A Primer on Iowa Baseball
If you build it… and heavily promote it, nationally televise it, run countless ads leading up to it, and turn an otherwise normal regular season ballgame into a spectacle… they will come. That’s what MLB hopes will happen, anyway. The Field of Dreams Game, in which the Chicago White Sox “host” the New York Yankees, will commence on Thursday, August 12 in a literal Iowa cornfield.
MLB has played regular-season games in other exotic locales such as Tokyo, London, and Mexico City, all of which have a population more than twice as large as Iowa’s 3.16 million. This isn’t about expanding to a new audience; it’s a ploy for movie nostalgia. Part of the advertising around the event includes “first-ever MLB game in Iowa.” However, MLB is a small fraction of the greater baseball universe. Here is some background info on the game itself as well as baseball in the Hawkeye State.
Iowa Baseball History
The Field of Dreams Game is only considered the first major league game in Iowa on a historical technicality. The National Association, which existed from 1871-1875, is a source of debate among historians over whether it counts as the first major league. The Keokuk (IA) Westerns finished in last place in the NA in 1875 with a 1-12 record, including 1-7 at home. Depending on your opinion of the league’s status as “major,” these could be considered the first eight major league games in Iowa.
Even if it isn’t Iowa’s first major league game, the state has a long history with independent and minor league baseball. As per Baseball-Reference, 170 clubs based in 31 different Iowa cities have played 848 seasons in total. The most notable Iowa team is the Iowa Cubs, Chicago’s triple-A affiliate since 1981. The Des Moines-based franchise is one of seven currently active minor league clubs in the state. Here are some of the more ridiculous team names:
- Charles City Tractorites (1917)
- Davenport Onion Weeders (1888)
- Des Moines Prohibitionists (1888-1890, 1894-1897, 1904)
- Des Moines Underwriters (1905)
- Fort Dodge Gypsum Eaters (1904)
- Swing of the Quad Cities (2005-2008)
- Waterloo Microbes (1904-1906)
Several Negro Leagues also made their home in Iowa. The Algona Brownies were one of the best ballclubs in the early 20th century. The Cedar Rapids Colored Giants enjoyed a long, successful run from 1909-1937.
Blackouts
Are you looking forward to watching the game? If so, let’s hope you don’t actually live in Iowa. MLB.TV’s draconian blackout restrictions prevent Iowans from watching games of six teams: the Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Royals, Twins, and White Sox. They are able to enjoy fewer MLB games than residents of anywhere else on the planet (tied with Southern Nevada).
MLB.TV’s slogan is “Stream EVERY game live or on-demand,” but in the finer print, they specify “every out-of-market game.” This includes both home and away games for those teams. Since the White Sox will be one of the participants, Iowa baseball fans will not be able to watch the spectacle in their state on MLB.TV. It will be broadcast nationally on Fox, but Iowa remains a baseball desert in which the six closest franchises can only be viewed with a regional TV subscription most of the time. Over the course of the season, nearly one-third of all MLB games are blacked out from Iowa residents.
The original intent of blackouts was to encourage in-person attendance at ballgames. That is prohibitively expensive for the Field of Dreams Game, with ticket prices averaging $1,400 and reaching as high as $4,000. Even under normal circumstances, it’s a two-hour drive from Iowa’s northern border to Target Field in Minneapolis or from Iowa’s southern border to Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. In actuality, blackouts really intend to force baseball fans to purchase regional sports TV packages. That’s not always possible; some residences don’t allow satellite dishes on the property. In those cases, MLB.TV is the only option, and blackouts ensure the six closest clubs remain unavailable.
Field of Dreams
The movie Field of Dreams debuted in 1989- the heyday of campy sports movies. It has a (very generous) 87% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s one of a handful of baseball movies starring Kevin Costner, and this is one of his more famous roles (if not one of his better ones). Here’s the synopsis:
When Iowa farmer Ray (Kevin Costner) hears a mysterious voice one night in his cornfield saying “If you build it, he will come,” he feels the need to act. Despite taunts of lunacy, Ray builds a baseball diamond on his land, supported by his wife, Annie (Amy Madigan). Afterward, the ghosts of great players start emerging from the crops to play ball, led by “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. But, as Ray learns, this field of dreams is about much more than bringing former baseball greats out to play.
Rotten Tomatoes
Of course, the movie is based on the W.P. Kinsella book, Shoeless Joe, published in 1980. It has a four-and-a-half-star rating on Amazon, but as always, you should only read the one-star reviews. Here are a few of them:
This is the WORST book I have ever read. It is about this senile guy who plows down his cornfield (his only source of income) to build a baseball diamond because a little voice in his head tells him to do it. The little voice then tells him go cross-county to gather up a few washed-up slobs (really anyone who will listen) to come back to his wretched “stadium.” I had to read this vulgar book for my english class. WATCH “FIELD OF DREAMS! but even that is extreme. This book is really a short essay that is turned into a “modernday classic” with the use of nonsensical adjectives as fillers. DO NOT READ THIS. It will turn you away from baseball.
brockweir@home.com
I absolutely loved the movie “Field of Dreams” which was based on “Shoeless Joe” by Kinsella. However, I must strongly urge you to NOT buy the “books on tape” and book version. I was very disappointed when I put my disc into my car’s player. The narrator’s voice is abrasive and creepy. Also, the book and the disc versions contain way too many similes. It seemed like every other word was a figure of speech. Give the reader/listener some credit. I don’t need to be told “the pavement was as hot as a breakfast griddle.”
Reader Writer
The book is amazing, put the paper quality of Turtleback Books edition is mediocre!
Marcel Bernardo Rodrigues
In this writer’s opinion, the best parts of either the movie or book are the romanticism and nostalgia over imagining old Hall of Famers (and one notable Hall of Fame-inelligible legend) play baseball together. I’d rather spend a few hours clicking around Baseball-Reference. Speaking of which…
All-Iowa Team
225 Iowans have played in MLB, including six currently active. Here’s a 26-man roster of MLB players born in Iowa (excluding 19th century stars like Cap Anson).
Starting Lineup:
- SS Dave Bancroft
- LF Fred Clarke
- RF Bing Miller
- 1B Hal Trosky
- DH George Stone
- 3B Casey Blake
- 2B Denis Menke
- CF Ryan Sweeney
- C Hank Severeid
Bench:
- 2B/3B Dick Green
- IF/OF Jerry Hairston, Jr.
- OF Ken Henderson
- 2B Bobby Knoop
- C John Wathan
Starting Rotation:
- RHP Bob Feller
- RHP Dazzy Vance
- RHP Red Faber
- RHP Mike Boddicker
- RHP Kevin Tapani
Bullpen:
- RHP Mace Brown
- RHP Joel Hanrahan
- LHP Joe Hoerner
- RHP Bob Lee
- RHP Bob Locker
- LHP Tony Watson
- RHP Eddie Watt
