The Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees will finally “play ball!” on the “Field of Dreams” in Iowa after the previously scheduled 2020 game was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The anticipated matchup will take place on the farm in Dyersville, Iowa, where the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams” was filmed. The two teams will go the distance on Aug. 12, 2021.
The plan has been in place for quite some time, and a lot of preparation has taken place ahead of the big event. Organizers have constructed an 8,000-seat temporary ballpark that will require spectators to walk a path through a cornfield in order to get to it.
Heavy rains in the fall of 2020 made construction of the new ballpark difficult, but organizers pushed through and are on schedule to host the event in August.
This is the first time two MLB teams have played against one another in the state of Iowa. The event is a collaboration of the MLB and Universal Studios.
In the “Field of Dreams” movie, Kevin Costner’s character builds a ballpark in the cornfield at his home after hearing a whisper: “If you build it, they will come.” Once he does build it, the ghosts of “Shoeless Joe” Jackson and his team, the 1919 White Sox, appear in the field to play ball.
The 2021 stadium has been designed as a tribute to the old Comiskey Park, the home of the White Sox from 1910-1990.
The big event will be nationally broadcast live at 6 p.m. CT on Fox on the day of the game. There will also be a broadcast on ESPN Radio 1000. Hopefully, a streaming service will also have “Field of Dreams” readily available for us to watch ahead of this matchup in Iowa.
Costner has been back to the field in the years since the movie was filmed, as shown in this MLB Network tweet from August 2019:
"There's a little bit of a mecca here… There's a gentle call to come here."
5 years ago, Kevin Costner reminisced with Bob Costas about "Field of Dreams." pic.twitter.com/vKTpaaX0OL
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) August 8, 2019
“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 on the MLB website when the original game was announced. “We look forward to celebrating the movie’s enduring message of how baseball brings people together at this special cornfield in Iowa.”
The field shown in the movie was actually located on two farms owned by separate families that allowed tourists to visit after the movie’s release. The two competing attractions were then consolidated into one, which was then purchased by an investment group in 2011. It still holds tours and events.
It’s far from a major metropolitan area. Dyersville, with a population smaller than that of the stadium to be built, is about 230 miles west of Chicago.
Those who want to attend the Aug. 12 game may check the Field of Dreams Tickets website, where there is also information on hotels available near the farm.
Will you be watching this epic battle on the “Field of Dreams?” Get your foam fingers and megaphones ready!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories.
