On This Date in Sports: April 21, 1989: It's Not Heaven, It's Iowa
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
“Field of Dreams”, one of the most beloved baseball films of all-time get released in theaters. The movie tells the story of an Iowa farmer who plows over to build a baseball field after hearing a ghostly voice. This leads to the ghosts of “Shoeless Joe Jackson” and the rest of the 1919 Chicago White Sox who were banned from the game playing on his field.
The movie was based on the book “Shoeless Joe” written by W.P. Kinsella in 1981. The movie was produced by Lawrence and Charles Gordon and released by Universal Pictures. The Director was Phillip Alden Robinson, who was unhappy that the studio changed the title of the movie from “Shoeless Joe” to Field of Dreams. Ironically, the publisher wanted to title the book “The Dream Field” and it was changed to “Shoeless Joe”
Kevin Costner, a veteran of baseball movies past, having played Crash Davis in “Bull Durham” was cast in the lead as Ray Kinsella, a married farmer with a young daughter who plows over his farm in Iowa to build a baseball field, after hearing a ghostly voice say, “Build it and he will come”. Amy Madigan was cast as his wife Annie Kinsella, while Ray Liotta plays the spirit of Shoeless Joe Jackson, who later brings the rest of his teammates from the 1919 Chicago White Sox that were banned for throwing the World Series.
“Field of Dreams” was released six months after “Eight Men Out” the movie that told the story of the Chicago White Sox and the 1919 World Series. How a handful of players accepted money to throw the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds after Owner Charles Comiskey failed to pay promised bonuses. One of the players who was caught in the web was Shoeless Joe Jackson, one of the top hitters in baseball history, ranking third all-time with a batting average of .356. Despite having the highest average in the series and the only home run, Jackson was still named a conspirator after he signed a confession. Jackson, who did not know who to read had been tricked into signing the document. Although the players were found not guilty in court Jackson, along with Eddie Cicote, Lefty Williams, Buck Weaver, Happy Felsch, Chick Gandil, Swede Riseburg and Fred McMullin were banished from baseball by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis.
As the bank and his brother in law threatened to foreclose on his farm, Ray Kinsella hears the voice again, sending him on a mission to find the reclusive author Terrance Mann. In the book the author, Kinsella had sought was J.P. Salinger, who wrote: “Catcher in the Rye”. However, upon hearing of the film’s production Salinger a recluse, threatened a lawsuit causing the creation of the fictionalized Terrance Mann, portrayed by James Earl Jones. An interesting side note, was in the scenes of Costner and Jones at Fenway Park, were two extras who would become Hollywood stars, named Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.
Kinsella and Mamm both see a message and hear the voice again referring to an old baseball player named Moonlight Graham. Graham had appeared in just one game in the majors with the New York Giants and never had an at-bat. On the way home, they run into a young version of Graham and bring him to play with the now growing group of ghosts playing on the field.
The end of the film reveals one of the players to be Ray Kinsella’s father, who he had a falling out with. At the end of the film, James Earl Jones gives a great monolog about baseball, and how it belongs to the generation, as the people begin coming to the field to watch baseball and celebrate the game, allowing Kinsella to keep his farm and his field.
The movie was made on a budget of $15 million and made $84.4 million in the box office. In an example of art imitating life, at the end of the film, Ray’s daughter and Terrance Mann say, “People will Come” (to see the field). The field for the film was actually built in the middle of an Iowa cornfield in Dubuque County. One of two farmers that owned the properties kept the field intact after the movie was released. This led to the field becoming a tourist attraction from baseball fans and the movie. As of 2009, an estimated 65,000 people had visited the farm, with a souvenir shop helping to fund the project, with people acting out the roles of the ghost and celebrities occasionally making an appearance. The farm was sold for $3.4 million in 2011. The company that made the purchase add several improvements and provided tours of the film, increasing visitors to 100,000 every year.