DYERSVILLE, Iowa — Yes, ”Field of Dreams” is a movie about baseball. It is about a cornfield and an ambitious project. It is, tangentially, about the 1919 Chicago Black Sox.
But more than anything, “Field of Dreams” is about a father and a son.
Ray Kinsella, the main character played by Kevin Costner, builds the field in the middle of his cornfield for reasons unbeknownst to him at the time, beyond an unidentified whisper that promises “if you build it, he will come.” The first ghostly individual to emerge from the cornfield was Shoeless “Joe” Jackson, who eventually brings the rest of the banned 1919 Black Sox with him to take the field once again, at long last.
In the end, the viewer learns that “he” did not refer to Jackson or any of the Black Sox. “He” referred to Kinsella’s father, who appears on the field to have a catch with his son in the movie’s final scene as miles of cars line up to visit.
That father-son throughline ran deep for the Phillies as they made the day trip out to Dyersville for the third edition of MLB’s Field of Dreams Game, a few stone’s throws or a couple long homers from the site of the 1989 classic film.
Leading the Phillies into that game is Don Mattingly, who was in the middle of his All-Star age-28 season with the New York Yankees when the movie first hit theaters. Helping assemble the roster for this same Phillies team is Preston Mattingly, who was a baby when the ghost of “Shoeless” Joe asked Kinsella if they were in heaven.
“A little bit,” the Phillies’ interim manager said about whether the father-son premise of the movie made the occasion even more special on a personal level. “And my little one [11-year-old Louie] is here too. So it’s kinda like, got both sides.”
The Mattinglys are, it is widely believed, the first father-son manager-GM pair in MLB history. Preston was hired in 2021 as farm director and became general manager two promotions later, after the 2024 season. Don was hired as bench coach this past offseason with no intention of assuming the managerial job. Things, of course, changed fast, with Mattingly taking the helm for Rob Thomson on April 28.
“The Preston dynamic is not necessarily [just] today,” the elder Mattingly said. “Just been a cool dynamic overall to work alongside him and be a part of that.”
While Bryce Harper doesn’t necessarily have similar Phillies ties with his own father, the likely future Hall of Famer has spoken often about the impact Ron Harper had on him growing up in Las Vegas.
Harper has lauded Ron for his blue-collar work ethic and finding time for his family amid his demanding career as an ironworker. With arms bigger than those of the two-time MVP, Ron was Bryce’s pitcher for the 2018 Home Run Derby, which the duo won in front of a home Nationals Park crowd in Harper’s last year with Washington. (Ron couldn’t throw to Bryce in the 2026 Derby at Citizens Bank Park, which, perhaps uncoincidentally, ended in the first round for the Phillies’ first baseman turned right fielder.)
“Obviously, I grew up loving the game of baseball. Earliest memory is playing catch with my dad,” Harper said. “So I’m obviously excited to be here and be part of it with the group that we have. It should be really cool out there tonight, so I’m excited to get out there.”
Justin Crawford, whose eventful rookie season now includes a start in Dyersville just a few dozen feet in front of an expanse of corn, has a baseball upbringing unlike most major leaguers. He was born in January of 2004, after the third of 15 years that his father, Carl Crawford, spent in the big leagues.
Justin was around the game his whole life. It’s easy for someone with that exposure to appreciate the history – at least, cinematically – of a venue like the Field of Dreams.
“Yeah, that’s the word right there – all the history it holds,” Crawford told Phillies Nation. “It’s really special just being able to kinda come out here, reenact it, kinda feel what the movie brought to so many people. Just really really special. Just really glad to be a part of it.”
Carl might not emerge from the cornfield to have a catch with Justin on Thursday night. Ron might not greet Harper near the backstop. Preston and Don could toss it around if they want to; the former did play catch with Louie, and all three snapped a photo in front of the first base Phillies dugout a few hours before first pitch.
The Phillies are in the midst of a tight playoff race, and the Mattinglys might evaluate the trip based largely on the win column.
Still, any father-son trip to the ballpark – whether it’s Don with Preston or Louie at an MLB stadium, or John Kinsella with Ray Kinsella on a magical field nearby – is worth appreciating.
“I think it makes it fun,” Preston told Phillies Nation before Thursday’s game. “Watching the movie, I grew up in the Midwest – so, kinda tying it all together, it does make it a little bit more special.”
