The Wasteland Reviewer

Outside the Wasteland: Field of Dreams (1989)

Film can mean so much more than just entertainment on a screen, right? Outside the Wasteland is my new avenue to express my thoughts on films that have truly made an impact on my life. This is not about how great the films are or even how much I love them. This is an expression of how these films have made a direct impact on my life including my love of film, my personality, my world view, and just an overall lasting impression that deeply affected me.  This is a doorway into The Wasteland Reviewer through the films that have shaped me.

Field of Dreams (1989)

Do you love baseball? I certainly do. This is one of the more divisive sports in the United States. Attention spans have gotten so short in an era full of TikTok videos and other micro-bytes of media. Baseball is like the sports version of a chess match. Strategic. Methodical. Previse. These are elements that build up plenty of tension and suspense during a baseball game. There is no hard-hitting contact in a sport like baseball (at least not anymore) as it is more of a game centered around strategy and damn near impossible feats. If you really think about it, it is a miracle that anyone can hit such a small ball going so damn fast. I am a big fan of pitching and few things in life are as engrossing as an impressive pitchers’ duel. I have many hobbies and interests (with movies being the most pronounced) but baseball has been a part of my life since I was 10 years old (24 years for anyone to keep score).

What is that baseball film that reinforces my passion for baseball? Field of Dreams. This is a film about the love of the game for those who love the game. There is not much actual baseball shown in the film, but it is about the magic and wonder that surrounds “America’s National Past Time”. This film is not your traditional “sports” film. This is not about a team or athlete trying to train and win a big game or championship. Field of Dreams follows Kevin Costner’s Ray Kinsella who hears a voice in his cornfield. “If you build it…he will come”. This is one of the most iconic lines in all of film. But Ray has a vision of a baseball field in his crops. Ray goes on a journey that is full of faith, Americana, rebellious actions, and a love of baseball. There are a passion and heart that grabs the audience and provides so much empathy for Kinsella. Field of Dreams is way more than just a film about baseball…but it is so deeply rooted that no other film captures the love and connection that baseball has with Americans. So much emotion and heart fill Phil Alden Robinson’s film with depth and connection.

Why does Field of Dreams connect so deeply with me? As a confirmed Roman Catholic, I can connect with this idea of bringing heaven to Earth through this ballfield. There is something so visceral and real to me when the town hall meeting introduces the idea of banning books, which is one of the most morally reprehensible things to me. I hate nothing more than fascism and authoritarianism with book banning being something I find personally reprehensible and evil. But then you have all the baseball elements of the film. You get one of the greatest speeches in film from James Earl Jones about the power of baseball. You feel the majesty of the game on display. There is a spark that Field of Dreams captures that feels so poignant and impactful. You can that sense of childhood wonder of watching the greats doing miraculous things on the field. All of it is there and more. Then you have the real heart of the film…a father and son. As some one did not have a real relationship with my father for my whole childhood, the final moments of this film hit in such an impactful way. Moving and sincere, this has a real heart and soul to it like few other sports films have been able to capture.

But where to begin? I have spoken about my faith and my perspective on the world in previous articles. My faith is still there even if it is not as strong as it used to be. But a story like Field of Dreams is the type of story that lights a little spark in me again. I have never seen “signs” but it is inspiring to see someone have such a powerful connection to the next life and chase that connection. That is the type of faith I can get behind. That sequence in the film with the PTA meeting is one that gets me so mad and frustrated. Art is a wonderful thing that is so deeply human. The human expression of art is so important to me, and I truly believe it is an essential piece of humanity’s existence. People that want to censor it and burn and ban art are not the type of people I want in my life. They also do more harm to society than most people realize. My complex relationship with my father has always been a tough subject for me. There are films that remind me of what I miss out on and that can be challenging for me to watch. But I am the type of person that values the path and what my path has done for me. I wouldn’t change a thing. Everything I have been through has made me. I value having the relationship I have with my father now even if I do wonder what it could have been like if my life had gone differently.

Those might be powerful elements of my life experience but what are the elements of Field of Dreams that affect me the most? Baseball. I did go to games as a small child but my journey with the game truly began back on May 9^th, 2001. It was a normal morning when I turned on ESPN and saw highlights of a giant man (six foot ten inches tall) striking out 20 Cincinnati Reds. That man…Randy Johnson. He is my favorite baseball player of all time. He pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks who got a walk-off for that game in extra innings. They would become my team. It was fortuitous for 10-year-old Shane as the Diamondbacks would win their first and only World Series that year against the New York Yankees. This was the starting point for my passion for baseball. There are three teams I really care about. The Diamondbacks are still my favorite (even if I was fickle and gave up on them when Johnson got traded to the Yankees for the 2005 season). That trade is also why my favorite American League became, and still is, the Yankees. But over the last 10 years or so, my hometown roots have really grabbed a hold of me. Being a South Jersey kid means I grew up around all the Phillies fans and going to either Veterans Stadium or Citizens Bank Park to see them. I cannot help but root for those Phighten’ Phillies.

But how has my love for baseball evolved since then? At 10-years-old, it was quite basic. I loved Randy Johnson. I fell for the rest of the team as well. Easy to please. My fickleness as a teenager made me jump ship and follow winning. But getting to college, to settled back in as a die-hard Diamondbacks fan no matter how good or bad they were. I have witnessed some atrocious seasons. I have witnessed some great seasons as well. I have been there through frustrating and heartbreaking moments when they got SO close (with just two years ago with them making their second World Series). The past few years, I have become more invested in baseball more than I have ever been. I recorded episodes of my talk show to discuss baseball and put my thoughts out there. I paid money this year to have access to every Diamondbacks game down the stretch. This is a game I love and care about so much.

But why do I love it so much? There is something special when it comes to baseball that is nothing like the other major sports out there. This is a game of patience and great strategy. It is also a sport full of impossible feats. How can a human being see a baseball going 100 mph let alone hit it hundreds of feet? How can someone make a baseball move a few feet across in such unnatural movements? How can someone catch a baseball going 100 mph and quickly throw it across their body to nab someone at first base? This is a sport of wonders. Sure, this isn’t non-stop action like football, other football, hockey, or basketball but it doesn’t need to be. This is a strategic game full of chance and skill. I love nothing more than watching two pitchers out dueling each other and making a bunch of hitters look stupid. I love seeing runners speed around the bases like they are flying. I love witnessing a baseball get crushed into the night and the roar of the crowd becoming deafening. I cannot get enough of it. Watching baseball. Playing baseball. Or watching movies about baseball. They all scratch that itch.