Amy Madigan and Kevin Costner looking out over the horizon in a scene from the film 'Field Of Dreams', 1989. (Photo by Universal/Getty Images) | Getty Images First Chuck: 6:30 PM (new anthem each week!) The Tube: Netflix The Dial: Treasure Island Baseball Network Spies ‘R Us: The Good Phight Sometime in the early 1990s, I watched Field of Dreams with my Dad. Well, more like “my Dad watched Field of Dreams and I was sitting next to him on the couch probably playing with my Hasbro wrestling figures” (I would have been anywhere from 5-8 years old). Without understanding any of the film’s weightier or emotional context, I was still utterly fascinated by the baseball players disappearing into the corn stalks beyond the outfield. Much like Kevin Costner’s Ray Kinsella, I wanted an explanation for where they were going!
As I grew older and watched the film on my own, it quickly became my favorite baseball movie of all time (this remains the case). It celebrates the magic—literally and figuratively—of baseball in ways no other flick about the national pastime quite accomplishes. From the young (Frank Whaley) and old (Burt Lancaster) Moonlight Graham to the epic Terence Mann (James Earl Jones) monologues to the jocularity of the Black Sox (Ray Liotta, Michael Milhoan, Steve Eastin, Charles Hoyes, & Art LaFleur), it captivated me with every viewing. In 2011, I took the next step with my fellow baseball-loving brothers and made the trek to Dyersville, Iowa to visit the field itself! I was of course taller than the corn (a Bailey Ober problem), but it was a wonderful experience taking some BP and shagging some balls on that beloved field-amongst-the-stalks. Just like James Earl Jones’ deep baritone intoned, “people will come”—the whole time we were there cars pulled in and out with license plates from coast to coast and north to south. There was a group who flew in from Japan to see the field!
Recently, I’ve connected with the film in more oblique ways. When I watch the performance of Amy Madigan as Annie Kinsella—especially in this scene—I can’t help but think that her fiery messages are perhaps more relevant now than the times in which writer/director Phil Alden Robinson crafted them. I also read this book from Dwier Brown, who portrayed—Spoiler Alert!—the young John Kinsella in the movie’s climax. Initially thought of as a relatively small role to jump-start his acting career, Brown found people coming up to him in public weeping—pouring out their stories of re-connecting with their own fathers after watching his scene with Costner. That’s powerful stuff. I can understand why. I consider this to be one of the best sequences in motion picture history. When Ray & John begin tossing the sphere around and James Horner’s soaring score kicks in as Annie turns on the floodlights—it’s goosebumps and tears every time:
I love that Major League Baseball has re-connected with this strong film connection by doing these Field of Dreams contests sporadically starting in 2021. Yes, it is a publicity-generating ploy. Yes, it is now behind the Netflix paywall. But there’s a magic in what the movie conveys that transcends all of that. Is this heaven? No, it’s Iowa—and your Minnesota Twins are battling the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2026 MLB at Field of Dreams game.
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