Kyle Farmer recalls cameo appearance in ‘The Blind Side’

LOS ANGELES — Dodgers catcher Kyle Farmer has played more third base this season, a position he has played at times throughout the minors. But his versatility extends beyond the baseball diamond. Farmer just might be the best thespian in the Dodgers clubhouse*.

There was some fun in the locker room in San Francisco on Sunday, after Farmer delivered the game-winning double in the 10th inning to give the Dodgers a happy flight home to Los Angeles.

The barbs and exchanges carried over into Monday.

Perhaps Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen hasn’t seen ‘The Blind Side,’ the 2009 film about NFL offensive lineman Michael Oher. The film was nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards, and Sandra Bullock took home the Oscar for best actress.

A pivotal scene in the movie is when Leigh Anne Tuohy — Oher’s guardian, played by Bullock — interrupts high school football practice to help Oher focus on his protection skills.

The quarterback in the scene, well most of the scene, was Farmer, who was a quarterback in addition to his baseball duties at Marist High School in Atlanta. Farmer isn’t the quarterback in the entire scene, but is for all of the actual football plays.

“They needed someone who could throw,” Farmer said.

Farmer is the one in the yellow practice jersey, and you can hear him calling plays at the start of the scene.

When Tuohy comes on to the field and grabs the quarterback to make a point to Oher, that’s not Farmer.

There was some concern that being in the film would jeopardize Farmer’s NCAA eligibility, but things were cleared with David Perno, the baseball coach at the University of Georgia, where Farmer was headed for the 2009-2010 year. Still, that helped life imitate art in a very meta moment on filming day.

“We were in the middle of filming and all of a sudden this woman comes running toward the field, saying they needed to stop production,” Farmer recalled.

It was Farmer’s mother, who was worried about the NCAA eligibility. But after talking with producers Farmer, who wasn’t paid for his role nor was he credited, was in the clear.

The filming of that scene, even without the brief interruption, took several hours, needing to film certain plays over and over for different angles and such.

“After that day, I had a lot of respect for people who work in the movie industry,” Farmer said.

If you are watching the scene, there is one other thing that might help you spot Farmer. Just look at his left arm.

“You can see my farmer’s tan,” he said.

I see what you did there.

*Farmer’s competition seems to be New Girl’s Clayton Kershaw and Degrassi High’s Chris Woodward. That, and Kiké Hernandez in The Bold and the Beautiful.