DYERSVILLE, Iowa — On July 13, the Sugar River Bombers-Nationals (12U) baseball team won the Field of Dreams tournament on the movie set in Dyersville, Iowa. In a season with its ups-and-downs, the boys saved their best for last, the coaches said.
Each summer, Dyersville runs youth tournaments where families travel to the infamous cornfield-turned baseball diamond which was the movie set for the 1989 film starring Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta, and James Earl-Jones.
Unfortunately for the Bombers, a severe storm cancelled the skills event, meaning the only way they could play on the movie set was to make the championship of the tournament. Leading up to the tournament semi-finals, the Bombers beat teams from Ohio, Colorado, and Minnesota. They won the semifinal game in the bottom-half of the last inning on a walk-off squeeze bunt. They earned their chance to play on the movie set field, but they weren’t done yet.
In the championship game against the West Dubuque Bobcats, the Bombers took an early 2-0 lead which held until the last inning where the Bobcats tied the game in the top-half 2-2. The Bombers came to the plate with a chance to win the game in their last at-bat. Like the previous game, bases were loaded with one-out. The Bombers executed another successful squeeze bunt to take the lead and win the championship. Players, coaches, and family celebrated on the field under the lights with pictures, smiles, and shiny rings the tournament gives to the winning team.
The Sugar River Bombers organization has been supporting youth baseball and softball in the Green County area since 2020. They thank the many generous donors who allow experiences like this for youth athletes.
In the film Field of Dreams, the main character Ray Kinsella (played by Costner) hears “voices” which inspire him to tear up his crop and build a baseball diamond. Ghosts emerge from the corn to play baseball, notably the players of the 1919 Chicago Black Sox who were banned from baseball due to allegedly receiving money from gamblers for throwing the World Series that season against the Cincinnati Reds. One of these ghosts, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson (played by Liotta), brings other ghosts to the Field of Dreams to play the game they missed so much.
The climax of the movie has Costner’s character having a catch with his deceased father, who was one of the ghosts on the field. The father died with the two having a strained relationship. The phrase, “If you build it, he will come,” the notable line of the movie, leaves the viewers teary-eyed as they understand the seemingly crazy notion of building a baseball field in a corn field was all for this emotional ending.
Visiting the field in present day, visitors will see kids and adults alike playing catch in the outfield surrounded by tall corn, pick-up baseball games on the diamond, visitors sitting on the porch of the farmhouse featured in the film, and shoppers buying memorabilia. The allure of the tournament is that all teams get to participate on the movie set in a skills competition on the field featured in the movie.
