Opinion: You can make friends and chase memories at Field of ...

OPINION|

In the spring of 1989, toward the end of my eighth-grade year and before my growth spurt, “Field of Dreams” released. The baseball-ish movie featured Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Amy Madigan, Ray Liotta, and, for 10 minutes, Dwier Brown. I don’t actually remember the first time I saw the movie.  

I find that fact humorous.

The first time I visited the Field of Dreams Movie Site in Dyersville, Iowa, I went with Dad. It was 2018 and thoroughly in the middle of my first catch-playing year. We headed north through Kansas City and watched the Royals lose a game on the way. We went at the invitation of Akron, Ohio journalist Bob Dyer who was connecting me to one of his readers, Stan Sipka, also known as “the old guy who walks along the beach carrying gloves asking people to play catch with him.”

I find that fact humorous, too.

Jamie, my wife, accompanied me on my most recent visit to the Field of Dreams Movie Site. We went to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the movie and to participate in the “largest game of catch” on the field as part of the premiere of a new movie, “Rally Caps.”

We toured the famous renovated white farmhouse (saw my book on the bookshelf!) and sat on the porch swing together. While we were there, I played catch and made so many new friends.

Friends like Garry. Garry’s dad passed away a couple of years ago. Garry has the newspaper clipping of the day his dad caught Satchel Paige in a barnstorming game. Garry also has the invitation his father received to attend “spring training” in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The invitation was signed by Honus Wagner. It was fun listening to Garry share those memories.

Friends like Minnesota Twins fans, John and Suzanne. I politely interrupted their game of catch so I could join in. Suzanne played first base and used the same first base mitt model Twins’ great Kent Hrbek used. So, I threw her short hops and watched her scoop and pick every single one with a smile and without missing a beat. Then, I played catch with John as he told me the story of the complete game shutout he pitched his senior year of high school. Playing catch is a great way to make and share memories.

It was just like James Earl Jones — who died Sept. 9 — as Terence Mann said, “The memories will be so thick, they’ll have to brush them away from their faces.” (Jamie and I heard him say this on the VHS movie played on the TV in the house as part of the tour.)

Before the on-field, under-the-stars screening of “Rally Caps,” Coach Ballgame hosted a Sandlot Clinic, with the help of several of the Ghost Players. Coach Ballgame, also known as James Lowe, travels the country conducting Sandlot Clinics, teaching life lessons through baseball and educating those new to the game about the heroic Roberto Clemente. With humor and story and interactive exercises, Coach Ballgame celebrates the joy of every ballplayer, regardless of their baseball ability.

During the Sandlot Clinic, Tim and Bigby Suddarth showed up. I first played catch with Bigby during my original catch-playing year and wrote about him in the book. I last played catch with Bigby at my second visit to the Field of Dreams Movie Site in 2021.

Coach Ballgame encouraged every participant to tell him their nickname, so he could get to know them better. Bigby’s nickname should be “Iron Man.”

He’s had four open-heart surgeries and is waiting for the call to go to Philadelphia for a 10-plus hour surgery to repair some of the after-effects of his latest heart surgery. Tim and Bigby met us at the field so we could make new memories together.

Like running the bases and playing ball in Coach Ballgame’s Sandlot Clinic.

Like playing catch on the field during the largest game of catch and exploring the famous outfield-fence corn.

Like talking about all the important things in life — movies and books and fifth-grade teachers and being 10 years old.

Bigby hasn’t yet seen “Field of Dreams,” so he doesn’t fully understand the significance of the place where we played catch. He doesn’t know the question Kevin Costner asked Dwier Brown that tugs on the heart strings of practically every person who has ever watched the movie — “Hey! Dad? You want to have a catch?”

But that doesn’t mean he won’t remember the afternoon we spent together playing ball under the late-summer baby blue Iowa sky.

Ethan Bryan

Ethan D. Bryan is convinced baseball tells the best stories. His baseball stories have landed him an invitation to the White House for the Kansas City Royals’ World Series celebration, a trip to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and a couple of appearances on ESPN. The author of a dozen books including A Year of Playing Catch, Ethan lives in Springfield with his wife, Jamie, and warms benches in the Grip’N’Rip Baseball League every fall. More by Ethan Bryan