Major League Baseball Returns to Dyersville’s Field of Dreams on Thursday Night

Major League Baseball returns to Dyersville for the first time in four years on Thursday night.

The Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies will play at the movie site’s new professional baseball stadium right next to the farm and original field. Jeremiah Yolkut – senior vice president of global events for Major League Baseball – says the setting drives home what the movie was all about.

Yolkut says there’s “real plumbing” at the site now, a reference to restrooms for fans in the stands – plus permanent locker rooms for the players.

Yolkut says Major League Baseball worked closely with Dyersville Events as they were designing the ballpark.

The dimensions of the field for the Major League games staged in Dyersville in 2021 and 2022 are the same, but the stadium is no longer temporary. Murray Cook, the Official Field Consultant for Major League Baseball, says a farm property has been turned into a Major League venue.

In addition to Thursday’s Twins-Phillies game, events at the field started Tuesday with a Triple-A game featuring the Iowa Cubs and St. Paul Saints. The High School All-American game will be played in Dyersville on Wednesday in front of a crowd of scouts.

The games today and Wednesday will be shown on the MLB Network, while Thursday’s Twins-Phillies game will be on Netflix. And Gabe Spitzer, Vice President of Sports for Netflix, says Kevin Costner, the star of the movie, will be part of the broadcast in some way – but he isn’t confirming whether Costner will be on the field.

Spitzer suggests the goal is not to overshadow the game that will be played on the field.

Friday has been reserved on the schedule for a make-up game if there’s bad weather Thursday.

And local people hired for the “tarp crew” started their training this past weekend. Major League Baseball officials say 25 Hall of Famers will be at the Field of Dreams game, the largest gathering of Hall of Famers since the 2008 All-Star game. 

story courtesy of Radio Iowa