As Kevin Costner wandered the fresh grass of a field built adjacent to the famous cornfield featured in Field of Dreams (1989), memories, dreams and aspirations returned to the minds of every person that played little league in their younger years.
Goosebumps transcended the Iowa atmosphere, reaching far and wide as players from the White Sox and Yankees emerged from the outfield corn, replicating the motions of Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson or Frank Whaley as Archibald “Moonlight” Graham.
Dyersville, Iowa hosted the perfect game with a perfect setting on a more perfect night. Major League Baseball couldn’t ask for a better outcome to one of the biggest nights in regular season baseball history.
Corny Jokes Galore
Major League Baseball and its social channels hit it out of the park. Corn-centric humor and memes headlined a special night until the actual game stole the show.
A Match Up Made in Heaven? No, it’s Iowa.
Even as the team fights for an AL Wild Card spot with two divisional foes, the brand of the New York Yankees couldn’t miss the pageantry associated with baseball’s grandest (regular season) stage. The swagger between the new generation of Bronx Bombers and the Southside Sluggers brought baseball to new heights on last Thursday night.
Hollywood Ending
Something about watching a monstrous blast land in a cornfield brought back vibes of little league stadiums and a movie we wished to live out growing up as baseball enjoyers and players.
Watching Field of Dreams for the first time almost always resulted in mowing the lawn like a diamond and asking your parents the realistic odds of adding a dirt diamond to the landscape.
The White Sox jumped to an early lead behind the power of Jose Abreu, Eloy Jimenez and Seby Zavala. The Yankees countered with blasts from Brett Gardner, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge, eventually regaining a lead in the top half of the ninth following two two-run home runs from Judge and Stanton respectively.
The lead did not last. Following the stunning surrender of the sizable ninth inning lead in front of a Chicago fan-heavy crowd, Tim Anderson gave the White Sox faithful one more occasion to celebrate in Iowa. A walk-off bomb, a game for the ages, a celebration only describable as befitting.
Striking While The Iron Is Hot
For one night in August, baseball was the news. It’s been quite some time since regular season baseball brought a surplus of prestige to a sport thirsting for a boost. The most anticipated game since Cubs-Indians Game 7 in 2016, the most viewed regular season match in sixteen years, Dyersville captured an audience, not just of fans of the two competing teams, but baseball fans worldwide looking for a way to reconnect with a sport that seemed lost.
This is baseball’s redemption arc, and in order to continue its growth of the game we know and appreciate, Rob Manfred and the league office should be working tirelessly to answer the question at hand: what’s next?
Playing on The Sandlot? Field of Dreams provided the spark to light the flame for baseball’s next success story. The next story and setting must attempt to stoke the fire before baseball’s left with burning embers and ash of a tale of “what could’ve been” instead of a tale of “what was”.