Over the course of the sun's setting on Dyersville, Iowa, Thursday night, it became evident that Major League Baseball could use the "Field of Dreams" ties like training wheels.
The movie was absolutely necessary for the conception of the idea. The White Sox and Yankees wouldn't have played a game in Dyersville, or maybe anywhere else in Iowa, had "Field of Dreams" never existed. If MLB announced a game in Keokuk because it'd be a nice change of pace, I don't think it'd be enough to support an entire primetime broadcast's efforts. The film, despite flaws that are more evident 30 years later, still has enough cachet to hang real baseball upon.
But while you can argue Kevin Costner's presence was necessary to introduce the game to a national audience, the broadcast didn't need his assistance for a full inning during. By that point, the visuals were already intoxicating enough. The park looked beautiful in the afternoon ...
... it was watercolor material at dusk ...
... and it was especially striking at night. Before Tim Anderson lit up the sky in his own way, my favorite shot of the Fox broadcast centered on Craig Kimbrel's introduction.
Six years before the White Sox threw the 1919 World Series, they circled the globe in an offseason baseball diplomacy trip with another New York team (the Giants). It included a stop in Ottumwa, Iowa, and I imagine this is what it might've looked like.
With exceptions of course. The White Sox and Giants had to call games by dusk, both for visibility purposes and to adhere to train schedules, while the White Sox and Yankees had MLB-grade lighting for as long as they needed.
* * * * * * * * *
There's also the matter that a player who looked like Tim Anderson wasn't allowed to play in the original version of those uniforms 102 years ago, which is one of many reasons why it so striking that he decided the game on Thursday night.
Anderson was involved in both the marketing and anti-marketing of the game. In his first comments about the game, he and CC Sabathia didn't so much rag on the film as they did the general concept of expecting Black people to have seen it.
He didn't make a point to catch up during the months in between, and even after he ended the game with a walk-off homer into the corn, he didn't sound especially moved.
Anderson’s wife has seen the movie, he said, but he never has. Would he watch it now, as the star of its revival?
“I might, I don’t know,” he said, smiling. “But I gave everybody a memory tonight, definitely. To leave a mark is a great accomplishment for me and I’m thankful for that moment, for sure.”
Nobody needs to force "Field of Dreams" upon him when he's doing his own incredible things with the game, and I think there's a larger lesson here.
Baseball's going back to the well with another Field of Dreams Game next year, but it's hard to imagine another game surpassing Thursday night's drama and narrative power. Not only did the game have six ninth-inning runs and two lead changes, but think of who was involved. I can't think of a better example of past-meeting-present than Anderson exchanging haymakers with Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton on farmland.
Baseball might've needed Costner to introduce this game, but it got a gift when those three closed it. Major League Baseball has an opportunity to keep spinning it forward.
You read the coverage of the local excitement in Iowa, you watch the unfamiliar surroundings turning professional athletes into goober tourists, and you get the idea that baseball could generate similar success with a domestic barnstorming tour elsewhere. They could support rehabilitation efforts of Negro Leagues parks like Rickwood Field or Hinchcliffe Stadium, or they could hire location scouts to figure out where else they could establish temporary fields with incredible backdrops. With Major League Baseball pulling out of so many areas via contraction of the minor leagues, it could be another way to repair those inroads.
And even if you can't count the number of fans created by playing baseball in a place it normally isn't played, "put your best teams and most dynamic players in the most picturesque environments possible" sounds like a winning strategy on its own.
* * * * * * * * *
While Tony La Russa had to miss the game due to unfortunate circumstances (the funeral for his brother-in-law), the White Sox benefited from his absence on the stage. It makes sense that national broadcasts from Fox and ESPN would want to tell his story, because it's a central theme of the season, but it's the rare story that's better told instead of shown. Audio and visuals don't really do much for him.
Were La Russa in the dugout, Fox cameras probably would have returned to him time and time again, given the booth had a St. Louis guy in Joe Buck, and analyst John Smoltz played for a La Russa and shares Hall of Famer status. With the relatively unknown Miguel Cairo at the helm, La Russa's part in the proceedings had to be told through the prism of his players, with Buck using Anderson's description of "Tony's like the dad, and we're like the kids; we're like the bad kids that don't listen."
It might not tell the whole story, but it's accurate enough for how entertaining it is, and better in both aspects than a drop-in crew could do on its own. And when you think about all the people who tuned into the game and getting their first look at these White Sox, you'd rather let the obvious talent and on-field charisma of Anderson, Eloy Jiménez and Michael Kopech do the talking. They're a way better use of cameras and microphones.
(Photo by Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports)
