If there’s any film I watch over and over again when Major League Baseball season begins, it’s “Field of Dreams."
From its nostalgic look at baseball’s golden era to its poignant final scene to the main character’s deep passion for America’s pastime, the 1989 classic gets me ready to enjoy a sport that has been close to my heart since I was a kid.
Starring Kevin Costner as Ray Kinsella, an Iowa farmer, “Field of Dreams” lives up to its title when a mysterious voice beckons Ray with the mantra of, “If you build, he will come.”
With unwavering faith, Ray transforms his cornfield into a baseball diamond, drawing the ghosts of legendary players — and ultimately, confronting his own past. The film isn’t just about baseball; it’s about dreams, redemption, and the unbreakable bond between fathers and sons.
Every Opening Day, as a fresh season begins, I go back "Field of Dreams," reminded of why the game still feels magical. If you stream it, I will come.
A story of dreams, family and baseball
After Ray hears the mysterious voice tell him "“If you build, he will come," he does decide to build it, plowing his corn field to create a baseball diamond complete with bright light and mowed grass.
What is most surprising to Ray, and the audience, is how the field attracts the ghosts of dead baseball players, such as “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and Mel Ott.
More cryptic messages inspire Ray to seek out reclusive author Terrence Mann, played by the late James Earl Jones, and to later search for baseball player and doctor Archibald "Moonlight" Graham.
Along the way, we learn how Ray’s fractured relationship with his father motivates him to craft the diamond, driven by memories of playing catch with a parent whose presence still lingers at the back of his mind.
Ray ends up re-connecting with the young version of his late father John (Dwier Brown) who also emerges from the cornfield. The two lob a ball to each other during the last scene, an emotional moment than still gets me verklempt, to borrow a Yiddish phrase.
The movie's last magic and timeless dialogue
“Field of Dreams” swirls with a dreamy, magical quality that few sports films brought to the screen in the ‘80s. It was less a ghost story and more a story about reconnecting with the past, following your dream and immersing yourself in baseball’s wonder.
There’s something about seeing 1919 Chicago White Sox players play baseball in a 20th-century diamond that invokes in me a sense of camaraderie: "Getting a ragtag game going with friends, or watching Opening Day with my family, makes me feel part of a wider tradition whose past informs the present."
I’ll also admit it’s simply cozy to watch these players play ball in contrast to today’s era dominated by high-speed analytics and repetitive instant replays. It was a simpler time back then.
The film’s dialogue continues to stay with me. Ask any “Field of Dreams” fans which part of the movie really sticks with them, and they'll likely point to the stirring monologue delivered b Jones' Mann:
One of the other well-known lines comes in a conversation between Joe Jackson and Ray. Jackson asks him, “Is this heaven?” Ray answers, “No, it’s Iowa.”
Graham’s conversation with Ray also graces the film with an evocative touch, a glimpse into what baseball means to so many of us. He says, “This is my most special place in all the world, Ray. Once a place touches you like this, the wind never blows so cold again. You feel for it, like it was your child.”
Whether you’ve watched the film dozens of times like I have, or you’re coming to “Field of Dreams” for the first time, give it a watch and I guarantee you’ll view the upcoming MLB season through a new lens, one refracted with a shimmering, almost ghostly light.
Rent/buy "Field of Dreams" on Amazon or Apple
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