“The Sandlot”’s Patrick Renna Wrote a Book for Kids That Combines 'Lessons in Life with Lessons in Baseball' (Exclusive)

Patrick Renna has advice to share from the pitch.

More than three decades after the actor made his silver screen debut in the coming-of-age comedy The Sandlot in 1993, he’s passing on his wisdom to the next generation of young baseball players with his debut children’s book, A Little Slugger’s Guide to the Unwritten Rules of Baseball and Life, out on Feb. 25.

In an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE ahead of its release, Renna, 45, opens up about the inspiration behind his foray into writing.

“First of all, for sure having kids — because reading books and finding the right books and the messages and things like that are really important with younger kids and all the way into the double digits and early teens,” says the star, who shares two young children with his wife Jasmin. But as for the book’s topic, Renna says he was pulling from his own “love of baseball” and his acting start playing a young baseball player in the ’90s.

A Little Slugger’s Guide, pairing Renna’s writing with illustrations by Tommy Parker, incorporates moments of baseball history with anecdotes from The Sandlot for a young player in need of some guidance on the field — and in life as well.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“Combining lessons in life with lessons in baseball was a lot of fun to do,” says Renna. “It's amazing how similar it is to life and how, if you have a good head on your shoulders or you have a good outlook on sports, that can transfer over into life.”

Still, when he was approached about writing a children’s book, the former child star tells PEOPLE, he was “a little hesitant at the beginning.”

Related: Patrick Renna Is Still Close with 'Sandlot' Castmates 30 Years Later: 'We Were Like Brothers' (Exclusive)

“My first instinct was, ‘I'm not a writer. No, I’m sorry,’ ” reveals Renna, adding that has a hard time imagining himself breaking into new fields before he “dives into it.”

“I'm really glad I did it and working with him and that team was amazing,” he continues, referencing the book’s eventual publisher.

And while writing wasn’t the most natural for the actor and producer, he does have some experience imparting baseball knowledge on his young ones. On Instagram, he’s shared several moments of The Sandlot with his young son Flynn Maxwell: showing him how to make s’mores, how to handle a black eye (with a slab of steak!) and rocking matching jerseys on the pitch.

Speaking to PEOPLE, he says he tries to finish work by 5 p.m. during the week to maximize the time he can hang with his kids — but especially credits his “amazing partner and wife” for being an “incredible mother.”

“I call myself like a C-plus, B-minus dad,” says Renna with a laugh. “I'm not the worst, but I got some learning to do — that's for sure.”

Read the original article on People