Tickets prices have reached the thousands as fans are set to convene at a specially built Major League Baseball field near the location of the original Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, Iowa.
On Thursday at 8 p.m., the New York Yankees will take on the Chicago White Sox at the cornfield-flanked arena, which can host 8,000 people. The remaining seats at the custom venue range from roughly $1,500 to $5,000 per ticket, a review by the Washington Examiner found.
Passes to the game, which was initially hampered by the coronavirus pandemic when it was set to take place in 2020, were divvied up via a lottery to several lucky winners in the Iowa area. From July 16 to July 23, those interested could enter the drawing, provided they could produce a ZIP code proving residence in the state. The process did not mention if fans were required to be vaccinated.
Dyersville, a small town nearly 200 miles from the state’s capital of Des Moines, has a little over 4,000 residents.
MLB RATINGS HAVE DROPPED OFF FROM A STRONG START
The event stems from the 1989 hit movie Field of Dreams, starring Kevin Costner as a farmer who built a baseball stadium that attracted the ghosts of deceased legends in the sport. The film was based on W. P. Kinsella’s 1982 novel Shoeless Joe, a reference to baseball great Joe Jackson, who adopted the nickname.
Costner was seen in recent footage captured by the MLB making rounds through the stadium in an homage to the movie’s famous quote, “If you build it, he will come.”
If you build it, he will come.
Kevin Costner has returned. #MLBatFieldofDreams pic.twitter.com/CbUusN1175
— MLB (@MLB) August 12, 2021
Costner is expected to attend the game on Thursday and will be joined by Dwier Brown, who played John Kinsella in the film. Frank Whaley, the young version of Moonlight Graham in the movie, will not be able to make it, and it is unclear if Ray Liotta, another one of the movie’s leads, will be in attendance.
Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said the team is filled with “absolute excitement” ahead of the contest.
“It’s a great idea,” Boone said Wednesday. “Obviously, a huge movie in American history, and certainly, especially, when it comes to our national pastime. So, I think the idea, when I first heard about this a couple years ago, before COVID hit, obviously we were scheduled to go there last year, there’s absolute excitement.”
Andrew Heaney, who is slated to pitch for the New York sports team, said he’ll likely watch the iconic film before he takes the mound.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“I had the VHS tape. I watched it a few times,” he said. “Honestly, [I haven’t seen it] since I was a kid. Probably going to rewatch it tonight. Got a night to watch it, I figure that’s appropriate.”
“It’s going to be really cool,” he added. “Never been there, never seen it — seen the movie, but I don’t think I’ve ever played baseball in Iowa, or I don’t think I’ve gotten to play in any of the special events games for MLB either, so that’ll be fun.”
