The moral of the 1989 Kevin Costner film Field of Dreams is that no matter what happens between a parent and child, the possibility of redemption will always still exist. The movie’s plot revolves around an ex-hippy turned farmer in Iowa who hears voices in his cornfield telling him to build a ball field on his property.
In doing so, the ghosts of Shoeless Joe Jackson and the other seven members of the banished 1919 Chicago White Sox or “Black Sox” will return. At the end of the movie, you learn that the true meaning of the voice telling Ray Kinsella: “if you build it, he will come,” and it’s not about Jackson
We previewed Thursday night’s MLB game at the Field of Dreams site in Iowa here.
We re-examined and reviewed the movie at this link
And appeared as a guest on the sports movie podcast, Goals on Film, linked below
On this week’s episode on Field of Dreams, the team discussed the film’s influence on real life, especially #MLBatFieldofDreams, chatting about how the magic of the movie might be lost because of the spectacle.
Full episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!https://t.co/Sr9bHYmhRW
— Goals on Film (@GoalsOnFilmPod) August 9, 2022
The extremely powerful, father-son reunion is the most emotional moment of the film, and you can experience something just like that when visiting the actual movie site, just outside of Dyersville, Iowa.
You can see the farmhouse and baseball diamond on Lansing Road in Dyersville, for free, everyday from April to November.
It’s not easy to get to, but that’s part of its bucolic charm. The opportunity to throw a few pitches to my father at the Field of Dreams in late summer 2000 was as moving (to me anyway) as Ray Kinsella playing catch with his father John Kinsella, for a whole host of reasons.
For one, it was one of the very few bright memories from what was one of the darkest years in my life. This trip took place within the 6 month period that I was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin’s Disease, a form of lymphatic cancer that I had to fight and defeat three different times in my life (this being the first).
Secondly, this trip was quite different from the vacations I took with my parents during my youth. Before retiring, my father was a pilot and aviation professional, and at Midway airport on Chicago’s southside we always had a family plane, in which my Dad would fly us to destinations all around the country.
Until he became a senior citizen, flying was his leisurely past time
However, nearly all these plane trips across the country lacked any sort of “sports tourism.”
It wasn’t until adulthood, when I started traveling with friends that I had the opportunity to see games and stadiums in other cities. Neither of my parents, or any of my sisters, ever really cared about sports.
Because my father flew my mother and me here, instead of buying a commercial bus or commuter plane trip, the entire outing was all the more special.
Just like a homemade birthday card is much more special than one you bought at Hallmark.
My Dad doesn’t get out much (by choice), and he doesn’t show up in a lot of pictures (by choice again), so he’s kind of like a phantom, or a specter. These facts made this summer sunset game of catch, at a ballpark built for ghosts, all the more meaningful.
This Just In: #MLB reveals throwback #FieldofDreamsGame uniforms for Chicago #Cubs and Cincinnati #Reds to be worn this Thursday night in Iowa.
Details, history, more pics right here: https://t.co/Zdpyy1zQW0 pic.twitter.com/DIEtmpu6DM
— Chris Creamer (@sportslogosnet) August 8, 2022
And it’s moments just like these that make the Field of Dreams movie site such a wonderful place to visit. The story of the Black Sox, the “Eight Men Out” of baseball forever, is one of my all-time favorite movies.
The story of the scandal, and Shoeless Joe Jackson also supplied sublime inspiration for a great novel, “Shoeless Joe,” which was later made into the classic, critically acclaimed movie that was filmed here.
And in this peaceful, transcendent pastoral setting, it’s hard not to be inspired.
If you were able to relate any part of own your life experiences to that movie, then I’m pretty sure, you will have a moving memory of your own at the Field of Dreams movie site as well.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.