Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks was on a Zoom call with reporters Monday promoting Thursday’s game in Dyersville when he started talking about things he wanted to do while visiting the “Field of Dreams” movie site.
Yes, even the players feel like tourists this week in Iowa.
Hendriks, who will be with the White Sox for the game played at a specially constructed park near the iconic diamond from the 1989 movie, explained how he wanted to walk through the cornfield and onto the field like the film’s famous ghost players.
Actor Dwier Brown, who was also on the call and plays one of those players in the movie, then chimed in. Brown played Kevin Costner’s father in the film.
“I would be careful, Liam, because I know a lot of people walk into that corn and disappear,” Brown joked with a laugh.
Hendriks smiled. The right-handed reliever hopes to make the most of his brief time in rural northeast Iowa this week when the New York Yankees and White Sox come for MLB’s first regular season game in the state’s history.
“It’s not every day you get a chance to be the first-ever major league game in a state,” Hendriks said. “So that’s kind of cool. Hopefully I don’t suck and give up the first homer in Iowa.
The game, which was announced back in 2019, was originally scheduled to be played in 2020. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MLB canceled the game and rescheduled it for 2020. It’ll be unlike many of MLB’s other special event games like their game in Fort Bragg in 2016 and their trips to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, during the Little League World Series.
Bob Costas: ‘Field of Dreams’ movie ‘stays with you’
Sportscaster and baseball historian Bob Costas shares his observations from his first visit to the Field of Dreams on June 13, 2014, outside Dyersville, Iowa.
The Yankees and White Sox are both flying into Dubuque on Thursday and then busing to the movie site for that night’s game. They’ll then pack up after the game, they’ll bus back to Dubuque and fly out to Chicago to continue the remainder of their series. It’s an unusual setup for any regular season schedule, especially this late in the year and for two teams in the postseason hunt.
But Hendriks said it doesn’t bother him.
“Some of the other guys were concerned about the travel and stuff like this but a lot of the guys were just excited because it’s something that breaks up the monotony of the day-to-day,” Hendriks said. “You get a chance to go to a place where you may not visit.”
Previous ‘Field of Dreams’ coverage:
That’s what appeals to Hendricks, an All-Star closer from Australia who grew up watching the movie starring Costner, James Earl Jones and Ray Liotta. Hendriks didn’t know much about baseball then but was intrigued watching the ghost players walk in and out of the Iowa cornfield. Those scenes still resonate with Hendriks. He even joked this week about wanting to get lost in the cornfield maze MLB has carved out with its logo leading fans to the field.
“I may need to have like a flare gun or something like that just in case I get lost and I need to start pitching,” Hendriks said.
Field of Dreams isn’t the first special MLB event game
MLB officials hope other players enjoy the movie site as well. They’ve encouraged players to watch the film before Thursday and have built in time for players to walk around the movie site. It’s a similar schedule MLB has had for some of its other special event games including the one at Fort Bragg.
The Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins played a regular season game at the active military base in North Carolina. FOX analyst A.J. Pierzynski, who will be in Dyersville this week, was a catcher for the Braves at the time.
Pierzynski said players packed parachutes and got to hang out with military members before the game.
“Everybody that went to Fort Bragg had the best time,” Pierzynski said. “I still talk about that all the time.”
That’s why Pierzynski jumped at the opportunity to come work this week’s game in Dyersville. Hendriks said he hopes to have the same sort of memorable experiences.
“I love these series,” Hendriks said. “I think they just bring so much to the game and they’re bringing global awareness to it. I guarantee you this is going to be reaching different countries all over the world and some people out there are now going to be looking into baseball and seeing what they can do to get into it.”
How to watch: Didn’t get a ticket to the Field of Dreams game? Here’s where you can watch it on TV
Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018 and 2020 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468. Follow him on Twitter @TommyBirch.