dream made real, in iowa, with kevin

The two guys giving comments throughout the game had him in the booth with them for the 4th and 5th innings.

Kevin Costner, back in Iowa more than three decades after making the movie, "Field Of Dreams", now just a regular guy there to watch a Major League Baseball game with his wife...

amid the other 7998 fans there with them, and the millions, including me, watching the game on their televisions.

I was overwhelmed.

So many memories I have of walking on the movie diamond, sitting on the movie bleachers, standing in the outfield and breathing in the scent of warm cornsilk on a hot summer day...

that remains, and will ever be, a crystallized moment for me.

I'm sure he could say the same, having had those same experiences while making the film.

And, now, so can these few thousand sitting in the seats of this new diamond, built over the last two years to MLB standards, still surrounded by cornfields, still under an enormous wealth of sky.

That's right, this regulation stadium is the actual playing field for the pros, but the little leaguers and others were happy to still be able to walk the bases and play a game of catch over on the smaller diamond.

The edge of left field on the movie's site is about 150 meters from the rightmost edge of right field on the game site.

Between the two?

Corn, rows and rows of corn, with paths through all of that summer feed corn for folks to walk from the parking lots at the movie site to their seats in the new stadium.

Those that won the lottery to purchase seats might even have been able to grab them on the movie-style bleachers set up along the edge of left field.

Those would most likely be Iowa residents.

They would be more accustomed to the view, perhaps, of no towering buildings looming nearby, of no lights shining everywhere one looked, of nothing but sky, as deep and wide as any ocean, as far as the eye could see.

They would be more accustomed to the silence soaking the air, with the lack of traffic noises and sirens and car horns serving as distractions to the action on the field.

They are the truly fortunate ones...

in case the modern world might have made them forget.
Every person there tonight, including all the ballplayers from the big cities of Chicago and New York City, were able to experience that magic for themselves.

Every person there tonight was able to slow down the pace of life, to marvel at the stars above, to breathe air that whispered of summers in their youth, before work and the responsibilities of adulthood intervened.

By the top of the 8th inning, every muscle in their bodies would have been relaxed and their minds free of worry as they watched a baseball game under that heavenly dome of sky.

Every hit was a home run, or so it would seem, as ball after ball arced into the surrounding 12-foot tall stands of corn, with those balls lost to the dirt at the base of those stalks.

And what a magnificent game it was!

There weren't many hits, of course, but the few that occurred were, indeed, home runs, with those batters bringing in those who had been walked.

The score was exciting, with a good amount of the right kind of stress, with a good amount of belief that either team might win...

but, in the end, Chicago was victorious.

What classic baseball, taking it down to the bottom of the ninth inning to seal the walk-off finish with a two-run homer!

A classic baseball game... 

just as it should be, on a field full of dreams.

(smile)

I'm so thankful to have been there, on THE Field of Dreams, and to have been here, in my living room, watching as they played on this new one.

i thank You, God.

swing, and almost a miss

I almost didn't go to that game.

My 5-game package of tickets were done, as of July 28.

For me to go to the Championship game, I'd need a ticket.

So... to buy one, or not, that was the question earlier this morning.

Then, at 1 PM, FOX had aired a special about the MLB @ Field Of Dreams game - that was to be a reality on Thursday, August 12!

The White Sox would finally be playing the Yankees, there in Dyersville!

It was even a regular season game for Chicago, so it counted for stats!

Would I be able to see it?

 

After I pulled myself together - hey, every time I see anything about that magical place in Iowa I tear up and sob - still - I did a bit of research.

Was the game to be aired on the local FOX network?

Yes, yes, it was!

Was the game to be free to view?

Yes, yes, it was!

Most excellent, plans for my Thursday evening! 

Well, shouldn't I see if tickets were still available for the CPL game at Grayson?

So, I checked on fb on the Bananas' page.

Incredibly, tickets WERE still to be had!

For real???

So, I checked the Bananas' website, to verify.

Yes, yes, that was for real...

so, I texted Scott to see if he would be there, and he said "Yes!"

I bought my ticket at 5:18 PM for the 7 PM game.

Just think: if I had not, I would have missed out on Bill LeRoy's smiley butt!

That would have been a real shame!
(smile!)

Right place, right time...

because of an unexpected television show about the magic of baseball.

i thank You, God.

memories crowding around so thick

That's inspired by a line that Terence Mann spoke.
"The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces."
So very true.
By that point, during the last few minutes of the movie, I had been sitting on the loveseat, sobbing, wrapped up in memories of my trip to Iowa, ever since Ray and Terrence had picked up a young baseball player named Archie Graham as they left Minnesota.

I remembered standing at home plate, right where Kevin Costner was in this photo.
I remembered wishing I had brought a Savannah Sand Gnats baseball with me, and the bat Mister Willie had given me, so I could swing and try to get a hit.
I remember the smell of the clay on the infield and the slightly crunchy feel of it beneath my sandals.
I remember the solid cushion of home plate underfoot.

I remember walking around in the outfield, standing right there near center field where Ray Liotta was in this photo.
I remember the heat of the July sun on my face as I stood there looking at the house and the baseball diamond.
I remember going to the edge of the cornfield, inhaling the crisp green scent of the warmed stalks and of the exposed corn silk peeking out from the husks.

I remember sitting on these bleachers along the first base line, reveling in being out of the car after driving all day.
I remember how blue the sky was and how close to the Earth the angel in the clouds seemed to be, reassuring me that I was exactly where I needed to be.
I remember the slight summer breeze as it ruffled my hair while I imagined I heard the smack of wood on leather.


Oh, yes.
Memories so thick I had to use my shirt sleeves to brush them away, as they had coalesced from the ether of my mind and condensed into huge tears coursing down my cheeks.
I'm glad I had thought to share the experience with others who would appreciate it: Bill Peterson, Scott Kimball, Jeff (bfe) Secrest, Lauri and Lynn Engler, Penny Bos, Jeff McDermott, Berry Aldridge.

This was the scene that inspired me to reach out to them, to share this experience, when Ray Kinsella was shagging flies out toward Shoeless Joe Jackson.
"Watching "Field of Dreams" for the first time since I was standing on that field and walking the bases.
I knew you would get the importance of that.
Like, wow."

Bill sent me a little movie of him playing a baseball game with a spinner while Tucker laid at his feet.

Scott sent a trio of happy little emoticons!

Berry: I love that movie!
me: I do, too. That's why i went there in 2012 when i found out it was a real place. There was supposed to be a game there in August this year.
[That game between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees is still on schedule!
I'll keep tabs on that August 13th date and hope it's televised!]

Jeff: The funny thing is, I've never seen Field of Dreams.
me: Of course you haven't. Do you know how many folks would find that hilarious?
Jeff: The guys at the ballpark in Rome [where he was announcing for the Braves' baseball games, as he had for a decade for the Sand Gnats] couldn't believe it. They would always be quoting lines from "Talledega Nights" and "Anchorman".
me: Well, you should have fired off some lines from "Fast Times At Ridgemont High"!
Jeff: No, they're too young, they wouldn't get it.
me: How sad that they were born too late for that movie!

bfe: Think about it...you now have this other connection...
me: I know, right? Lol!
bfe: Nicole says, "They built it, you came!"
me: That's true! And I stood at home plate and walked the bases and touched the corn growing in right field and sat on the bleachers. Wow.

Wow.
My day had begun with this brunch:
green apple on a green fish plate;
real pepperoni pizza on a green apple plate;
hot coffee in a green mug;
all orchestrated by serendipity.
I had been looking forward to this movie about a green field ever since I saw it in the line-up, but especially since yesterday morning.
I was making my brunch then, when my phone chimed.
That was Scott sending me a love-letter by text.

"Hi.
I keep thinking about you but it's at times I can't text.
How are you?
I want to thank you for taking me to the 'play on the field' day with the Sand Gnats.
It is one of my happiest days.
Jerry Seinfeld, in his show 'Comedians getting coffee', showed him and Ferris Bueller went to the Mets in NY and they played on the field.
But my day at Grayson was better.
Thank you."

me:
Scott, thank you so much!
I had such fun that day too and love seeing that photo as your fb profile. <3 That was from a Sunday, too, specifically August 26, 2012. Wow. i am so blessed with these memories. Right place, right time, again and again.
i thank You, God.