Field of Dreams 2022 Game: Celebrating baseball memories in a cornfield in Iowa

Via Jake Mintz
FOX Sports MLB Writer

DYERSVILLE, Iowa – It’s really not about the movie.

Sure, “Field of Dreams” has its moments, some good acting performances, and a bunch of iconic lines, but the film as a whole doesn’t resonate with every type of fan. baseball. For some of us, the schmaltz is a bit too heavy-handed, the nostalgia too thick, the characters’ issues too irrelevant.

And that’s okay. Because the real magnetism of MLB in Field of Dreams game little to do with the movie; it’s more about what unique atmospheres, environments and physical spaces evoke from our personal baseball memories. Even the most cynical among us will struggle to stroll through the Iowa cornfields without thinking about the people and places associated with the most formative moments of their relationship. me with the game.

In other words: We all have our own Field of Dreams.

Johnny Bench in front of the beauty of Field of Dreams and his love of the game

Johnny Bench talks to the FOX MLB team about how much he loves the Field of Dreams Game. And then he challenged Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz to hold five baseballs in one hand.

While the Thursday night contest between Unit and Red lacks the passionate, close-to-your-seat frenzy we’ve seen in the last year Number x–Yanks barburner, it had its share of quality moments… like a movie. Chicago plated three at the top of the first table after one Seiya Suzuki double and one Ian Happ being single and then holding on to an enjoyable, if slightly uncomfortable, pleasure, Victory 4-2.

Block starter Drew Smyly great of the night, launching five innings without scoring, and while a Matt Reynolds doubled in Saturday, cutting Cincy’s deficit in half, Chicago’s bullock cart terminal delivering and closing late.

Unlike last year, the only fireworks, well, were fireworks, which once again erupted from out of sight of the mock farm hitter seconds after the final was recorded.

Field of Dreams: Cubs take an early lead over the Reds

The Chicago Cubs soon took a 3-0 lead over the Cincinnati Reds with three straight hits in the first inning of the Field of Dreams Game.

My point is that the game itself is far from the main character Thursday in Iowa. Instead, the match plays a third role with a picturesque, one-of-a-kind setting in the cornfields and epic festivals involving Ken Griffeys Junior and Senior emerging from the cornfields to catch father and son.

It all made for an emotional and engaging day, inspiring many of the players involved to share their memories of the field, the people and the moments that have shaped their baseball journey. .

For Cubs shortstop Nico Hoerner, that special diamond was – and still is – Greenman Field in his hometown of Oakland, California. Located less than a mile from the Oakland Coliseum, the seemingly functioning public park remains an important part of Hoerner’s baseball identity. He immediately recalled a memorable evening under the lights when he was 10 years old.

“I’ll never forget it. We had a game that Like he told FOX Sports before hitting the ball on Thursday. Playground for children.'”

David Ross and Tom Verducci on the importance of the Field of Dreams Game

Chicago Cubs manager David Ross talks with Tom Verducci about the importance of the Field of Dreams Game in Iowa and what it means for Major League Baseball.

Chicago catcher and MLB . veteran Yan Gomes tells the story of how his unique upbringing outside Sao Paolo, Brazil, cemented his passion for the sport. Born and raised in the municipality of Mogi das Cruzes, Gomes remembers the city with its only baseball complex of 450,000 people.

“There are only two areas,” he said. “The big one with lights and a Little League-sized dirt field outside it. Nothing special.” Then he pointed to the “Field of Dreams” movie field we were walking past and noted, “It’s actually like this field.”

Gomes recalls watching his brother play in the brightly lit stadium and longing to one day be big and big enough to join him. Two and a half decades later, Gomes is already playing in the brightest light the sport has to offer.

The urge to play at night, under the lights, was also an important part of Happ’s youth baseball experience. The Cubs All-Star quarterback, who grew up in suburban Pittsburgh, can still remember the first time he ran at home at Dixon Field in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, at the corner of Greenhurst Drive and Cedar Boulevard.

“It’s the venue, man. It’s a field of light, and we all want to play there,” he said. “My first game is still a really enjoyable memory. The wooden bat, under the lights, in the stands outside the center field… My mother may actually still have the baseball. there somewhere.”

Mic’d Up: Ian Happ talks about his feelings while playing in the Field of Dreams Game

Chicago Cubs quarterback Ian Happ talks about his feelings playing at Field of Dreams and reminisces about how he loved playing in front of baseball fans in Iowa.

But for the Chicago hurdler Wade Miley, that particular place is not a field or a stadium or even a football field. Things in Hammond, Louisiana, are much simpler than that; all Miley and his companions need is a lawn.

“It sounds silly now, but it’s all about my grandparents’ front yard,” he said. “That’s where I love the game, where I learned the game. Since I was about 6 years old, we’ve been out there playing all afternoon. We threw our base down, cut the baselines for ourselves. me with a lawn mower.”

After 12 years of playing big and earning nearly $50 million, the left-handed man still spends his parts in Hammond and considers it home. When it’s warm enough, Miley and family still gather in the previous yard to play Whiffle ball, decades after he fell and hit his head at the game.

If Miley’s story sounds familiar and relatable, that’s exactly the point and purpose of the Field of Dreams Game. It’s an opportunity – for baseball fans and baseball players alike – to take a deep breath during the hectic MLB season to reflect and appreciate what the sport means to each of us.

Joey Votto on watching ‘Field of Dreams’ with his late father and the chance to play in Iowa

Joey Votto talks to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal about his connection between watching “Field of Dreams” with his late father and now playing on the Iowa field.

And that’s what’s so unique about the Field of Dreams Game: The memories that pop up for people on the field are practically identical to those that pop up for people in the stands, people in the press boxes and people in the broadcast counter.

Whether you’ve played, never played, or still get paid millions to play, every baseball fan can point to a ballpark – big or small or surrounded by corn – that, like Like cupid’s arrow, forever binds us to this beautiful sight game.

Jake Mintz is the older half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball writer for FOX Sports. He’s an Orioles fan living in New York City, and as such, he leads a lonely life most of October. If he’s not watching baseball, he’s almost certainly pedaling. car. You can follow him on Twitter @Jake_Mintz.

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