Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson ended a memorable and emotional night in the cornfields outside Dyersville, Iowa with a walk-off two run homer off Yankees reliever Zack Britton, as Chicago beat New York 9-8 in the first annual “Field of Dreams” game.
At a field constructed by Major League Baseball just to the east of the famed site of the 1989 movie that starred Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta, Amy Madigan, and James Earl Jones, as 7,832 fans watched the first ever MLB game played in the state of Iowa.
The White Sox, leaders of the American League Central, seemed to have the game under control in the late innings, with the combination of power hitting from the likes of Jose Abreu, Seby Zavala and Eloy Jimenez giving Chicago a 7-4 lead heading into the top of the 9th, with All-Star closer Liam Hendriks taking the baseball.
However, the Yankees, in dramatic fashion, got two-run homers by sluggers Aaron Judge (his second of the game) and Giancarlo Stanton, taking an 8-7 advantage.
The game was heavy on nostalgia, as Costner opened the night walking out of the cornrows beyond the right-center field fence, checking out the atmosphere for a few moments, then watching as the players from the Yankees and White Sox, just as Shoeless Joe Jackson did in the film, made their way out of the corn and onto the playing surface with a ghost-like quality.
Commissioner Rob Manfred, with his latest idea to renew interest in “America’s Pastime” deemed a rousing success, promised a return to the “Field of Dreams” in 2022, with teams in the game yet to be announced.
Both the Yankees and White Sox have a rare Friday off in their schedules, an idea built in for both in case rain had postponed Thursday’s game in the Iowa corn. The teams will continue their three game series on the south side of Chicago on Saturday night, with Jameson Taillon pitching for the Yankees against Dylan Cease of the White Sox.
