Looking back, and ahead, at Major League Baseball's Field of Dreams games in Iowa
Dyersville, Iowa — population 4,400 — has had the attention of baseball fans since "Field of Dreams" was released in 1989.
In recent years the eastern Iowa town, already a destination for some looking to visit the iconic film site, has drawn thousands for Major League Baseball games at a temporary stadium built near the original field.
In 2021, Iowa's first MLB game drew a sell-out crowd for a matchup between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees. Again in 2022, the stadium was full for the Chicago Cubs vs. the Cincinnati Reds.
But there will be no Field of Dreams game in Iowa this summer. And it doesn't look like it'll return in 2024, either.
From the planning stages for the first game, originally scheduled in 2020 but postponed because of COVID-19, to today, here's some history on the site and what the future holds.
2019: 30 years after 'Field of Dreams' movie release, MLB announces Dyersville game
It was the summer of 2019, about 30 years after "Field of Dreams" first hit the big screen, that the plan to bring Major League Baseball to Iowa was announced.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said a temporary 8,000-seat stadium would be built on the farm site outside of Dyersville, where much of the movie was filmed, to accommodate the first major league game played in Iowa.
“As a sport that is proud of its history linking generations, Major League Baseball is excited to bring a regular-season game to the site of ‘Field of Dreams,’” Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “We look forward to celebrating the movie’s enduring message of how baseball brings people together at this special cornfield in Iowa.”
Early plans said a pathway would be built through a cornfield to link the new stadium to the old field, which sits right outside the iconic white farmhouse from the movie. Once completed, the distance from the movie site’s home plate to the MLB field’s home plate was exactly 1,000 feet.
2020: Field of Dreams game postponed due to COVID-19
Major League Baseball officials announced on Aug. 3, 2020 — 10 days before what was supposed to be the first Field of Dreams game — that the game was postponed until the next season because of the coronavirus.
The Chicago White Sox originally had been set to host the New York Yankees on Aug. 13, 2020, at MLB's new stadium built near the filming site of the 1989 movie, "Field of Dreams," outside of Dyersville. When MLB remade its 2020 schedule following the delayed start to the season, again due to COVID-19, the St. Louis Cardinals became the opponent.
It was the White Sox and the Yankees who eventually met the next season at the Field of Dreams stadium.
2021: White Sox beat Yankees, 9-8, on dramatic walkoff home run
Chicago shortstop Tim Anderson hit a two-run home run with one out in the ninth inning into the cornfield to end the first Field of Dreams game in cinematic fashion. The White Sox outslugged the New York Yankees, 9-8, on Aug. 13, 2021, in the first Major League Baseball game in Iowa.
“The fans came to see a show, and we gave them a show,” Anderson said.
Clearly having as much fun as anyone in attendance, Anderson danced his way around the bases after the showstopper of a hit and wiggled his hands near his neck as he headed for home and the celebratory dousing at the plate from his teammates.
“Being able to walk it off was definitely one of the best moments of my career, for sure,” said Anderson, who sent the sold-out crowd of 7,832 back through the corn and to their cars — after a light and fireworks show — at the made-from-scratch stadium.
Emerging from the right field corn, actor Kevin Costner led the teams onto the field during a pregame ceremony. Costner, who starred in the 1989 film, made a brief speech before the first pitch.
"Thirty years ago, on the other side of that corn, we filmed a movie that stood the test of time," Costner added. "Tonight, thanks to that enduring impact that that little movie had, it's allowed us to come here again. But now, we're on a field that Major League Baseball made."
"We've come to see the first-place White Sox play the mighty Yankees in a field that was once corn. It's perfect. We've kept our promise; Major League Baseball has kept its promise. The dream's still alive. There's probably just one question to answer: Is this heaven? ... Yes, it is."
2022: Drew Smyly stars as Cubs beat Reds in 2nd ‘Field of Dreams’ game
Led by Drew Smyly and a 10-hit attack, the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-2, Aug. 11, 2022, in Major League Baseball’s second Field of Dreams game.
Nick Madrigal had three hits, Ian Happ had two hits, including an RBI double, and Smyly pitched five scoreless innings for the Cubs.
“The atmosphere was amazing,” Chicago manager David Ross said. “Really cool event.”
The night began with Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. and his father emerging from the iconic outfield cornstalks for their own version of a memorable scene from the film, delighting the sellout crowd of 7,823.
“Hey, Dad, do you wanna have a catch?” Junior said.
“I’d like that,” Senior said.
The Griffeys then played catch as more parents and children joined them on the field with their own balls and gloves, followed by the Cubs and Reds, dressed in special uniforms inspired by how the franchises looked in the early 20th century.
Billy Williams and Johnny Bench were among a group of Hall of Famers from each franchise that also joined the festivities. Bench stood behind the plate for a ceremonial first pitch from Fergie Jenkins.
Television viewers for first two Field of Dreams games
More than 3.1 million viewers watched Fox Sports’ broadcast of Major League Baseball’s second Field of Dreams game on Aug. 11, 2022, about half of the audience for the 2021 game.
Fox Sports said it was the most-watched regular-season baseball game on any network at that point of the year. The audience peaked at 3,464,000 views from 7:15 to 7:30 p.m. CST, early in the Cubs' 4-2 win over the Reds.
The 2021 game attracted nearly 6 million viewers in what MLB said was the most-watched regular-season game on any network since 1998. Fox Sports also said it was its most-streamed regular season baseball game ever.
2023: No game due to construction at Field of Dreams site
MLB officials announced in 2022 that there would be no 2023 game in Dyersville because of construction and didn't commit to returning to the Iowa site at any particular time.
Go the Distance Baseball, a development group led by baseball Hall of Famer Frank Thomas, broke ground in September 2022 on what they called Project Heaven. The project around the movie site includes nine baseball and softball fields, team dorms, a hotel and more.
2024: Report says no Iowa game, again
The reported on June 13, 2023, that next year's matchup between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals is "expected to happen" at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. There has been no official announcement on the game by MLB.
Rickwood Field, built in 1910, is America's oldest ballpark and the first professional stadium for legendary Giants outfielder and baseball hall of fame Willie Mays, who played for the Negro Leagues’ Birmingham Black Barons from 1948-1950. Mays, who is 92 years old, is considered one of baseball's all-time greats.
Watch: Fans in Iowa react to report that MLB will move 2024 Field of Dreams game
'Field of Dreams' ranks high on AP's list of favorite sports movies
Released in April 1989, two weeks after “Major League,” 10 months after “Bull Durham,” and eight months after “Eight Men Out,” “Field of Dreams” in The Associated Press’ Top 25 from 2020.
The movies that finished ahead of "Field of Dreams" include classics “Hoosiers," “Bull Durham," “Rocky," “Caddyshack,” and “Slap Shot."
Director Phil Alden Robinson adapted W.P. Kinsella’s 1982 novel “Shoeless Joe” into a screenplay that trimmed and focused the story about a farmer who replaces corn with a ballfield as he seeks a reunion with and redemption from his long-dead father. Ray Kinsella, played by Kevin Costner, hears a mysterious, unidentified voice telling him: “If you build it, he will come,” “ease his pain” and “go the distance.” The movie culminates to leading to him playing catch with his dad’s ghost.
Along the way, his quest takes him to Boston’s Fenway Park and to Chisholm, Minnesota. He is assisted by his wife Annie (Amy Madigan), embittered novelist Terence Mann (James Earl Jones); and Moonlight Graham (Burt Lancaster), who got into one game for the 1905 New York Giants, never stepped to the plate and later became a doctor. The ghost team that plays on the Iowa field is led by Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta), banned along with the rest of the 1919 Chicago White Sox for accepting money to throw the World Series.
“Field of Dreams” earned Academy Award nominations for best picture and best-adapted screenplay (both won by “Driving Miss Daisy”) and best original score (won by “The Little Mermaid”).
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.