04/hidden-gems-long-time-sandlot-baseball-texas-daily-cover MLB.COM: https://www.mlb.com/cut4/inside-texas-sandlot-baseball
BIO: Jack Sanders received his Master of Architecture degree from The University of Texas at Austin and his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Auburn University. His Master of Design, Artistry, Culture and Community is an ongoing process of love at a sandlot facility by the name of The Longtime in Austin, Texas.
A perpetual student of life, teaching and learning, “Captain Jack” founded and heads up the infamous TX Playboys Baseball Club. The Playboys are long time sandlotters made up with a healthy mix of artists, filmmakers, musicians, entrepreneurs and horrible negotiators (some say a prerequisite to become a Playboy). Jack operates his aptly named company, Design Build Adventure, from the Longtime with the Playboys home sandlot baseball field just off the back porch. When you find a grand design that feels new yet broken in, well designed in elegance but just plain ol’ comfortable, there are pretty good odds Jack had a hand in it. Oft found amidst an array of hand drawn sketches, notes numbers and sometimes a cold beer, he can usually be found in his office or shop mapping out the next project. These projects big and small, pay or play, always lie within the ethos of his long penned and newly published Sandlot Manifesto.
An avid community activist, often with cohort Beto O’Rourke and a trail of Playboys, Jack Sanders leads the charge to sign up and encourage voters of all likes to exercise their power. Raising funds through art, music and baseball is a given to the many friends of Jack who understand how he operates and manages production. His long tradition of fundraising for community needs and non-profits has carried onward and been replicated coast to coast in the sandlot world. “Sooner or later, we’ll forget the game winning grand slam and fielding errors, even the momentum shifting home runs you granted (three in a row) while pitching. The money we raised for local causes, however, will have a lasting impact.”
Jack Sanders Jack has been a visiting lecturer and studio instructor at Auburn University’s Rural Studio, Mississippi State University and The University of Texas at Austin. He also has led design-build projects with students in Portland, Oregon, and in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. He and his wife, Ann Tucker of Studio A Group, live in Austin with their two children, Mary Vance and Tuck.
