They have built it, and they have come.
On Thursday, Major League Baseball will hold the highly anticipated "Field of Dreams Game" in Dyersville, Iowa between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox. The game is a living tribute to the iconic 1990 film Field of Dreams that starred Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, and Ray Liotta.
More than 30 years since its debut, the classic tale of baseball nostalgia is one of the most heartwarming sports stories of all time. The film chronicles a mid-American family treading financial waters who build a baseball field on their Iowa cornfield property open to the outcasts, innocents, rich, poor, old, and young, simply for the love of the game.
The matchup marks the first Major League game played in Iowa and features the Yankees and the White Sox, as consistent with the film.
The White Sox, whose star player was "Shoeless" Joe Jackson in the movie, will be the home team. Both clubs will fly to Dubuque, Iowa, bus 25 miles to Dyersville, and receive private tours of the movie site and stadium. The teams will wear retro uniforms meant to reinvoke the throwback nostalgia of America's pastime.
The Field of Dreams Game was announced in 2019 and originally scheduled to be played in August 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MLB postponed the contest until today.
Kevin Costner, an avid baseball fan himself, has been in Iowa for several days now, admiring the recreation of his famed film set.
If you build it, he will come.
— MLB (@MLB) August 12, 2021
Kevin Costner has returned. #MLBatFieldofDreams pic.twitter.com/CbUusN1175
Kevin Costner, who played farmer Ray Kinsella, emerged from the dugout and onto the sacred field to once again "have a catch."
The Chicago White Sox sport their former pinstripes, a replica of ones worn by Ray Liotta and his teammates in the film.
The Field of Dreams diamond truly is in the middle of nowhere. With only 8,000 seats in the stands, the field is surrounded by miles of Iowa cornfields.
The @whitesox have emerged from the 🌽#MLBatFieldofDreams pic.twitter.com/x6rE3L3buW
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 12, 2021
Looking more like the 1920's White Sox than the 2021 Chicago team! The players have taken the field in their new gear.
Aaron Judge's custom cleats for #MLBatFieldofDreams tonight 👌
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 12, 2021
(via @MLB) pic.twitter.com/sQhBsN2GVn
Yankees star player Aaron Judge designed his own special cleats for tonight's game, featuring famous quotes from the movie and players disappearing into the mysterious cornfields.
Who wouldn't want to have this backyard?!
The New York Yankees are prepared to "go the distance" and battle it out with the White Sox sporting their own retro uniforms.
The first pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET on FOX.
