Baseball in the Cornfield

Sam Burnham, Curator

​The Marietta Daily Journal has reported that the “Field of Dreams” game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox had the highest TV viewership of any other regular game since 2005.

The two teams wore their old traditional uniforms and entered the field through the cornfield led in dramatic fashion by Kevin Costner channeling his old Ray Kinsella character.

They built it. They put a baseball stadium in a cornfield in rural Iowa and, just like Terrance Mann said, people did definitely come. People watched it on TV. People have been tweeting, talking, and writing about it for days. This country is giddy with it.

The is certainly fueled by the movie. But people are hungry for this stuff. There is so much rotten going on in the world right now. People want something beautiful, something sentimental, something nostalgic. Play baseball in the corn and they flock to it. This world can be better than we’re making it right now.

This is bigger than the game. It’s bigger than the movie. To borrow another quote from the film, “ There comes a time when all the cosmic tumblers have clicked into place - and the universe opens itself up for a few seconds to show you what's possible.” That’s what this moment was...even if it was just for a moment.

So, having seen this phenomenon...what is possible? What else should be held on a farm or in a small town? What else would inspire people if it were brought out of the smog covered city and displayed alongside organic beauty?