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HEAVEN, Iowa — There's much that can be said about movie sequels or converting movies into different formats where they just don't belong.
It often results in an uninspired product that cheapens the brand.
So you can imagine some may have been skeptical of Major League Baseball's ambitious plan to play a regular-season game at a cornfield in Iowa — more specifically, at a field neighboring the set of the 1989 film classic "Field of Dreams." The thought seemed as absurd as Ray Kinsella's envisioned ballpark in both that movie and the W.P. Kinsella novel the film was adapted from.
Still, MLB built it and people came. The long-awaited game — postponed a full year due to COVID-19 — finally arrived Thursday. The contest between the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees offered a surreal viewing experience even at home. At one point, a hot air balloon hovered just over the corn and a barn in left field before that picturesque view was replaced by a jaw-dropping sunset that painted the sky orange and red.
The game itself was also something that Hollywood script writers, or even Kinsella himself, likely couldn't have imagined. The Yankees scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning, against an All-Star closer to erase a three-run deficit, only to lose on the crack of a bat in the bottom half of the frame.
Yet, the moment that may be most remembered is how it all started. As you see in the video, Kevin Costner, the star of the beloved film, walks to the pitcher's mound to the Oscar-nominated score, "Field of Dreams." He's soon met by the players who emerge from corn stalks beyond the outfield, seemingly out of nowhere — much like the legendary ghost players from the movie.
Row by row, they file onto the field as the orchestral music blares. If you know the movie, it may have brought memories of playing catch with your own parent. Or maybe it reminded you of living out your dreams, like when "Moonlight" Graham got his one shot at bat. Whatever it may be, it's a moment when we all could have sworn Iowa was Heaven.
Count the real-life baseball adaptation of the book and movie a win. In fact, its success quickly led to talk on social media about what other sporting events could be played in the format of a sports movie location.
Hey Salt Lake Bees, you down to play at the real "Sandlot" in Utah next year?
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Preach, my good man. Preach.
