Ep 74: The man who brought the Ghost Players to life - Keith Rahe
If you build it, Keith will keep it going
Keith Rahe is perhaps the most important name related to the Field of Dreams brand after Kevin Costner and W.P. Kinsella. Keith lived right next to the site where the movie was filmed. And when the actors and crew were gone, Keith Rahe kept the Ghosts alive.
In honor of the Fort Dodge Gypsum Eaters being brought back from the dead by Tim Flattery and the Flattery men taking on the Kent Buccaneers, Tim welcomes Keith Rahe, the creator of the Ghost Players team, to the podcast. Keith formed a team of Dyersville and Dubuque County guys who took up the Ghost Players banner and spread the name around the country and the world.
Keith literally took care of the field after filming was completed. After vandals stole bits of movie history like home plate and the pitcher’s mound, Keith helped repair the field and pulled the weeds that started that had started to pop up. When people started showing up wanting to play catch or get a few pitches thrown their way, Keith and his buddies played along. A little girl who saw them emerge from the corn called out, “it’s the ghost players!” and the legend was born. Twenty-nine years later, Keith and the Ghost Players still put on four Ghost Sundays a year. Fans come from around the country and around the world come to Dyersville, IA, to see the show.
The story of how the Ghost Players got their start is amazing. A headline in the Cedar Rapids Gazette brought hundreds of people to the Field of Dreams to see the Ghost Players. Keith and his team have received all kinds of invitations to bring the Ghost Players to life. They’ve been asked to put on shows, put on clinics, play against the Kansas City Royals alumni in Kansas City, multiple tours of Japan, and even a USO tour around the world.
Keith and the Ghost Players bring former MLB stars to the Field of Dreams almost every year, and Kevin Costner also comes back for special events, making Dyersville, IA, a destination for every baseball fan.
Keith Rahe’s passion for baseball and the Field of Dreams film come through in how he tells the stories of the Ghost Players and his travels with the team. Fans of the game and the film alike will love this week’s interview. Enjoy episode 74 with a living ghost, Keith Rahe.
As the Des Moines area gears up to host the production of the new Field of Dreams show, Tim and Neil discuss the next era of the film's saga.
We are still riding high from the Field of Dreams game. This week, Tim sits down with NBC Chicago’s Alyssa Bergamini who covers the Chicago White Sox to get an insider’s look at how the players felt about the field, Iowa, and the amazing finish to the game itself. Also in this episode is an update on the Quest for Costner and the upcoming Field of Dreams streaming TV series.
This week the dream comes true. As the White Sox and Yankees pack up and head for home, Tim and Neil get to reflect on one of the most amazing sporting events to ever take place in Iowa. The Field of Dreams movie site went through a roughly 2-year transformation to become the home of a major league-caliber baseball field. Tim and Neil spent the day with 8,000 of their new best friends taking in the sights, sounds, and tastes of something Ray Kinsella could’ve only dreamed of.
It is Field of Dreams week here in Iowa. Major League Baseball is following in the footsteps of the ghost players and will be walking out onto a diamond carved out of a corn field in eastern Iowa. Before the Yankees and White Sox take the field, the Moonlight Graham Show sits down with Moonlighter Tommy Birch and talks about the long road to bring the big league to Dyersville and the Barstool Barn Burner game. This is a huge week in baseball as all eyes turn to Iowa and 30 years after the movie came out, we are ready.
Everyone knows about his short-lived Major League career, but Archibald Graham has so much more to his story. In this episode, Tim and resident historian Tom take a deep dive into Archibald Moonlight Graham’s legacy. We know of Moonlight Graham because author W.P. Kinsella came across a random entry in a baseball encyclopedia, but the good people of Chisolm, MN celebrate Doc ‘Moonlight’ Graham Days each year to celebrate so much more than baseball.
This week’s Moonlighter is the Director of Operations at the Field of Dreams Movie Site. In addition to the rest of his duties, Roman Weinberg has played a critical role in one of the biggest sporting events in Iowa history that hasn’t even happened yet. The New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox are supposed to face off on a field carved out of an Iowa cornfield, just like Ray Kinsella built. However, with COVID-19 and the entire MLB season up in the air, even if they build it, they might not come.
In this interview, Tim and Dwier explore the behind-the-scenes notes and insights that make Field of Dreams so special. Everything from working with the cast, the cast and crew bowling team, filming in Dyersville, and nearly 30 years of hindsight on one of the greatest sports movies of all time.
The Moonlight Graham Show started as a discussion between brothers and has reached a high point with the Fort Dodge Gypsum Eaters coming to life in the form of the Flattery lineup. Ranging in age from 68-19, the Flattery men came together in Dyersville, IA, to take on the Kent Buccaneers. Just like in the movie, the game was about far more than baseball.
Keith Rahe is perhaps the most important name related to the Field of Dreams brand after Kevin Costner and W.P. Kinsella. Keith lived right next to the site where the movie was filmed. And when the actors and crew were gone, Keith Rahe kept the Ghosts alive.
This year, Tim and Neil were not able to attend the big game in Dyersville, so they had to bring in a reliever. Who better to serve as the Moonlight Graham Show’s first unofficial correspondent than one of Iowa’s favorite role players, Moonlighter Nick Collison?