"Field of Dreams" The love of baseball that heals life's setbacks and pain

“The story behind” the baseball stadium

A touching finale that shows people visiting the baseball stadium, as if guided by a voice that says, ``If you build it, he will come.'' There was a "later story".

About 150 miles northeast of Des Moines, Iowa, lies the small town of Dyersville. As you drive through a gravel road lined with dazzling green corn and peanut fields on the eastern edge of town, you'll see outdoor lights for night games jutting out from the fields. After passing another road for about 200 meters and crossing a stream, you will see a white house and cedar trees standing on a gentle grassy hill in front of you. At the foot of the hill, corn as tall as a man has been cut to form a fence, and a green baseball field spreads out, and when you look down on the field from your porch, you can see people playing catch. The scene is straight out of a movie.

Yes, the baseball field where the film was filmed still remains in the vast cornfield. In the adjacent Left & Center Field of Dreams gift shop, memorabilia was on display, as well as small pieces of paper with visitors' names written on top of a map of the United States taped to one corner of the wall. There were 100 pins pinned up. Kevin Costner's return visit in 2006 became a hot topic, and in 2014, a program celebrating the 25th anniversary of the film's release was recorded here.

"Field of Dreams" (C) 1989 Universal City Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

When the building was opened with the intention of being demolished someday, tens of thousands of fans came from all over the world to see the movie, and we were told that it was decided to leave it as is. However, the land on which the baseball field was built had different owners, and at one point there was a threat to its continued existence due to rights issues. It has been open for free for over a year.

When I visited in 2010, this baseball field was open from 9am to 6pm every day from April 1st to November 30th. Grass baseball games are held on the weekends, and the Great Show on Dirt, held on the last Sunday of every month during the summer, entertains visitors as uniformed players emerge from cornfields. was.

The land was acquired in 2016. The purchasers were Mr. and Mrs. Stillman, who live in Chicago and head an investment group. The first movie they saw on a date was ``Field of Dreams.'' A large baseball facility was constructed with the aim of preserving the stadium. It is fully equipped with accommodation facilities, a training room, and a field for Little League. The design is such that children, a generation who have never heard of this movie, will enter the field through a cornfield.

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