'Sandlot' Star Marty York in Shirtless Brawl Outside LA Club: 'I Had to Defend Myself'

Actor Marty York, who played Alan 'Yeah-Yeah' McClennan in the 1993 film The Sandlot, was filmed in a shirtless fistfight with another man outside the Warwick nightclub on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood on Saturday night. No police were called and no arrests were made.

Video footage obtained by TMZ shows the 45-year-old trading punches with a larger man on the pavement before the confrontation moved into a nearby parking garage. York ripped his shirt off during the exchange. Both men appeared unsteady throughout.

York told TMZ: 'Some unknown individual charged at me, and I had to defend myself.'

He gave no further details about what provoked the fight and did not identify the other man. Reports have not named York's opponent, either.

What the Footage of York's Brawl Shows

The footage, published on 16 March, begins on the pavement directly outside the Warwick. The two men are already in a physical confrontation when the clip starts.

The fight quickly shifts into a parking structure next to the club. York throws several punches while also taking hits to the face. His opponent, noticeably bigger, stumbles and falls to the ground at one point after swinging a flurry of punches. Neither man appears to sustain serious visible injuries, though both look shaken by the time the altercation winds down.

The Warwick is a well-known Hollywood nightspot on Sunset Boulevard that regularly draws a celebrity crowd. It was not immediately clear whether York was attending an event at the venue or what circumstances brought the two men into contact outside.

It is not clear what triggered the confrontation or whether alcohol played a role. York's statement offered no context beyond his claim of self-defence. The video has been widely shared across social media since its publication, with multiple outlets picking up the footage within hours.

Who Is Marty York and Why the Fight Went Viral

York, born on 23 August 1980 in Auburn, California, became a household name at 12 after starring as the fast-talking 'Yeah-Yeah' in The Sandlot. The baseball comedy has gone on to become a cult favourite. York also had roles in Boy Meets World and Saved by the Bell: The College Years in the same period.

A near-fatal car crash in 1997 left him with shattered legs and a partial hip replacement. York fell asleep at the wheel and struck another vehicle head-on. He has said publicly that the accident drove him away from acting for more than a decade.

He returned to the industry around 2013, attending The Sandlot's 20th anniversary reunion. Since then, he has appeared in commercials for Old Spice and 7UP and taken on independent film work. York is also said to be developing a documentary about his life called The Sandlot Legend.

In October 2023, York's mother, Deanna Esmaeel, was found dead in her home in Crescent City, California. Esmaeel was a serving deputy with the Del Norte County Sheriff's Office. Her boyfriend, Daniel James Walter, was arrested on suspicion of her killing after a brief manhunt. York addressed the loss publicly at the time, posting on social media that he was consumed by 'rage, vengeance, crying.' He later told Access Hollywood he was still processing the grief months on.

York is not the only Sandlot cast member to face trouble in recent years. Tom Guiry, who played Scotty Smalls in the film, was arrested in June 2024 after he was accused of throwing a dumbbell through a car windshield.

York has not been charged over Saturday's brawl and no formal complaint has been reported. Neither his representatives nor anyone connected to the other man involved has issued a statement.