DYERSVILLE, Iowa — The “Field of Dreams” hit the theaters in 1989 with Kevin Costner starring in a movie that underscored the beauty of baseball. Joy and I watched the movie on television and loved it.
That led to us squeezing in a trip to the “Field of Dreams” complex during our golf/travel writing trip through the Midwest in 2022. The game between two major league teams was played twice before the complex underwent a renovation that included the expansion of the stadium seating capacity to 8,000.
The Chicago White Sox beat the New York Yankees 9-8 in 2021 and the Chicago Cubs defeated the Cincinnati Reds 4-2 in 2022 before the complex was upgraded. The years without a game only heightened our enthusiasm for its return, which came on Thursday, August 13, 2026. We watched it on Netflix three days later and we were again captivated by it.
The second game festivities included a golf outing played at nearby Eagle Ridge, in Galena, IL., and we encouraged our friends there to get that outing back on their calendar whenever the “Field of Dreams’’ games resumed.
Game 3 — this one a 7-1 win by the Philadelphia Phillies over the Minnesota Twin – was a must-watch for us. The teams’ entrance to the field, along with that of 26 Hall of Famers, through the cornfield was a perfect way to start the game and the other special touches added so much to the production.
Eagle Ridge has been an annual trip for us in recent years, and we’ve since become friends in Florida with a couple that had lived in Dyersville. Next stop for us must be watching a “Field of Dreams’’ game in person. Hopefully we can make it happen soon.
