Iowa Was OPEN Today

It happened. It really happened The Field of Dreams Game in an Iowa cornfield. What a spectacle. 

I had envisioned this production to be a game for the ages. Just by where it was being played—in Dyersvile, Iowa, tucked into the northeastern corner of the state. A brilliant baseball diamond surrounded by some stands and acres of corn. 

I alerted my editor to watch the game, including the hour-long pre-game show on FOX. Which she did. And asked plenty of questions, too. Until just before 9:00. That’s when Rachel Maddow appears on MSNBC. Liberalism triumphed over mainstream sports in the early Iowa voting, I guess. 

Too bad, too, for she missed a whale of a ballgame. A ballgame that became an instant classic. More on that later.

I started to watch the MLB Network coverage a bit before 5:00 P.M. Eastern time. I did this knowing that I had finished cooking the night’s meal and that my wife and I would be eating in front of the TV set. 

For the record, dinner was Mushroom Chicken Marsala over rice, with a salad that included home grown tomato and green squash. It was delicious and I am not big on praising my own cooking. 

In the end, this was another baseball game. But it was far from the home stadiums of the two participants. Outside of what a regulation baseball field should look like, everything else was not cookie cutter-ish.

Besides the omnipresent corn stalks, rising as high as 12 feet into the hot Iowa atmosphere, there was a different feel to the place. The stands were created to hold about 8,000 spectators. Tickets were described to be the hardest to obtain since Game 7 of the 2015 World Series, when the Chicago Cubs were on the brink of winning for the first time in seemingly forever. 

For some, it literally cost thousands of dollars to make the pilgrimage to Dyersville. Those who plunked down that kind of moolah could not have possibly left that night too disappointed if they were Yankees fans. 

The entire atmosphere was incredible. There was a connection to the movie set, and boys played on the field while the major leaguers played on theirs. 

A corn maize, in the distinct logo of Major League Baseball, was prominent and managed to perplex young and old, with a few of the Yankees and White Sox players getting lost for a moment or two. Because they were acting just like kids—and who wouldn’t?

Ballplayers and fans were asked their opinions about how they felt when they first arrived and as they soaked up the atmosphere. Most were effusive in their praise for the entirety of the surroundings. Others were almost speechless. 

The word spectacle came to my mind. What I saw was indeed spectacular. In the middle of nowhere near any major population hub, a major league baseball game was going to be played between two of the original MLB franchises. 

There was a feel to the coverage by MLB Network and then FOX that this was truly special. The lead ins to segments were specially made for this event. Cuts of the movie were played again and again, to no one’s dismay. 

After all, to answer Shoeless Joe’s question to Ray if this was heaven, what else could be said? No, this really was Iowa. 

I loved the manual scoreboard on a faux wooden facade in the corn beyond the right field fence. Announcer Joe Buck remarked that there was no electricity at the board. There were three young men and women who used a ladder to mount the scores. But I still wonder how the clock a the apex of the scoreboard operated so accurately when I never saw anybody move the arms. 

Sure, there was an electronic video board in the corn beyond the left field fence. And plenty of modern music permeated the very loud sound system. I mean, after all, we were in 202, not 1921. 

I liked the center field batter’s eye/camera well which looked like a barn. To my surprise at the end of the game, fireworks roared into the hot night from that edifice. 

The fences had a wooden and cornfield motif. The tarpaulin covers were decorated like ears of corn, with the GEICO logo prominently displayed. I thought that was kind of corny, in a good way of course. 

The dugouts appeared to be wooden and actually had posts to hold up the roof—something only seen in the oldest of MLB parks—like Fenway Park and Wrigley Field. Yankees manager Aaron Boone perched himself at an entrance to the dugout, his arm resting on top of a high wooden and mesh fence. 

Players wore throw back uniforms. The White Sox wore white uniforms with blue pin stripes and the Yankees were in their road grays. Unlike in bygone eras, these uniforms were tailored and fit snuggly. White Sox starter Lance Lynn’s girth was quite evident. 

Reports about batting practice was that the ball carried very well in the heated air. Repeated questions to players about how they would like to hit homers into the corn were met with an “Aw, Shucks” response, even if you knew that they would dearly love to launch a ball that would land in the stalks. I wondered how many BP swings landed in the corn and how many balls are still there. 

To me, this night had a World Series/All Star Game feel to it. So much media coverage by MLB Network and a full hour pre-game show by FOX didn’t dispel that notion. 

I had wondered leading up to the game if Kevin Costner, star of the movie would be in attendance. How silly could I have been thinking that? Of course Costner was here and he was a big part of the festivities. 

Costner was interviewed at length by MLB Network. He shared many tidbits about his feelings and how it was all those years ago when the filming occurred. He also shared how much he loved playing catch Wednesday with his son at the move set site. 

FOX let him sit in the booth with Buck and Hall of Fame analyst John Smoltz. His insights were good, but the sound system drowned out way too much of the conversation. Memo to MLB and FOX—don’t let that EVER happen again!!

But that wasn’t why Kevin Costner was there in Iowa on this audacious evening. It was for the on field festivities. Followed by cameras seemingly everywhere, Costner emerged from the cornstalks holding a baseball. He walked to mid-center field. Then the players came out of the corn in waves, just as in the movie. Group after group. Seeing Araon Judge stride through the stalks which were not much taller than him was awesome. The entrance was powerful. It was majestic. 

Starting with the Yankees Gerrit Cole, in uniform and unmasked after his bout with COVID-19, players veered to shake the actor’s hand. It was unscripted and natural. 

The teams lined up on respective sides of the infield. Costner used poetic license from the movie to get the night started. The starting lineups were announced. An Iowa native and a winner of American Idol, sang the National Anthem from the middle of the move set field. A flyover with Iowa pilots serenaded the start. It was finally time for baseball. 

New York came into the contest red hot despite injuries and positive COVID tests decimating the lineup. On Monday, the Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals despite four blown saves. That game featured an MLB first—both teams scoring in the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th innings. 

Tuesday KC prevailed 8-4, where the Yankees defense failed miserably—to the tune of 4 costly errors. This was a game they could have won.

Wednesday’s matinee was a New York win. It was another bullpen game due to three starting pitchers either being on the IL or COVID IL. Aaron Judge, Luke Voit and D.J. LeMahieu each drove in runs. Reserve Tyler Wade, pressed into service in left field as Judge was the DH, continued his hot hitting. 

The Yankees were the hottest team in the majors. Chicago had the best record in the American League. This was going to be a clash of the titans. Very fitting for such an auspicious day.

Lynn started for the White Sox. He surrendered a hit to LeMahieu in the first inning. 

Andrew Heaney was the New York starter. Acquired at the trading deadline from the Angels where he had been inconsistent, Heaney was no better with the Yankees. 

He put Chicago ahead 1-0 by hanging a curve ball to slugger Jose Abreu. 1-0 Sox. 

In the top of the third inning, New York got to Lynn. With LeMahieu and Brett Garnder aboard, Just smashed a homer deep into the corn behind the right field fence. 3-1 NYY.

Heaney promptly threw away that lead, allowing the Sox to plate four runs, three coming off the bat of the powerful Eloy Jimenez, who drove a shot into the corn. 5-3 CWS. 

Unfortunately, Heaney wasn’t finished. He dished another homer to the White Sox. The score was now 7-3. New York looked stunned and perhaps finished.

Speaking of finished, when the staff shortly becomes whole with the return of Cole, Jordan Montgomery and the season debut of Luis Severino, with the already red-hot pitching of Jameson Taillon, thee should be no room for Heaney. Which is good, for after his five innings on Thursday night, Heaney’s E.R.A. is a fat 9.00. 

In the 6th, Gardner lifted a ball into the corn. It was now 7-4. Which the score remained at, due to excellent relief pitching for both sides. 

Chicago  interim manager Miguel Cairo, a former Yankees player, guiding the team in the absence of Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa, who was away for the death of a family member, brought in All-Star closer Liam Hendricks. Hendricks is a ball of fire, who leads baseball in saves.

However, the Aussie-born receiver hadn’t pitched in almost a week, and his rust showed. Wade singled. Hendricks retired LeMahieu and Garnder. New York was down to its last out.

I was hoping Judge would get one more chance. Which he made the most of, dramatically slugging a ball further than the first one. It was now 7-6.

I rooted from the outset for new arrival Joey Gallo to walk. And he did. Which then allowed Slugger Giancarlo Stanton to pulverize a line just over the fence in left field. Miracles of miracles. It was 8-7 NYY.

Boone elected to go with former Baltimore closer Zach Britton to save the game. He had few options. While this was a scenario suited for closer Aroldis Chapman to blow away the

White Sox and preserve the victory, Chapman was present and in uniform, but unable to pitch as he was on the IL with elbow inflammation. 

Britton hasn’t looked sharp since his return from early season elbow surgery. I was not very comfortable watching him pitch. 

He recorded the first out with a grounder to Voit. Then Britton walked catcher Sevy Zavala, the ninth place hitter. And he lost his cool and probably his focus. 

For his next pitch to All-Star SS Tim Anderson quickly left the yard. 9-8. Game over. 

What was euphoria on the Yankees bench must have devolved into eerie silence. Judge walked off the field, mired in his thoughts. 

The long day, starting in Kansas City, with a flight to Dubuque and a 30 mile bus trip to the field, had become longer and the trip back to Dubuque and the plane ride to Chicago with his nightmare must have been bad.

New York needed a victory like this. It would have catapulted them into the stratosphere  and would have given notice to the American League that they are really formidable. 

Instead, the weaknesses of the team remain and we are left to wonder if they can pick up the pieces on Saturday night when the series resumes. 

Despite the the heart-breaking loss, this was a night for MLB to shine. The lighting and field were superb. FOX and all those who participated were superb. The look was authentic. The effect was sublime. 

Too bad my editor didn’t remain with the game. She would have been awed by the ebb and flow in the ninth inning. I know I was.

While at Penn State, my daughter produced a cute, short film which garnered a couple of regional awards. The title is Iowa Is Closed Today. Look it up on Google.

Thursday night showed us one more thing. That Iowa Was OPEN Today.