In 1989, a film studio built a ball field in an Iowa cornfield. Soon, Major League Baseball will come.

The “Field of Dreams” movie set in Dyersville, Iowa, will host the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox for a 2020 regular-season game, MLB announced Thursday.

The league will build a temporary 8,000-seat stadium adjacent to the field where, in the film, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Smoky Joe Wood, Mel Ott and Gil Hodges walked out from the acres of corn to play ball one last time beneath “a sky so blue it would hurt your eyes just to look at it,” as Burt Lancaster’s character, Moonlight Graham, said.

 

“Field of Dreams,” adapted from W.P. Kinsella’s 1982 novel “Shoeless Joe,” is a fantasy-sports drama starring Kevin Costner as a struggling farmer who plows over part of his cornfield at the risk of foreclosure to reconnect with the game of his youth. It was nominated for three Academy Awards and was preserved in 2017 by the Library of Congress for “cultural, historic and aesthetic importance.”

Construction will begin next week, according to a league news release, and the two teams will play on Aug. 13, 2020. The contest will count as a Chicago home game.

Advertisement

MLB chose the White Sox to play at the famous field because of the team’s connection to the movie via the Black Sox scandal. Fox will broadcast the game nationally.

The ballpark’s design will mimic Chicago’s Comiskey Park, home of the White Sox from 1910 to 1990, with its outfield shape and bullpens beyond the center-field fence.

The wall in right field will include windows so fans can see the cornfield outside the stadium. Fans will walk through a pathway through that field, where the corn tops measure more than 9 feet tall, to reach the ballpark.

INDIANS: Ace Corey Kluber pitched three innings in a minor league rehab start on Thursday, the most significant outing since a line drive broke his right forearm three months ago.

Kluber, who was hit May 1 in Miami, allowed two home runs and threw 41 pitches for Triple-A Columbus in a game against Pawtucket. He struck out two, walked one and retired his final five batters.

The two-time Cy Young winner remains hopeful he can return to Cleveland’s rotation this season.

Advertisement

ASTROS: The Houston Astros will extend the protective netting at Minute Maid Park to cover more of the seating area, joining other teams that have taken safety measures after foul balls injured fans.

The team announced the extended netting would be installed before the homestand starting Aug. 19. It will run farther down the left-field and right-field lines to better protect fans from foul balls and bats that fly out of hitters’ hands.

A 2-year-old girl suffered a skull fracture when she struck by a foul ball during a May game in Houston. off the major league lead – when the bullpen blew its 21st save. That’s tied for the most in the majors with the A’s.

METS: The New York Mets signed free agent right-handed pitcher Brad Brach and optioned left-hander Donnie Hart to Triple-A Syracuse.

New York also transferred outfielder Brandon Nimmo to the 60-day injured list with a neck injury.

The 33-year-old Brach, a 2016 All-Star with Baltimore, has a career 3.32 ERA with 33 saves over nine major league seasons with the Padres, Orioles, Braves and Cubs.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.