What was the name of the character James Earl Jones played in the 1993 film "The Sandlot"?

"The Sandlot" is a 1993 American coming-of-age sports comedy film co-written, directed, and narrated by David Mickey Evans. It tells the story of a group of young baseball players during the summer of 1962. It stars Tom Guiry, Mike Vitar, Karen Allen, Denis Leary, and James Earl Jones.

James Earl Jones (17 Jan 1931), is an American actor whose career spans over seven decades, appeared in a brief but memorable role as Mr. Thelonius Mertle, a blind and retired Negro League ballplayer. Towards the end of the film, Tom Guiry (Smalls) looks at a photo of Mertle alongside two real New York Yankee legends, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. For years, fans have assumed that James Earl Jones's character was based on a real ballplayer. The answer is no. Mertle’s backstory was created after Jones was cast.

“Mr. Mertle was not written with any specific ethnicity or anything like that,” said director David Mickey Evans. “We didn’t know who to cast and the assistant director, Bill Elvin - who worked on "Field of Dreams" - said, "Why don’t we get James Earl Jones?" And I said, "Yeah, fat chance, we’re never going to get James Earl Jones.”

Given that "The Sandlot" is set in 1962, the filmmakers had to tweak the Mertle character to reflect baseball’s segregated history. “An African-American, in reality, would never have been playing with Babe Ruth in those particular years,” Evans added. “We did a quick polish - on the script - and the rest is history."