Last year, Major League Baseball’s Field of Dreams game, played on the iconic movie site near Dyersville, Iowa, was a rousing success. The game featured numerous nods to the movie, and ended in a dramatic Tim Anderson walkoff home run landing in the surrounding corn fields, giving the Chicago White Sox a 9-8 win over the New York Yankees.
While that was the first Major League game played in Iowa, the state has been home to minor league ball for well more than a century. As such, it’s appropriate that this year, in addition to the MLB Field of Dreams game featuring the Cubs and the Reds on August 11, there will also be a minor league Field of Dreams game. That game, to be played August 9, will feature two Minor League Baseball teams, the High-A Quad Cities River Bandits and Cedar Rapids Kernels.
While the White Sox and Yankees played last year’s game in 1919 throwbacks appropriate to the setting of the movie, Quad Cities will play as the Davenport Blue Sox (their name during 1913-1916, 1929-1933, and 1934-1937), and the Kernels will play as the Cedar Rapids Bunnies (their name from 1904-1932).
“We are thrilled to be able to host a game at such a perfect location for baseball fans from Eastern Iowa and around the world,” said Quad Cities owner Dave Heller. “This is an opportunity that we have hoped for since MLB announced plans to build a ballpark in Dyersville, and to see it come to fruition is really exciting for our organization, and for the Kansas City Royals, our players and Bandit fans from across the region.”
“We are honored to have the opportunity to play in the first Minor League game at such an iconic venue,” said Cedar Rapids General Manager Scott Wilson. “This will certainly be an incredible experience for our players, our organization and our great fans.”
Last year’s Field of Dreams game was the most-watched MLB regular-season game since 2005, with almost six million viewers on TV—along with roughly 8,000 fans in person.
