(photo courtesy of SBNation and USA Today)
The first major league baseball regular season game every played in the state of Iowa occurred last week, with the Chicago White Sox defeating the New York Yankees by a score of 9-8 in dramatic fashion at the Field of Dreams movie site. For those who may have missed the national telecast, it was quite a spectacle for which all parties pulled out all the stops for something that has been years in the making - plus an additional year delay due to the pandemic. A relatively flat piece of the cornfield behind the original "Field of Dreams" from the movie was cleared to make way for a temporary major league quality baseball field, complete with professional turf with proper drainage, a hand-operated scoreboard, bleachers, concessions, locker rooms, and even a see-through outfield wall that gave the players the illusion that the cornfield formed the edge of the outfield, just as in the timeless movie. Almost every single small detail was executed perfectly. Also as in the movie, the players all emerged "from the cornfield," from a pathway/maze cut from the original field to the major league field (and in perhaps the cheesiest part of the night, Kevin Costner joined them whilst seemingly still in character from 30 years ago).
Other than the game being on FOX which meant 3+ hours of Joe Buck, I thought this was a great event and I was happy that it was announced immediately afterward that the Cubs and Reds would be returning next year for another edition. As much as I loved the event, I do hope that this is not something that occurs every year to cheapen the novelty - nobody is going to care about a random Rays-Angels tilt in rural Iowa ten years from now. What this means though is that this has to move to the top of my list for a Tour Plus trip next year. One of the few positive things I will give Rob Manfred credit for doing in his tenure is furthering the effort to spread the reach of the sport both geographically and with special events, with the Little League Classic, Fort Bragg Game, the Montreal exhibition series, and the London series just to name a few. I would not be surprised and would actually hope that more one-off games like this occur in the future, and I would also be shocked if there are not more MLB games in other countries as well. How about a ballgame at Yellowstone Park for the first professional game in Wyoming? Or Mackinac Island off the northern coast of Michigan, where no cars are allowed? Or a return to Cooperstown? Sign me up.
STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 8/20/21:
Brewers 74-48, +8.5; 3 v. Nationals, 3 v. Reds, 3 @ Twins, 4 @ Giants
Twins 54-68, -17.0, -15.0 WC; 4 @ Yankees, 3 @ Red Sox, 3 v. Brewers, 1 @ Tigers, 2 v. Cubs
2021 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 0
Peter - 7
touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.