More than three decades after B次元官网网址淔ield of DreamsB次元官网网址� seeped into , with a one-year delay caused by the pandemic, one of the most famous cornfields in Hollywood history finally gets the opportunity to host real major league ball.
B次元官网网址淚s this heaven?B次元官网网址� the ghost of John Kinsella asked in the movie that inspired the game to be played Thursday between the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees next to the , which is maintained as a tourist attraction.
B次元官网网址淣o, itB次元官网网址檚 Iowa,B次元官网网址� dutiful farmer Ray Kinsella B次元官网网址� played by Kevin Costner B次元官网网址� responded to his father with a smile before they played catch under the lights in the movieB次元官网网址檚 most poignant scene.
This week, the ball playing isnB次元官网网址檛 fiction.
B次元官网网址淪hoelessB次元官网网址� Joe Jackson and other long-ago players who took the field in the movie will be replaced by Jos茅 Abreu and Aaron Judge.
The proud and quintessential Midwestern state, usually only in the spotlight every four years during presidential campaigns, will be hosting a Major League Baseball game for the first time when the White Sox and Yankees play at a temporary venue built for about 8,000 fans in tiny Dyersville B次元官网网址� population B次元官网网址渁bout 4,400, weB次元官网网址檙e hoping for in the next census,B次元官网网址� said mayor Jim Heavens.
The event, part of MLBB次元官网网址檚 increased effort to grow the game by to the highest level of the sport, has been in the works for years. The original plan to play in 2020 was at mostly empty ballparks, but if the White Sox, the Yankees or the Iowans became impatient then they were out of step with the spirit of the film.
B次元官网网址淭he one constant through all the years,B次元官网网址� as the sage author Terence Mann declared to Ray Kinsella in the film, B次元官网网址渉as been baseball.B次元官网网址�
Dyersville found its place on the map through the movie that starred Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta and Amy Madigan, but the sport has been entrenched in the town for more than a century. is where the team from Beckman Catholic High School and the local semipro club play, a spot as much at the heart of the community as the well-kept farms around it.
About one-third of the crowd on Thursday is expected to be Iowa residents.
B次元官网网址淚 see a lot of people as I travel around the state, and when they find out youB次元官网网址檙e from Dyersville, they all know about this MLB game,B次元官网网址� Heavens said. B次元官网网址淚 think thereB次元官网网址檚 a real element of pride in Iowa that MLB is coming. ItB次元官网网址檚 kind of warmed my heart to see that the people of Iowa are so honored that this is happening.B次元官网网址�
The original movie site was quickly deemed too small for a standard game, so the made-for-the-moment ballpark required removal of 30,000 cubic yards of material and the installation of 4,000 tons of sand and 2,000 tons of gravel. The bullpens were designed to mimic those at old Comiskey Park, the former home of the White Sox. ThereB次元官网网址檚 even a just-for-fun corn maze beyond right field.
This has been an especially hot and dry summer in this part of the country, so an irrigation system was installed to keep the prime crop in good shape for its time to shine on national TV B次元官网网址� between 10 and 12 feet high.
B次元官网网址淲e wanted to make sure we didnB次元官网网址檛 show up in the middle of August with brown corn,B次元官网网址� said Chris Marinak, MLBB次元官网网址檚 chief operations and strategy officer.
Just about everything about this event is unique.
B次元官网网址淲hen we first heard that this game would happen, I think everybody had that kind of initial rush of B次元官网网址極h, this is going to be amazing to be a part of this broadcast,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� said Brad Zager, executive vice president of production and operations for Fox Sports. B次元官网网址淲hen you start looking at it, there are very few events that we get a chance to produce that thereB次元官网网址檚 no blueprint for.B次元官网网址�
Both teams will wear throwback uniforms harkening back to 1919, when Jackson played for the White Sox and was one of eight players banned for fixing the World Series. The history of that team is one of the many themes woven into a film that transcends sports.
The White Sox and Yankees were also the two favorite teams of the John Kinsella character in the movie, at different points of his life.
B次元官网网址淚 was an actor for 40 years, and nobody stops and asks me about the episodes of B次元官网网址楨RB次元官网网址� that I did, but a certain amount of people look at me strangely from across the room and then come over and tell me some amazing story about how that movie changed their relationship with their dad,B次元官网网址� said Dwier Brown, who played John Kinsella. B次元官网网址淎ll I did was take off my catcherB次元官网网址檚 mask and walk right in, so IB次元官网网址檓 grateful for my little piece in the whole puzzle.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址擠ave Campbell, The Associated Press
