The Cubs and Reds will take part in the 2022 Field of Dreams Game, but it will not be held at the iconic field.
Instead, MLB will return to the stadium it constructed last year not too far off from the original ballpark from the 1989 film “Field of Dreams.”
Fans that head out to Dyersville, Iowa, can still walk over to the original field that brought Shoeless Joe Jackson out of the cornfields. And the players will still play with their backs to a cornfield as the outfield has chain link fence and windows that see through to several acres of corn.
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The Sporting News has you covered with all the information you need to know about the park where the teams will play on Thursday.
Where is the Field of Dreams Game field?
- Location: Dyersville, Iowa
The Cubs and Reds will face off against one another in Dyersville, Iowa, in a ballpark built next to the original "Field of Dreams" diamond. The temporary stadium can hold 8,000 spectators.
The design of the park will connect both the 1919 White Sox and the film. The park is designed similar to Comiskey Park and will have windows in the outfield that show the corn field in right field. There is a path running through the cornfield that connects the "Field of Dreams" field with MLB's stadium for the game.
For those wondering why the game will not be played on the actual field from the movie, the reason is simple: it doesn't fit MLB guidelines. According to MLB.com, it would not fit typical MLB dimensions and there would be too many baseballs getting lost in the cornfields.
The Field of Dreams website lists the infield as having MLB regulation size basepaths and mound-to-plate distances, but the outfield is 300 feet to left, 350 feet to center and 315 feet to right. By comparison, Fenway Park, the oldest stadium in baseball, is 310 feet to left — albeit, with the Green Monster — and 302 feet to right with a 390-foot distance between true center and home plate.
If every baseball that went unfielded rolled into the corn for a ground-rule double or simply flew out for a home run, the ERAs for Cubs starter Drew Smyly and Reds counterpart Nick Lodolo — along with several relievers — would certainly be sky-rocketing during the game.
Dreaming about tomorrow. 🌽 #MLBatFieldofDreams pic.twitter.com/Cs1VCZoMC6
— MLB (@MLB) August 10, 2022
How big is the Field of Dreams stadium?
Major League Baseball built an entirely new stadium for last year's inaugural game between the Yankees and White Sox. When the Cubs and Reds take the field, they will be playing in a park that extends 335 feet to left and right field, 400 feet to center and 380 feet to the power alleys, according to MLB.com .
This stadium compares most similarly to Busch Stadium (336 to left, 400 to center, 335 to right) and Truist Park (335 to left, 405 to center, 325 to right) among the current fields.
The stadium was designed to resemble Comiskey Park, but the dimensions do not mirror those of the original or remodeled stadium. The original Comiskey Park, which opened in 1910, went 363 feet out to either foul pole and 420 feet to center. That would have been the most spacious MLB stadium in today’s game. The 1986 edition went 347 feet to either end and 409 feet to center, which also would have been among the largest stadiums in 2022.
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Original Field of Dreams dimensions
One of the reasons MLB is not playing the game in the original ballpark is because of how small it is.
When Ray Kinsella built his field, he was clearly hoping for a hitter-friendly environment. The park goes 300 feet to left field, 350 feet to center and 315 feet to right field. The left and center field distances would both be the shortest in the majors, while 315 feet to right is the fourth shortest, behind only Dodger Stadium (300), Fenway Park (302), Oracle Park (309) and Yankee Stadium (314). Plus, without a fence in the outfield, anything hit hard into the gap would seemingly be destined for a ground-rule double. This game would wind up as a high-scoring affair if it was played on the current Dyersville, Iowa field.
If fans want to check out the original park, however, they can walk through a path in the cornfields from the temporary stadium out to the park of the movie set. Visitors have been coming to the field since 1989 at no charge. They can walk out on the field, take a tour of the Lansing Family Farm House that eventually became home to the Kinsellas.
