MLB Network shines light on Waukee family's baseball backstory

A Waukee family was thrust into the spotlight last week as Major League Baseball hosted its second regular-season game at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville.

Dan and Barb Mullenbach were at the Field of Dreams to watch their son, former Waukee High star Matt Mullenbach, pitch in the first minor-league baseball game held at the site. MLB Network interviewed Dan, a former starting pitcher for Buena Vista University, about the family’s connection to Dyersville and America’s pastime.

“Barb and I were engaged in Dyersville during the summer of 1989,” Dan said. “I was working with Norwest Financial in Chicago, while Barb was teaching kindergarten in Wesley. On several weekends that summer, we met at the midpoint, which was Dyersville.”

Dan pitched for one of the town teams at the time, the Dyersville Whitehawks.

“The story was that baseball and Dyersville came full-circle for our family,” Dan said, explaining MLB Network’s interest in the Mullenbachs. “Barb and I were engaged in Dyersville as I was playing baseball. And then, 33 years later, we came back to Dyersville, to the Field of Dreams, to watch our son as he continues to chase his dream of pitching in the major leagues.”

Matt threw one inning of scoreless relief in the game on Tuesday, Aug. 9, for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, a Class A minor-league affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. He is a 2015 graduate of Waukee High and competed collegiately for Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee. Since 2021, Matt has been with the Twins organization, the Mullenbachs' favorite team.

More: Dyersville basks in attention of Field of Dreams game, but small-town baseball fever is year-round

“Matt’s first word was ‘ball,’” said Dan, who majored in finance and banking at Buena Vista and spent the first 11 years of his career in Chicago. He and Barb eventually settled in Waukee. In addition to Matt, they have a daughter, Maddie, who plays lacrosse at Old Dominion University.

Barb teaches kindergarten for the Waukee Community School District. Dan works for the Jeff Johnson Insurance Agency in Waukee. He also serves as a collegiate and high school baseball umpire. He has worked the Class 3A and 4A state baseball tournament the past two seasons.

“Since the high school baseball season ended, Barb and I have been going to as many Cedar Rapids Kernels games as possible,” he said. “The team’s games are streamed, so we do get to watch Matt pitch. It’s been a lot of fun watching him compete. Seeing him pitch at the Field of Dreams was really a highlight. The field is amazing. It has a major-league feel and yet it’s also an intimate setting; you’re right on top of the action.”

Interestingly, the day Matt pitched marked the family’s first visit to the iconic Iowa site, the farm where “Field of Dreams” was filmed in 1988. The movie was released in May 1989. Dan and Barb became engaged at the American Legion Post 137 in downtown Dyersville that summer.

Was baseball involved in his proposal? Well, maybe, in just one way: As he popped the question, Dan presented Barb a ring, which of course featured a diamond.

Tim Gallagher, assistant director of communications at Buena Vista University, started his career at The Storm Lake Times and served as columnist at the Sioux City Journal for 19 years.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: MLB Network shines light on Waukee family's baseball backstory