*“If you build it, he will come”...after a 4-year absence, the Phillies and Twins will play the 3rd edition of the Field of Dreams game on Thursday, August 13th in Dyersville, Iowa*
Paul Dorian
The 3rd edition of the Field of Dreams game will be played on Thursday, August 13th between the Phillies and Twins in Dyersville, Iowa. Image courtesy MLB, Universal Pictures, centraljersey.com
Overview
On Thursday, August 13th, big league baseball will return to the iconic Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, Iowa. The Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins will meet in the 3rd edition of the Field of Dreams game at one of the sport’s most memorable settings and this will be the first such game in four years. The classic baseball film was made in 1989, and the first Field of Dreams game was played in August 2021 between the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees which was followed by another game one year later between the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs.
The stadium is right amongst the cornfields of Dyersville, Iowa with a stream of cars on the way in this particular image. Image courtesy MLB, Universal Pictures
Discussion
The 1989 film Field of Dreams, adapted from W. Kinsella’s 1982 novel Shoeless Joe, tells the story of Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella who while tending to his cornfield hears a mysterious voice say, “If you build it, he will come.” Years later, big league baseball transformed a quiet cornfield in Dyersville, Iowa into a magical stage for the inaugural game in August 2021 between the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees. That game ended in a 9-8 walk-off win for the White Sox – was wildly popular amongst baseball fans - and was followed by another game at the same (temporary) stadium location in 2022 (source mlb.com). After a 4-year absence, the Field of Dreams game will return to Iowa next Thursday, August 13th, and the game will feature the Phillies and Twins and this time, it’ll be played in a new permanent stadium. A minor league game will precede the big-league event on Tuesday, August 11th between the Iowa Cubs and St. Paul Saints (Triple- A affiliates of the Cubs and Twins).
Dyersville, Iowa is the home to the Field of Dreams with the next edition of the game to be played in one week on Thursday, August 13th between the Phillies and Twins. Map courtesy Google
The aforementioned new permanent stadium has been built directly into the rolling cornfields of Dyersville for this Field of Dreams game, replacing the temporary modular setups that were used for the 2021 and 2022 games. In total, the stadium can fit about 4,600 people and there will be over 3000 temporary seats along the foul line in right field and above the bleachers in left field. According to centraljersey.com, the new permanent stadium was built with true major-league dimensions:
335 feet down each foul line
380 feet to the power alleys
400 feet to dead center
A pathway cuts through the corn fields leading players and fans toward the diamond, and the right-field wall includes windows that frame the surrounding 159 acres of Iowa farmland. An ~8,000-seat capacity makes this one of the smallest venues a big-league game is played in all year, closer to a minor-league park than the 40,000-plus stadiums the Twins and Phillies call home. More than 4 million visitors have made the pilgrimage to baseball’s sacred site since the release of the film, according to Dyersville Events Inc., the nonprofit that owns the Field of Dreams.
The uniforms alone might be worth tuning in early by baseball fans as both clubs are digging deep into their archives for this one according to centraljersey.com:
Phillies: a gray road look modeled on the uniforms worn from 1939 to 1941, with a slanted red “Phillies” wordmark outlined in navy, a navy cap with a bold red “P,” and a sleeve patch replicating the 1939 design from baseball’s supposed centennial season.
Twins: all-white with navy pinstripes and a navy “Twins” wordmark trimmed in red, the classic interlocked white “T” and red “C” on the cap, and a “Minnie and Paul” sleeve patch drawn from the logo the franchise wore from 1961 to 1986.
And let’s end this with another well-known quote from the movie: “Is this heaven? No, it’s Iowa”.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
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