Yanks, Chisox go deep into corn; Field of Dreams hosts more
DYERSVILLE, IOWA » As the bus carried the Yankees through the cornfields blanketing this serene, rolling farmland of northeast Iowa, Aaron Judge noticed a difference from the usual arrival in the next city.
The ride to the Field of Dreams site to play the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night had everyone’s attention, like a bunch of kids who couldn’t believe what they were getting to do.
“It was the first time people had their headphones out, and they were just glued to the windows, checking out the scenery,” said Judge, the three-time All-Star right fielder.
“We have a lot of guys from different countries who really haven’t seen the country like this, or guys from big cities who really haven’t seen open fields and stuff like this, so it was pretty cool driving in and seeing everybody in town kind of standing on the side of the roads with signs and cheering us on,” he said.
The made-for-TV event, delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had the billing as the first Major League Baseball game in this state that’s usually focused on college and community sports, spotlighted by presidential campaigns and fueled by the hog and grain industry.
This won’t be a one-time visit, either. Commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed that the Field of Dreams game will return in August 2022, with the teams to be determined.
The made-from-scratch stadium — built to hold about 8,000 fans — was placed next to the actual diamond where the 1989 movie starring Kevin Costner was shot outside the town of Dyersville, population 4,000.
Costner came back for this, stealing the scene with a slow, ponderous stroll into the outfield his character Ray Kinsella often took in the film before stopping to watch the real White Sox and Yankees emerge from the corn for pregame introductions.
Clutching a ball in his hand, while the original symphonic score from the movie played over the loudspeakers, Costner stepped up to a microphone and told the crowd, “It’s perfect.”
White Sox slugger José Abreu provided a picture-perfect highlight in the first inning, hitting a line drive that zipped over the fence in left field and vanished into the cornstalks.
Judge had his moment later, launching a three-run smash in the third — it was no can of corn, sailing to deep right.
There were rows upon rows of corn between the two outfields, in fact. Yes, it’s the same spot where Shoeless Joe Jackson and his pals appeared — and disappeared — throughout the Academy Award-nominated film about fathers, children, culture, self-discovery, ghosts and, oh, yeah, baseball.