Where is the Field of Dreams Game located? Everything to know about MLB’s movie-inspired stadium
The Cubs and Reds will compete in the 2022 Field of Dreams Game, but it will not be played on the Legendary Field.
Instead, MLB will return to the stadium it built last year, not far from the original stadium featured in the 1989 film Field of Dreams.
Fans traveling to Dyersville, Iowa can still go to the original field that brought Shoeless Joe Jackson out of the cornfields. And players will still be playing with their backs to a cornfield, as the outfield has a chain link fence and windows looking through to several acres of corn.
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The Sporting News provides you with all the information you need to know about the park where the teams will play on Thursday.
Where is the Field of Dreams pitch?
- Location: Dyersville, Iowa
The Cubs and Reds will battle it out in Dyersville, Iowa at a ballpark built next to the original “Field of Dreams” diamond. The temporary stadium holds 8,000 spectators.
The park’s design connects both the 1919 White Sox and the film. The park is designed similar to Comiskey Park and will have windows in the outfield showing the cornfield in the right field. A path runs through the cornfield connecting the Field of Dreams field to MLB Stadium for the game.
For those wondering why the game isn’t being played on the actual field from the movie, the reason is simple: it doesn’t follow MLB guidelines. According to MLB.com, it would not fit within typical MLB dimensions and there would be too many baseballs lost in the cornfields.
The Field of Dreams website lists the infield with MLB base paths and hill-to-plate distances, but the outfield is 300 feet to the left, 350 feet to the center, and 315 feet to the right. In comparison, Fenway Park, the oldest stadium in baseball, is 310 feet to the left – albeit with the Green Monster – and 302 feet to the right with a 390 foot distance between true center and home plate.
If every baseball that didn’t stay on the field rolled into the corn for a ground-rule double or just flew out for a home run, the ERAs for Cubs starter Drew Smyly and Reds counterpart Nick Lodolo — along with several assists — would certainly skyrocket during the game.
dream of tomorrow 🌽 #MLBatFieldofDreams pic.twitter.com/Cs1VCZoMC6
— MLB (@MLB) August 10, 2022
How big is the Field of Dreams stadium?
Major League Baseball built an all-new stadium for last year’s inaugural game between the Yankees and White Sox. When the Cubs and Reds take the field, they will play in a park that stretches 335 feet to left and right field, 400 feet to center and 380 feet to Power Alleys, according to MLB.com.
This stadium is most similar among current fields with Busch Stadium (336 left, 400 center, 335 right) and Truist Park (335 left, 405 center, 325 right).
The stadium was designed to resemble Comiskey Park, but the dimensions do not reflect those of the original or remodeled stadium. The original Comiskey Park, which opened in 1910, stretched 363 feet out to each foul pole and 420 feet to the center. That would have been the roomiest MLB stadium in today’s game. The 1986 edition went 347 feet at both ends and 409 feet at the center, which would also have been among the largest stadiums in 2022.
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Original dimensions of Field of Dreams
One of the reasons MLB doesn’t play the game in the original stadium is how small it is.
When Ray Kinsella built his pitch, he was clearly hoping for a hitter-friendly environment. The park is 300 feet to left field, 350 feet to center and 315 feet to right field. The distances at left and center field would both be the shortest in the majors, while 315 feet to the right is the fourth shortest, behind only Dodger Stadium (300), Fenway Park (302), Oracle Park (309) and the Yankee stage (314). . Also, without a fence in the outfield, anything hit hard in the gap would seemingly be destined for a ground-rule double. This game would turn into a high-scoring affair if played on the current field of Dyersville, Iowa.
However, if fans want to explore the original park, they can walk from the makeshift stadium to the film set’s park via a path in the cornfields. Visitors have been coming to the field for free since 1989. You can walk into the field, take a tour of the Lansing family farmhouse that eventually became the Kinsellas’ home.