'Is This Heaven?': 8,000 Converge On Iowa Cornfield As Yankees Take On White Sox In 'Field Of Dreams' Game
DYERSVILLE, Iowa (CBSNewYork) -- Baseball stars and fans gathered at a real field of dreams Thursday as an unforgettable scene from a classic movie came to life in Iowa.
As CBS2's Otis Livingston reports, 32 years ago, one of the greatest sports movies was made.
Set in an Iowa cornfield, "Field of Dreams" featured a star-studded cast and captured the imagination of baseball fans young and old alike.
The league has been working on creating this game for five years. It has invested $5 million to create a major league-quality facility adjacent to the one in the movie, but still in the middle of 159 acres of corn.
Eight thousand strong converged on the Dyersville cornfield to witness a baseball game an Aaron Judge home run away from the movie's iconic field.
Whether you were there in person or watching on TV, chills had to go up and down your spine when the players, in throwback uniforms, emerged from the cornfields just like in the film.
"It's kind of a dream true. You never thought as a kid, you know, you see the movie you never think you'll actually get a chance to play on the Field of Dreams, but we're getting this opportunity and a chance to walk through the corn," Judge said before the game.
"It's the iconic thing of what I was looking forward to more than anything. And so, being able to kind of run through that, get some photos of that, get some coverage of that has been fantastic," White Sox pitcher Lima Hendricks said.
As CBS2's Steve Overmyer reports, "Field of Dreams" is considered one of the best baseball movies ever. It stars Kevin Costner as a man who plowed under his cornfield to build a baseball field to reconcile with his father.
"I read this little movie on my couch and I just felt like it had gold dust all over it," Costner said. "You know, it really captured the hearts of America, this film. Nobody saw it coming."
The film has endured as an ageless classic about following your dreams. The movie set is still a field where memories are created every day, and where even the biggest Yankees can feel like the littlest kids.
"Never in my life did I think I would've ever experienced this," Judge said. "I have so many friends back home texting me, calling me, saying they are excited to watch, pumped for me to be here, so this is ... I can't really describe it. Like I said, this is a dream come true."
None other than Costner himself soaked up the atmosphere and got the crowd ready for the historic matchup.
"We've come to see the first place White Sox play the mighty Yankees in a field that was once corn," he said. "It's perfect."
Chicago's Jose Abreu hit the first Major League home run in Iowa history, but the farthest went to Judge. Like it was scripted, in the third inning, Judge pumped one into the corn maze.
