Will they come to Field of Dreams? - Albany Times Union
Farming town hoping Yanks-White Sox is on
Scott McFetridge, Associated Press
Dyersville, Iowa
Spurred by a voice telling him, "If you build it, he will come," the Iowa farmer played by Kevin Costner dutifully carved a baseball field out of his cornfield and then watched as Shoeless Joe Jackson and his Chicago White Sox teammates strode out of the stalks and onto the Field of Dreams.
Major League Baseball is building another field a few hundred yards down a corn-lined path from the famous movie site in eastern Iowa but unlike the original, it's unclear whether teams will show up for a game this time as the league and its players struggle to agree on plans for a coronavirus-shortened season.
The owners of the Field of Dreams and residents of the farming community of Dyersville desperately hope so, saying that after months of isolation and loss caused by the virus, not only their area but the entire country could use a boost like seeing the scheduled Aug. 13 game between the New York Yankees and White Sox go ahead as planned.
Major League Baseball announced plans for the game nearly a year ago. As commissioner Rob Manfred said in announcing the game, "We look forward to celebrating the movie's enduring message of how baseball brings people together at this special cornfield in Iowa."
But more than two months after the league's scheduled opener in March, no games have been played and no one knows for sure if there will be a season, much less a contest in a cornfield. That has Dyersville Mayor Jim Heavens a little down, not only because of the missed economic boost for his city of 4,000 but because of the chance the game offered to show the world his town.
"These are uncharted waters for everybody," said Roman Weinberg, the director of operations for Go the Distance Baseball, the company that now owns the Field of Dreams site. "We're all in this together and we understand that. We understand the best choice for Major League Baseball in 2020 comes first."
1of9Visitors play on the field at the Field of Dreams movie site, Friday, June 5, 2020, in Dyersville, Iowa. Major League Baseball is building another field a few hundred yards down a corn-lined path from the famous movie site in eastern Iowa but unlike the original, it's unclear whether teams will show up for a game this time as the league and its players struggle to agree on plans for a coronavirus-shortened season. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)Charlie Neibergall2of9Visitors play on the field at the Field of Dreams movie site, Friday, June 5, 2020, in Dyersville, Iowa. Major League Baseball is building another field a few hundred yards down a corn-lined path from the famous movie site in eastern Iowa but unlike the original, it's unclear whether teams will show up for a game this time as the league and its players struggle to agree on plans for a coronavirus-shortened season. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)Charlie Neibergall3of9Light stands in the distance from a field being built by Major League Baseball can be seen as a corn plant grows at the Field of Dreams movie site, Friday, June 5, 2020, in Dyersville, Iowa. Major League Baseball is building the field a few hundred yards down a corn-lined path from the famous movie site in eastern Iowa but unlike the original, it's unclear whether teams will show up for a game this time as the league and its players struggle to agree on plans for a coronavirus-shortened season. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)Charlie Neibergall4of9An Iowa flag waves in the wind over the field at the Field of Dreams movie site, Friday, June 5, 2020, in Dyersville, Iowa. Major League Baseball is building another field a few hundred yards down a corn-lined path from the famous movie site in eastern Iowa but unlike the original, it's unclear whether teams will show up for a game this time as the league and its players struggle to agree on plans for a coronavirus-shortened season. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)Charlie Neibergall5of9Mayor Jim Heavens talks about a Major League Baseball game scheduled to be played at a field under construction near the Field of Dreams movie site, Friday, June 5, 2020, in Dyersville, Iowa. Major League Baseball is building the field a few hundred yards down a corn-lined path from the famous movie site in eastern Iowa but unlike the original, it's unclear whether teams will show up for a game this time as the league and its players struggle to agree on plans for a coronavirus-shortened season. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)Charlie Neibergall6of9The Field of Dreams movie site, rear, is seen as construction of a baseball field continues, Friday, June 5, 2020, in Dyersville, Iowa. Major League Baseball is building the field a few hundred yards down a corn-lined path from the famous movie site in eastern Iowa but unlike the original, it's unclear whether teams will show up for a game this time as the league and its players struggle to agree on plans for a coronavirus-shortened season. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)Charlie Neibergall7of9Jeremiah Bronson, of Ames, Iowa, plays catch with his sone Ben, right, on the field at the Field of Dreams movie site, Friday, June 5, 2020, in Dyersville, Iowa. Major League Baseball is building another field a few hundred yards down a corn-lined path from the famous movie site in eastern Iowa but unlike the original, it's unclear whether teams will show up for a game this time as the league and its players struggle to agree on plans for a coronavirus-shortened season. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)Charlie Neibergall8of9Light stands from a baseball field being built near the Field of Dreams movie site, rear, are seen, Friday, June 5, 2020, in Dyersville, Iowa. Major League Baseball is building the field a few hundred yards down a corn-lined path from the famous movie site in eastern Iowa but unlike the original, it's unclear whether teams will show up for a game this time as the league and its players struggle to agree on plans for a coronavirus-shortened season. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)Charlie Neibergall9of9Traffic is seen on main street in Dyersville, Iowa, home to the Field of Dreams movie site, Friday, June 5, 2020. Major League Baseball is building another field a few hundred yards down a corn-lined path from the famous movie site in eastern Iowa but unlike the original, it's unclear whether teams will show up for a game this time as the league and its players struggle to agree on plans for a coronavirus-shortened season. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)Charlie Neibergall
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