Field of Dreams

 Kevin Costner, the actor, was born in 1955 in Lynwood, CA.  As a young man, after a chance encounter on a commercial airliner with Richard Burton, the actor, he decided to pursue an acting career.  Costner has been in three films with a baseball theme.

In 1988, Costner portrayed Crash Davis, a veteran minor league baseball player in the film Bull Durham, which also starred Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins.  The title refers to the name of the team, the Bulls, located in Durham, NC.  

For six years, I lived in nearby Chapel Hill.  With my friend and fellow baseball fan, Bob Duprez, I once attended a Durham Bulls home game.

My favorite quote from the movie is when Crash, while at bat, calls time out and goes over to the bat boy for a rag to wipe his bat.  

Bat boy:  Get a hit, Crash.

Crash:  Shut Up.

In 1989, Costner played Ray Kinsella, an Iowa farmer, in the film Field of Dreams, which also starred Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, Dwier Brown and Burt Lancaster (in his last movie).  Walking through his cornfield one day, he hears a mysterious voice say, "If you build it, he will come."

Build what?  Who is he?  Ray sees a vision of a baseball diamond in the cornfield and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (a former baseball player who in real-life died in 1951) standing in the middle.  Ray plows under part of their corn crop to build a baseball field at risk of financial hardship.

Some time later, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) walks out from the remaining cornfield and asks if other (dead) ballplayers from his era (1908-1920) can join him and play on Ray's baseball diamond.

It turns out it wasn't "Shoeless" Joe Jackson who was the he, as in "he will come."  It was Ray's father, John Kinsella (Brown).  

John had been playing catcher and when he removed his mask, Ray recognizes his late father as a young man.   As John begins to head towards the cornfield, Ray, calling him "Dad", asks if he wants to have a catch. John gladly accepts. 

This scene brings to my mind the many times I played catch with my son Bret when he was a boy.  Ray and I shared a love for the game of baseball which can bring together fathers and sons.  

In 1999, Costner starred in the film For Love of the Game as major league pitcher Billy Chapel near the end of his career.  The beloved announcer Vin Scully portrayed himself while broadcasting the game Chapel was pitching against the New York Yankees.

Chapel pitches a perfect game (27 batters, 27 outs) and then retires from professional baseball.  From 1880 until today, there have been only 23 perfect games in Major League Baseball.  A rare event!