“If you build it, they will come” took a disappointing turn in pandemic-plagued 2020.
They built it. But Major League Baseball did not show up.
It canceled.
The rural locale near Dyersville, Iowa where the iconic 1989 movie Field of Dreams was filmed a generation ago was to have been the site of a regular-season game between Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees.
An 8,000-seat stadium and regulation field were constructed in time for the August 2020 game. But Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, citing health concerns related to COVID-19, announced the game would have to be rescheduled in 2021. The expected lines of media and curious fans won’t arrive until it is safer to stage a game for spectators.
Much work has gone into bringing a game that counts in the standings to Dubuque County. The actual field used in the filming, half a mile from the new ballpark, was not a regulation-sized diamond. It wasn’t intended to be so. It was constructed for the cameras.
Fortunately, there is more to this story.
In August 2021, the long-anticipated game finally was played, and in front of a substantial audience.
It drew 5.9 million viewers on Fox, which represents the largest audience for a regular-season major league baseball game in 16 years! The game itself was a gem, with the Yankees scoring three runs in the top of the ninth inning to take an 8-7 lead. But in Hollywood fashion, the White Sox shortstop, Tim Anderson, hit a walk-off, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to win it for the White Sox.
Beyond such a dramatic game, this site draws large audiences for guided tours of the movie set. The farm house and the productive, leafy-green Iowa cornfields rimming the outfield are authentic in all respects, and you can visit the site for a guided tour.
Tip: Be sure to watch the movie again (or for the first time) before you arrive. It will enhance the enjoyment.
For those who are unaware, this movie plot involved a struggling Iowa farmer who heard a voice that urged him to build a baseball field for ghosts. Only he could see these deceased baseball greats or hear the voices. The haunting catch phrase from the movie is “If you build it, they will come.” His family and neighbors thought him crazy. But he followed the mysterious directions and was treated to nightly paranormal baseball games on his property. The ghost players, including some of the scandal-plagued 1919 Chicago White Sox, could stay and play. They possessed the fitness and athletic skill from their prime playing days. But they could not venture off the field into everyday life or they would be banned.
Producers hired a powerful cast, including Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Burt Lancaster, Ray Liotta and Amy Madigan. Far-fetched as a plot summary sounds, this movie did well at the box office, grossing a healthy $84 million. More significantly, it developed a cult following among lovers of baseball. That includes fans from as far away as Japan who charted a path to Dyersville for a glimpse at the site.
Talk about a surprising travel find!
In the movie, the ghostly players were surprised to be here. One asked in a daze if he was in heaven. The answer: “No, it’s Iowa.”
The movie’s producers looked at 100 potential shooting sites across the region. Farms made a short list. Rumors flew locally about which farm stood the best chance of being chosen. A key element in the selection was finding a farm that was connected to the main road by a long gravel driveway.
The Lansing family farm was chosen, and movie producers took over the site during the winter months, remodeling the farm house to fit shooting angles and constructing the field that would be ringed by tall corn plants the following summer, when shooting would take place.You’ll notice power lines that didn’t show in the movie. In today’s modern post-production, they simply would be eliminated with special effects. Back in 1988, the lines actually had to be physically moved away from the house at great effort and expense. After filming, the lines were moved back to the original locations. Renovations to the house (moving walls for shooting) were by contract supposed to be replaced, too. But the Lansings grew to like the renovations and chose to keep them.
The production actually overlapped onto an adjacent farm property. For a while, the two landowners feuded over who should present tours to visitors. Eventually, the Lansings bought out the other family’s interests. Although they owned the land and the tour rights, they found they could no longer actually reside here.
The Lansings wound up moving to another nearby location, as the daily requests for tours became overwhelming. These days, about 65,000 people visit each year. During my stop, I noted addresses from both coasts in the small guest book visitors may sign. One man on my tour said he came from Alaska.
You can walk onto the movie-set field and take all the pictures you want. The small stretch of bleacher seats seen in the movie still stand, so you can sit and recreate the scenes in your mind.
At the sign that says “Field of Dreams Movie Location,” you can buy $20 tickets for a 45-minute guided tour of the farm house that also includes information about the entire property.
There are two ways to look at this site.
One perspective comes from a person who loves baseball lore, and enjoys thinking about getting some young players back on the field to show what they could do — players who were banned from the game in their primes.
Another look comes from those who enjoy slices of Americana. Here is a small town in eastern Iowa that has tied much of its identity to a movie that was filmed here more than three decades ago. You’ll see signs in town directing you to the site. Field of Dreams is the first local attraction to which you’ll be directed, even though there are some wonderful historic towns and bluffs in this area that provide sweeping views of the Mississippi River.
There are those who consider this a tourist trap. Do not count me among that group. There are no gaudy signs or flashing lights here. No rows of souvenir shops, either, although a few kitschy items are available for sale outside the house. The place has a subdued, Midwestern ambiance.
There are certainly more worthy natural travel attractions elsewhere. But you won’t find a better intersection of Hollywood and the rural Midwest than this place. It’s worth the effort it takes to find it and experience it. Spend a few days and stay atop those Mississippi River bluffs or dine at what may be Iowa’s oldest and most resilient restaurant.
The intersection of Hollywood and Dyersville creates some great tales. For example, during shooting in summer 1988, no one had mobile phones with texting capability. The producers needed a way to start drivers leading that long line of cars in the final scene, and then give added direction as the shooting unfolded. A local radio station suspended its programming in order to become that needed conduit of information. You can bet its ratings that day were off the charts, as people tuned in to hear some behind-the-scenes banter on a live movie set.
People here love the fact that for a moment in time, their back roads and established farmsteads attracted the attention of Hollywood and some of its biggest stars. They told a beloved story that earned a solid place in the hearts of those who follow America’s pastime.
If You Go