In Year 2, Field of Dreams game between Cubs, Reds offers more baseball magic
DYERSVILLE — Following up last year’s unforgettable classic between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox at the "Field of Dreams" movie site and trying to top it was an impossible task for Major League Baseball, FOX Sports and the two new teams playing.
They sure tried.
Chicago starter Drew Smyly tossed five shutout innings as Cubs beat the Reds 4-2 before a sellout crowd of a 7,823 fans in rural Dyersville, a few hundred yards from where the 1989 baseball classic was filmed. While the game or the pageantry of the night wasn't to the impossible scale of last season's walk-off White Sox win, it still had its share of success.
The fun started Thursday evening when former Reds star Ken Griffey Sr. and his son Ken Griffey Jr., two baseball legends, walked out of the northeast Iowa corn and into the outfield grass and started playing catch. They were joined by adults and kids who tossed baseballs around as the Cubs and Reds exited the corn. The two teams walked to the infield with several of the organization's legends, including Johnny Bench and Fergie Jenkins. Bench caught the first pitch thrown by Jenkins.
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It was follow-up to last season's pre-game festivities that included actor Kevin Costner, the star of the film, strolling out of the corn and onto the field. Costner, who walked around the outfield, was followed out of the corn by the Yankees and White Sox. That was just the start of the show. The two teams put on a great game with a back and forth battle that ended with White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson ripping a walk-off homer into the corn and the crowd erupting sports euphoria.
This year, there was a tribute to late actor Ray Liotta, who played “Shoeless” Joe Jackson in the movie. Costner narrated a video that played in honor of Liotta who died in May. There was also a hologram of late Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray, who died in 1998, signing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."
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Most of the action in the game came early. The Cubs took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on three-straight hits by Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner. Nick Madrigal extended the lead to 4-0 in the second on an RBI single.
Smyly, who walked around the mound and soaked up the scenery before the game, delivered a strong start. The lefty struck out nine and allowed just four hits. It wasn't until Smyly excited the game the the Reds finally got going.
Matt Reynolds ripped a two-run double off Cubs reliever Michael Rucker in the seventh to pull the Reds to within 4-2 of the Cubs. Cubs reliever Brandon Hughes stopped the comeback by retiring the next three hitters to strand Reynolds.
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MLB's second showing in Dyersville will be its last, at least for a bit. Baseball legend Frank Thomas, who is part of the group that owns and operates the site, said earlier in the week that MLB won't be able to come back in 2023 due to construction on a youth baseball and softball complex at the site. A return in 2024 hasn't been ruled out.
Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018 and 2020 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468. Follow him on Twitter @TommyBirch.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Field of Dreams game between Cubs, Reds offers more magic in encore
