People Will Come - Field of Dreams Week
People will come, Ray
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.
I tried to make sure that I wasn’t the worst player there
The national attention started with the Barstool Barn Burner game that Tim played in on July 31st. This game featured amateur players who were drafted out of a pool of almost 2,000 video submissions. With a little help from Moonlighters JJ Redick and JD Scholten, Tim went from finalist, to alternate, to an 11th hour addition to the roster. With just two day’s notice, Tim made some final preparations to make sure the arm was in shape and he was ready to go for the game. Tim ended up playing in left field and pitching one inning in a winning effort for former big leaguer Dallas Braden and the Red Line Radio team. The teams were a mix of talent from indy ball, former college players, and the JUCO Bandit, Moonlighter Eric Sim. That game took place on the actual movie site field, just a few hundred yards away from where the MLB game will take place this week.
Des Moines Register writer Tommy Birch joined Tim to talk about the main attraction coming up this week. The Yankees and White Sox are coming to town after the game being delayed a year and influenced in all sorts of ways by Covid. The two talk about everything from the origins of the game, the creation of the field, and what to watch for in the game.
The MLB built it and more than 8,000 people are coming
The much anticipated MLB game will be nationally televised on Fox and will be arguably the biggest baseball event in Iowa history. Perhaps no Iowan has been closer to this process than Tommy Birch. Birch has been reporting on this game since before it was officially announced. The curveballs for this game have included changing teams, a year postponement, and current Covid threats including several players testing positive. But in just a few days, roughly 8,000 fans will be paying about $1,400 on average for a chance to see Ray Kinsella’s dream come to fruition.
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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?