MLB Field of Dreams: Phillies vs. Twins

Thirty-seven years ago, a whisper in an Iowa cornfield said,

"If you build it, he will come."

Well, they built it, and we've never really stopped coming.

To the farmhouse, to the corn, to a little patch of Iowa

where baseball and Hollywood became forever entwined.

Where legends still emerge from the corn,

and a father and son reminded us of the magic in having one more catch.

And now, rising from those same fields,

a spectacular new stage for a timeless dream.

Tonight, the story continues. Is this heaven?

I sure hope not, because it's hotter than hell.

This is MLB's Field of Dream Game.

Here goes!

People will come…

What a performance!

…as innocent as children…

…longing for the past.

That's way, way back there, and it's gone!

The one constant through all the years has been baseball.

It's way out here.

This field…

this game…

it's a part of our past.

Over the line. He's done it again.

It reminds us all that once was good…

and it could be again.

What a finish. Can you believe it?

Oh.

People will come.

People will most definitely come.

Welcome to MLB Field of Dreams, presented by John Deere.

And take a look at these images. Soak it in.

The iconic farm and original field from the movie Field of Dreams.

Now, you may remember that five years ago,

the big leagues actually built a temporary home in this Iowa cornfield.

Tonight, that dream has permanent roots with a brand new park.

that will hold 8,000 eager fans

for the third edition of the Field of Dreams Game.

We've got ten-foot cornstalks, Major League Baseball, and an Iowa sunset.

This is the MLB on Netflix pregame presented by Strauss,

official workwear partner of MLB.

What more could you possibly need? How about three of the best to ever do it

as we officially say hello from Dyersville, Iowa,

and across the world in over 190 countries on Netflix.

I'm your host, Elle Duncan,

and I got my brothers for some other mothers.

We got my guy down here, World Series champ Anthony Rizzo,

three-time MVP, two-time World Series champ Albert Pujols,

seven-time MVP, and the home-run king, Barry Bonds.

Now, we've worked together for a while now. You know me very well.

Almost nothing renders me speechless.

But I pulled up here today, and I just, it's breathtaking.

I didn't even know what to say. It's incredible.

It is absolutely beautiful here, y'all.

It's unbelievable.

For my first time ever being in Iowa, what a beautiful state.

-You've never been to Iowa? -Never.

And what a beautiful stadium and ballpark. I love it here.

I've been in Iowa when I played, but this is beautiful.

Just to come here the first time and just seeing the scene,

I mean, this is unbelievable.

On Netflix, you know, covering this game tonight,

being with you guys, this is awesome. I'm looking forward to it.

Absolute cinema for me.

I mean, it couldn't be scripted any better when they wrote the movie.

And now we have Major League games here.

We have the permanent structure in Major League Baseball.

And the city of Dyersville did a great job at building this stadium.

So excited to be part of this team and be with you guys again.

They really did an incredible job. And I love how homegrown it feels.

I met a kid that's 17, lives five minutes from here.

He's on the tarp crew if there's rain. It's really a community effort.

But, Rizzo, you were actually supposed to play in the inaugural version

of this game in 2021 with the Yankees. You got COVID, so you missed the game.

So, how does the expectation match the reality these years later?

It's awesome. I was so upset when I didn't get to play that game.

I still have the jersey. I still have the name plate from the locker

that I was supposed to be at, so…

But to be here and to be broadcasting, a lot less stress,

a lot more enjoyment of the game, being here in the corn.

Can't wait to see the players walk out of the cornfield

and all the cinema that's going to go on in tonight's game.

Yeah, and, Albert, I mean, obviously, you mentioned it.

You've been to Iowa, and you guys have all played at really interesting places,

but does anything match this,

maybe in all of sports, in terms of the spectacle of it all?

Nothing. I mean, playing in World Series and all that, that's always the top.

But I mean, a moment like this,

this is the moment like when I see in a couple of minutes,

like, this guy's taking the field,

this is where I get jealous and say, "I wish I can be wearing that uniform."

-This is your FOMO moment. -This is a special moment.

-Yeah. -It's a special moment here.

And Major League Baseball have done a great job,

you know, to promote this thing.

Yeah, absolutely fantastic.

And for my first time, we never had this opportunity.

And for me to see the movie and then have the opportunity to be here,

it's spectacular, and I'm very proud to be here.

Yeah, they actually put a camera on us as we arrived yesterday

just to sort of show us, like, soaking it all in, the oohs and the ahs.

It was funny because they told us,

like, that's the original house behind us, right,

that Ray Kinsella and his family conceived this plot to build this field.

And they're like, "Yeah, you can't go into the house."

And Barry went in anyway.

Because he said the door was open, and just such a cool piece of history.

But, Rizzo, I am wondering, though, like, is there any curveballs, pun intended,

to playing in such a unique venue like this for the teams?

Yeah, I played in a few Little League World Series games

with the Cubs when I was with them.

And you get off your routine. You fly in the day of.

You have all the excitement.

You have a lot different of a routine today coming into it.

And the adrenaline is high from the second you get here.

So, all the players, I'm sure, are seeing the cornfields.

They're walking through it. They're with their families. They're taking pictures.

And then at the end of the day, it's time to play baseball.

And these teams are both in a playoff run, so…

Once you get between the lines,

the adrenaline runs off a little bit quicker

playing only in front of 8,000 fans and not having that big league roar.

But they're professionals. They know how to handle it.

It's quiet, is what you're saying.

We expect that, a lot of Twins fans in the building tonight.

Of course, we are here for the Field of Dreams because of a movie.

And so we asked the players playing tonight

who would play them in a movie.

Who would play me in a movie?

Man, that is a tough question.

I haven't thought of that.

It would have to be someone that could play a little baseball.

Growing up, I got comped to Will Ferrell a lot.

I'm going to pick Bradley Cooper.

Michael B. Jordan.

I like Will Smith.

What's Damon's first name?

Channing Tatum.

I like Chris Rock.

I think Matt Damon would be a cool one.

Matt Damon. That could be a really bad choice, though.

Everybody wants to be Odysseus.

All right, Rizzo, who would play you in a movie?

I got to go with Miles Teller, Rooster from Top Gun.

-Ah! Okay, look in the camera. -Yeah.

Let's do a side-by-side for comparison.

-Pretty good. Not bad. -Look how handsome he is.

I like it. He's very handsome. He's very handsome. How about you, Albert?

For me, it's my boy, you know, Amaury Nolasco, Prison Break, Sucre.

-Oh, Sucre! -There it is.

-Wow. Spot on. -Oh, that's striking. Barry?

For me, it would probably be Tramell Tillman.

He represents me the most in…

But I would love to have Michael B. Jordan do me.

-And, Elle, who would be yours? -Oh, who would be mine?

I think mine would be, I get Christina Milian a lot.

Remember the singer right here?

-Okay. All right. -Oh!

Yeah, exactly. So, that's who would play me.

Fortunately, no one ever wants to do a biopic on me.

All right, coming up here on our pregame show,

And Byron Buxton will talk about his dad.

Plus, we'll highlight a storyline so perfect

that the baseball writers couldn't have thought of it themselves.

He's been calling me Don for so long at home as kind of a joke.

And we're back on the MLB on Netflix pregame presented by Strauss.

Tonight is a celebration, yes, of dreams coming true,

but also of the people who quietly help us get there.

And country music star Brad Paisley knows that story very well.

There are some debts that don't come with a number.

No balance, no due date, no way to settle the score.

Because how do you repay someone who gave you pieces of their life?

If I could write a letter to me

The late nights, the early mornings, the miles in between.

The quiet sacrifice is made, so a dream had a chance to find its rhythm.

People celebrate the hits.

They remember the moments in front of screaming crowds.

What they don't see is the person standing behind the curtains,

believing before anyone else did.

I say have a little faith And you'll see

Maybe that's a debt you never really repay.

Maybe the only way to settle it

is to help someone else find their own hit record.

Oh, thank you, Brad Paisley.

And I love that sentiment, because, for all the spectacle here tonight,

the movie Field of Dreams has really always been about something much simpler,

the way that baseball can connect a father and a son,

which, as we say hello to Lauren Shehadi,

makes one of the stories, Lauren,

inside that Phillies clubhouse honestly feel almost too scripted.

Yeah, that's perfectly said. I sat down with Don and Preston Mattingly.

They didn't talk like a GM and a manager. It was… Elle, it was father, and son.

And Don told me last year when he was bench coach

with the Blue Jays, they lost in game seven of the World Series.

He said, "I'm done with baseball." That was it.

And as he's saying it,

his son is sitting next to him, he's shaking his head no.

He goes, "Dad, you weren't done with baseball." And we all laughed.

I said, "How did you know he wasn't done with baseball?"

He said, "This game is all my dad knows. It's in his blood."