The intersection of the iconic movie and a legendary baseball game with my dad. A primer for next week's episode featuring Jay Crawford.
Art by Pete Whitehead
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Story performed by: Aaron Calafato
Audio Production: Ken Wendt
Original Art: Pete Whitehead
Music Contributor: thomas j. duke
Podcast Coordinator: Cori Birce
Creative Consultant: Anthony Vorndran
TRANSCRIPT
FieldofDreams(7MS Team Pick).mp3 - powered by Happy Scribe
Hey, it's Cori, I'm doing this intro because Aaron tried recording a bunch of times and ended up turning it into a story of its own instead of an intro, so I had to step in. Today, we are re airing one of Aaron's most popular stories called Field of Dreams. It's about the intersection of that movie and one of Aaron's favorite memories of a baseball game with his dad. But we're re airing this for a reason. It's going to be a primer for next week's episode featuring seven minutes with Jay Crawford.
Jay is formerly of ESPNand is now back near us in his native Ohio working for Cleveland's NBC affiliate WKYC. Next week, you'll hear Jay share a story about his father and Cleveland baseball. All I can say is it's really heartfelt and you won't want to miss it. One last thing, and this is something Aaron insisted I do when he originally told the story you're about to hear. He made a minor statistical error. When he says Grand Slam, it was actually a base hit, but the result was the same.And the story is delightful. Please enjoy Field of Dreams.
The night before we went to see the Cleveland Indians play baseball, my dad said, you have to watch this movie called Field of Dreams. I know you probably watched when you were a kid, he said, but now you're coming of age. I was almost 15 years old and he said there's a meaning in it, that as you grow up and become a man, that you're going to understand and so I did I watched the movie and I was inspired by it.
I loved it. I didn't know exactly what he was talking about. But what I did know was how fired up I was that the next day, just me and my dad, we were going to go see the Cleveland Indians play baseball on a school night. Now, the 1995 Cleveland Indians were a powerhouse of a team, incredible team. They were winning. The team had just moved into a new stadium recently. The conditions were right for an incredible evening.
And I remember it like it was just yesterday, finding my glove, putting my baseball cap on my glove so I can catch foul balls and getting in the car with my dad as he drove us north on Interstate 71, about 20 minutes to Cleveland. And we parked the car a coup le of blocks away. My dad just handed over the money and we start walking and become part of this living crowd. It was like a voyage to Mecca and we navigated our way through the downtown streets up to this beautiful stadium.
You could see the the lights and the manicured grass and the seats filling up. It was going to be a sold out night. And you could hear the sounds and the laughing of the kids and and families and the excitement in the air. And I remember standing in line with my dad and he said, don't forget your ticket stub. Always keep it. So you remember this night? And we walked in through the gates and we found our seats.
It was like a stadium for the common people because there were no bad seats in the stadium. And we were in the bleachers and we were sitting there. And from the beginning of the game, from the national anthem to the first inning, my dad walked me through this experience and he told me about balls and strikes and he told me about how to steal and when to swing and the pitcher's strategy. And he even explained what a bock was. I had no idea what that was.
And he he walked me through what it was like for him coming downtown as a kid and watching these games. And now we're watching the Cleveland Indians. And by the way, I had my little program that he bought me. I knew all of the Indians. I mean, Omar Voskuhl, Carlos Ariga, Kenny Lofton, my favorite, Albert Bell, Paul Sorento, Dennis Martinez, Orel Hershiser. I mean, the list went on. And I just remember looking at their profiles when they came up to bat and the innings passed and you could just hear the sounds in the stadium, crackerjacks, peanuts, hot dogs, beer guy and the Indians were in a back and forth game.
It was an incredible game and I'm cheering for them. And we get to the the seventh inning stretch and I stand up with my dad and we're singing Take me out to the ball game. Take me out with the crowd. Everybody joins them. There's goose bumps on my arm. Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack. I don't care if I never get back. Let me root, root, root for the home team. If they don't win, it's a shame.
And the whole crowd together for us. One, two, three strikes. You're out at the old ball game. And as the game got later, the Indians were tied up and it ended up going extra innings. It was incredible. It was like the thirteenth inning and my dad was like, maybe we should go home. I said "Please, Dad, don't let's not go home. Let's stay." And at the bottom of the thirteenth ending, the bases were loaded and Kenny Lofton was up to bat.
He was not a power hitter and he was down 0 2 in the count. And the pitcher threw a meatball over the plate and Kenny Lofton turned and crack and the ball, flew out of the stadium. It was a grand slam to win the game. It was a walk off. And everyone was cheering we're like, yeah, oh, my God, we're hugging each other. And there's peanuts and popcorn flying in the air. And my dad's high fiveing people and hugging people.
I turned to my dad and I high five them and he smiles at me and I hug my dad. I hug my dad and we walk out with the rest of the fans out to the cars to drive back home. And as my dad drove us out of the city, down the highway towards home, I felt as if I had one of the most magical nights of my life. And I leaned my head against the car window as we passed all the street lamps on the highway and there light bent in through the car.
And it was like I was hit by lightning. I remembered so clearly this speech that I saw in the movie Field of Dreams that my father made me watch the night before. And it was the speech delivered by James Earl Jones, the actor. He played a character named Terrence Mann. And Terrence Mann is talking to another character, Ray Kinsella, played by Kevin Costner. And Terrence Mann in this speech is trying to talk about the potential of this baseball field that Ray has built in the middle of Iowa.
And the speech on this drive home not only clicked, but I understood exactly what it meant. And Terrence Mann says to ray. He says "Ray people will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom, they'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. they will, arrive at your door as innocent as children longing for the past. Of course, we don't mind if you look around, you'll say it's only twenty dollars per person and they'll pass over the money without even thinking about it, for it is money they have and peace they lack.
And they'll walk out to the bleachers and sit in short sleeves on a perfect afternoon and they'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines where they sat, where they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they've dipped themselves and magic waters, the memories will be so thick, they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come, Ray. The one constant through all the years Ray has been baseball, America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers.
It's been erased like a blackboard rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that was once good and could be good again. Oh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come." And just as that last line. Went through my head, we pulled into my driveway and my dad parked the car and the lights from the floodlight in and the garage light kind of illuminated the entire driveway.
And I was inspired. I didn't want to go to sleep. And I was holding the glove that I had taken to the game. And I got out of the car and my dad got out of the car at the same time. And as he was about to go inside, I looked at him and I just said something that came to mind "I said. Hey, Dad. You want to have a catch?" And he looked at me. As if he had seen a ghost. And he smiled.
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