'It's unbelievable here': Field of Dreams trip wins over big-league baseball players — again

DYERSVILLE — About five hours before first pitch of Thursday night’s game at the “Field of Dreams” movie site, Chicago Cubs pitcher Drew Smyly strolled out to the mound.

Smyly, the starting pitcher for the Cubs, was in full uniform as he stood on the bump and looked around the empty park long before fans arrived.

“Just trying to take it all in,” Smyly said.

Before walking away, Smyly snapped a few photos on his smartphone. It was a moment worth capturing and a day worth remembering. Smyly and his teammates tried to make the most of those opportunities before Thursday night’s game with the Cincinnati Reds on a ballpark located just short walk away from the diamond from the famous 1989 movie.

“It’s just a very unique experience — something that all of us probably won’t get to experience again,” Smyly said.

More: The Field of Dreams game is here. Follow for live updates of Cubs vs. Reds in Iowa.

The Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees were the first two teams to experience it when they played in a memorable showdown last season. A pair of Iowa minor league teams, the Cedar Rapids Kernels and Quad Cities River Bandits, took the field Tuesday.

Thursday was all about the big-leaguers, though.

The two teams flew into an airport in Dubuque earlier Thursday and bussed to Dyersville early Thursday afternoon. Iowans greeted them by holding signs up along the road. The Reds, who had a flight delay getting to Iowa, were late arrivals to Dyersville and didn't have much of a chance to soak up the corn-flanked scenery before the game.

But the Cubs did.

Players, coaches and front office members marveled at the park they were playing in as they walked out of the makeshift clubhouse behind the dugout. Cubs president Jed Hoyer, attended last season's game with his sons as a fan, walked around outside the dugout with one of his boys.

"It was really cool," Hoyer said of last year's experience. "I'm so glad our players get a chance to experience it."

They got the full tourist experience. After taking a team picture, Cubs players and coaches walked through the corn in right field and onto a gravel path that took them to the movie site field.

Star Cubs catcher Willson Contreras, the subject of trade rumors at the deadline, was thankful to still be around with the Cubs and experience the day.

"I was looking forward to seeing the site," said Contreras, who played in Des Moines with the Iowa Cubs during his Minor Leagues day.

More: 'These guys are magicians': Meet the brothers behind the corn at the 'Field of Dreams' site

Players stopped along the way and posed by pictures with cutouts of themselves and asked even staff members if they could grab corn from the field to eat.

Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman, a photographer in his spare time, brought his camera along for the trip and snapped images of his teammates as they toured the site and walked around the iconic house.

"Just out there trying to capture the moment," Stroman said.

It was such an exciting time that Cubs manager David Ross said he ran out to the field for the team photo. A few members of his staff played catch on the infield of the movie site diamond.

It was a day they had been waiting for, ever since MLB announced last year that the Cubs and Reds would be coming for this year's jewel event.

"I woke this morning feeling a little bit different," Reds manager David Bell said.

It was an opportunity that may not come around again. Hall of Famer Frank Thomas, who is part of the new ownership group of the site, said MLB won't return for a third-straight season in 2023 because of construction on some youth baseball and softball fields being put up.

MLB could return in 2024, of course. But nothing is guaranteed.

And a return for any player or any team may not happen. So Thursday was the time to soak up every moment for the Cubs and Reds.

On the field.

And in the corn.

Smyly was called up to start Thursday in one of the biggest games of his career on one of baseball's biggest stages.

"It's unbelievable here," Smyly said.

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: MLB Field of Dreams experience impresses Cubs, Reds baseball players