Field of Dreams: From outfield windows to camera angles, how MLB will create baseball magic in Iowa (2024)

James Earl Jones, playing the writer Terrance Mann, rises from the wooden bleachers in the final scenes of “Field of Dreams.”

He implores the bankrupt Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) to keep his magical baseball field carved into a cornfield on the outskirts of Dyersville.

“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball,” Jones intones in his unmistakable deep bass voice. “America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.”

It won’t quite take an army of steamrollers to build a new Field of Dreams big enough to host an actual counts-in-the-standings Major League Baseball game between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox.

But before the first pitch the evening of Aug. 13, 2020, much earth will move —some 30,000 cubic yards, in fact.

Field of Dreams: From outfield windows to camera angles, how MLB will create baseball magic in Iowa (1)

By comparison, that’s about the same volume as the reflecting pool between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The original site of the 1989 film wouldn’t do for a real big-league game, MLB officials said.

Movie magic might make the home runs of Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) into the cornstalks impressive, but baseball’s best sluggers could practically bunt over the movie site’s 314-foot center-field depth. Same goes for the 281-foot distanceto left field and the 262 feet to right field.

Major League Baseball players need a major-league park. The field that will emerge from all that digging will be 335 feet down the left and right field lines, 380 feet in the power alleys and 400 feet to center.

Go the Distance, the private partnership that maintains the tourist destination, takes fine care of the movie site, but even its meticulous grooming is below the standard for a Major League field.

How to build a baseball field

“Everything must be perfectly flat,” said Murray Cook, president of BrightView Sports Turf, a division of a massive corporate and sports landscaping firm headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. “There can be no quirks or flaws.”

Cook’s history is colorful enough that he might have been a character in “Shoeless Joe,” the novel by the late W.P. Kinsella that inspired the film.

Cook’s path to MLB’s top field builder began as a boy in his native Salem, Virginia. In the early 1970s, he shagged batting practice balls that cleared the fence of Kiwanis Field, then the home of the Salem Pirates, a Class A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“I guess I got so good at shagging balls outside the stadium that they brought me inside the stadium to shag,” Cook said.

BEYOND 'FIELD OF DREAMS':Sports world should add events at these famous sites

Field of Dreams: From outfield windows to camera angles, how MLB will create baseball magic in Iowa (3)

Thus began a 17-year stint in the minors, doing everything from dragging the field to managing stadiums for minor league teams across the country.

He got called up the majors in 1994, managing the spring training field operations for the Atlanta Braves and the former Montreal Expos.

These days, when MLB wants a field built to its standards, they summon Cook from the bullpen like an ace closer.

Cook and his team at BrightView have built or improved fields for MLB games across the globe. They builtthe field for theYankees' series with the Boston Red Sox in London earlier this year. Now they'll build one ina cornfield in Iowa.

Field of Dreams: From outfield windows to camera angles, how MLB will create baseball magic in Iowa (4)

The new Dyersville fieldwill be most similar to BrightView’s work to build a field at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where the Atlanta Braves hosted the Miami Marlins in 2016.

Cook and crew had about five months from announcement to gameday to create the field for the first professional sporting event held on an active military base.

“We’ll have a full year this time,” Cook said. “That makes thing a little easier.”

The extras that make it a spectacle

While Cook’s team concentrates on life between the baselines, the Torontocompany BaAM Productions focus on everything else —from the restrooms and showers in the team clubhouses to the stands, fences, press box and bleachers.

BaAM has partnered with major sports for special events for years. They help the NHL put on its annual outdoor game, the Winter Classic. They worked with MLB on the Fort Bragg game.

The company plans every detail: concessions, power, water needs, and camera angles for the game, which will be televised on ESPN.

The pieces to make the stadium are gathered from a variety of contractors, and the temporary field is assembled like a kind of giant Lego set.

BaAM and architectural design firm Populous collaborated on the design of a temporary ballpark and event site for the Field of Dreams game with an eye toward preserving the “atmosphere of a Major League game without losing the sense of place,” said Annemarie Roe, BaAM president.

Field of Dreams: From outfield windows to camera angles, how MLB will create baseball magic in Iowa (5)

To that end, the original movie site will be lighted and visible for fans during the night game. They sought to incorporate Iowa’s natural beauty with windows in the outfield wall to show the cornfield from which the stadium will be carved.

MLB officials declined to say how much the operation will cost. Reports indicated the Fort Bragg Game cost about $5 million to produce.

Field of Dreams: From outfield windows to camera angles, how MLB will create baseball magic in Iowa (6)

The temporary stadium will host 8,000 fans. Ticket prices and distribution methods have not been released. MLB started receiving calls and messages about how to acquire tickets moments after the Field of Dreams Game was announced.

It’s almost as if James Earl Jones’ monologue 30 years ago presaged the coming event:

“People will come, Ray,” he said. “They’ll pass over the money without even thinking about it; for it is money they have and peace they lack. … They’ll watch the game, and it’ll be if they’d dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick, they’ll have to brush them away from their faces.”

Field of Dreams: From outfield windows to camera angles, how MLB will create baseball magic in Iowa (2024)

FAQs

What is the MLB Field of Dreams field used for? ›

MLB at Field of Dreams is a recurring Major League Baseball (MLB) regular-season specialty game played in a ballpark adjacent to Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa, a site popularized by the 1989 baseball film Field of Dreams.

Was Field of Dreams filmed in Iowa? ›

Field of Dreams Locations

Dubuque County, Iowa, was the main site for shooting locations with a nearby farm being transformed into the Kinsella homestead and an abandoned warehouse in Dubuque as the backdrop to create various life-size interior sets.

Do they play baseball games at the Field of Dreams? ›

MLB games won't return to Field of Dreams movie site in 2024. What's happening instead? You no longer need to see ghosts to catch a baseball game on the Field of Dreams. Over the last four years there have been two MLB games taking place at the Iowa stadium and it's now home to youth tournaments.

Where is the Field of Dreams in real life? ›

Site history. Universal Pictures built the baseball diamond in 1988 on two farms a few miles outside Dyersville, Iowa, for the 1989 film Field of Dreams. When production completed, the baseball diamond created for the movie was left behind.

Is the MLB Field of Dreams stadium permanent? ›

DYERSVILLE, Iowa — Iowa's News Now has learned that there will be no Major League Baseball next year at the Field of Dreams. Ongoing work on a permanent professional-grade stadium continues, as Major League instead will play in Alabama next year to celebrate Juneteenth.

What is the main point of Field of Dreams? ›

Field of Dreams focuses on lost dreams, regrets, and sentimentality with family and passions, earning it Oscar nominations and preservation in the National Film Registry.

Who owns the Field of Dreams in Iowa? ›

DYERSVILLE — When Frank Thomas and his partners purchased the “Field of Dreams” movie site a year ago, they outlined a wide range of plans for the rural Iowa tourist attraction.

How much does it cost to visit the Field of Dreams in Iowa? ›

It's amazing that it's free to visit and play on the field (although donations are encouraged). We had fun chatting with other baseball fans—I even played catch for a bit with a Yankees fan (I'm from Cleveland). We had fun taking photos by the house, walking into the cornfields and playing on the field.

How much does it cost to stay at the Field of Dreams house? ›

Renting the old family farmhouse for a night cost around $2,000. DYERSVILLE, Iowa -- The house from the movie "Field of Dreams" opened for booking for die-hard movie fans.

Can you visit the MLB Field of Dreams stadium? ›

The field is open from sunrise to sunset year round*. Offices: Field staff is on-site 9 am - 9 pm.

How old was Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams? ›

Costner, 69, was 33 as Ray, the lead character in "Field of Dreams." The role came on the heels of making classics like "The Untouchables" (1987) and "Bull Durham" (1988). Two years later, in 1991, Costner won two Academy Awards for "Dances With Wolves" for best director and best picture.

How much were Field of Dreams tickets? ›

According to NBC Sports, tickets for last year's game were going for an average price of $967 just days before the first pitch, with prices ranging from $644 to as much as $2,281 on secondary sale sites.

Can you spend the night at the Field of Dreams house? ›

Spend the night in the meticulously maintained three-bedroom farmhouse and enjoy the “Kinsella Experience.” Guests will be greeted personally by the Movie Site staff and will receive a complimentary gift basket. The house is available from March through December yearly.

What is the closest town to the Field of Dreams? ›

The ballpark address is 28995 Lansing Rd, Dyersville, IA 52040. Ticket holders are encouraged to take US-20 to Dyersville and then follow appropriate signage to the Field of Dreams Movie Site when exiting the highway. The ballpark is located on a two lane road.

Is the house in Field of Dreams real? ›

In Dyersville, Iowa, you can spend a night at The Field of Dreams house! The house sleeps seven people comfortably. It has three upstairs bedrooms. The master suite also has a daybed.

What is the Field of Dreams used for now? ›

Since 1989, the Lansing Family Farm, which was used in the movie, has been a popular tourist attraction, now known as the "Field of Dreams Movie Site." In 2011, the field was purchased by Denise Stillman and a group of investors with the goal of preserving the "Field of Dreams" and creating a special place for baseball ...

Who owns the Field of Dreams? ›

DYERSVILLE — When Frank Thomas and his partners purchased the “Field of Dreams” movie site a year ago, they outlined a wide range of plans for the rural Iowa tourist attraction. They hoped to turn it into a youth baseball and softball complex that one day would also have a hotel.

Why is the Field of Dreams so popular? ›

Audiences embraced Field of Dreams because it's a sumptuously shot, well-crafted movie with compelling actors and an Oscar-nominated score, yes, but also because they worried then—and continue to worry now—that something valuable is vanishing, that the best of baseball and the country of its birth is in the rearview ...

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