The New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox will match against each other before an expected 8,000 fans at the corn field in Dyersville, Iowa. Thursday night will be the first time a Major League Baseball will be played at this field.
The game will begin at 7:15 p.m. ET on Fox, with a 1-hour pregame show starting at 6 p.m. ET.
The corn field was the setting for the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams.” The movie’s main character, Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner), hears voices in the corn field that tell him to build a baseball field there.
“If you build it, he will come,” says the voice.
Kinsella convinces his wife to let him build a baseball field so it can bring disgraced baseball star “Shoeless” Joe Jackson back to life so he can play ball again. Jackson (played by Ray Liotta) eventually shows up, and then brings along the other seven Chicago White Sox players who threw the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.
Kinsella went on the road to bring back an author (played by James Earl Jones) and the younger version of a deceased baseball player from the 1920s. During that time, the eight White Sox players brought players from other teams to the field so they could have a real game instead of just practices.
The field in Iowa was designed after the Comiskey Park field where the White Sox played their games from 1910-1990. The White Sox on Thursday will wear jerseys that reflect the early 20th century uniforms (sans the Nike swoosh).
Lance Lynn will be the starting pitcher for the White Sox, and Andrew Heaney will take the mound for the Yankees. The game is still meaningful as well. The White Sox (67-48) lead the AL Central by 11 games over the Cleveland Indians. The Yankees (63-51) are six games back in the AL East behind the division-leading Tampa Bay Rays.
Fans attending the game Thursday night will make their way to the field through a pathway of corn.
Other unique games for MLB include an annual game in Omaha, Nebraska, to kick off the College World Series, and they hold another game in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, during the Little League World Series.
The field in Dyersville has been a popular tourist attraction over the last 30 years, and there have been exhibition baseball games played there. But Thursday will be the first time that major leaguers take that field.
