A Dream To Come True For Many As White Sox Prepare To Take On Yankees At Field Of Dreams In Iowa
DYERSVILLE, Iowa (CBS) -- Film fans, baseball fans – and of course, fans of both of the above – have been waiting more than three decades for a moment that will happen on Thursday.
Just like in the movie "Field of Dreams," the Chicago White Sox – not ghosts of players from 1919, but the present-day White Sox of 2021 – will take the field amid the cornfields of Dyersville, Iowa to take on the New York Yankees.
And within those fields of corn, the final touches on a field of dreams have been realized.
"There's just a chill that goes down your spine and I can't explain it," said Dwier Brown. "They somehow managed to recreate it here."
As CBS 2's Marshall Harris reported Wednesday night, Brown was an actor in the movie "Field of Dreams" 32 years ago, and has followed the Major League stadium transformation delayed by a year because of COVID-19. He said it was worth the wait for fans and players alike.
"Everyone has a 'Field of Dreams' connection. You know, the movie itself, and playing catch with your dad, and all that," said head groundskeeper Murray Cook. "When you come out and actually see it, I'm just so excited to have the players see it and the fans see it."
Ozzie Guillen, the former White Sox skipper who took the team to a World Series championship in 2005, was blown away too.
"It's amazing, man," Guillen said. "You know, have to come here and take a look at it and feel the way they built this thing."
The cheap seats at the stadium are anything but, with secondhand tickets starting around $900.
This game will be 'Field of Dreams' inspired right down to the way players enter. They will be stepping right out of the corn, and into the field of play.
On Wednesday, youth players from the Sox under-14 Amateur City Elite, or ACE, team got a taste of what Major League players will feel a day later. Sox Ace plyer Jimmy Fields homered off Hall-of-Famer John Smoltz in batting practice.
"John Smoltz – a Hall-of-Famer – I look up to him – a great pitcher of all time," Field said, " I'm just real excited - I just took him deep at Field of Dreams."
"This is a historic field, and we're one of the first teams to be able to play an organized game here. I'm just grateful to be here," added Sox ACE player Lance Moon. "You know, whatever you do, you've got to prepare yourself. You've got to put in the best work. Before you get on the baseball field, you've got to trust that what you did when you practice, it's going to all take over once you get to the big stage."
So for children, and those who still play a child's game Dyersville now offers a field of dreams no longer deferred.