DYERSVILLE, Iowa (KCRG) – The Ghost of a Hall of Fame baseball player could emerge from the corn during your next “Field of Dreams” viewing.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred removed “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and Pete Rose, among other players, from the league’s permanently ineligible list. In 1921, Shoeless Joe Jackson was banned from baseball, accused of throwing the 1919 World Series.
More than 70 years after Jackson’s death, the Chicago White Sox slugger is now eligible to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
“I think it probably would mean a lot to him that he would have a chance to be reinstated,” says Dennis Rima, one of the Field of Dreams Movie Site’s ghost players—a group of volunteers carrying on the eastern Iowa legacy every summer.
Rima, donning wool resembling the 1919 Chicago White Sox, is conflicted on Jackson’s renewed eligibility.
“Undermining the game of baseball by throwing games so that they were going to accumulate a lot of money, I have a tough time with that because you don’t want people in the Hall of Fame that undermine the game itself,” explains Rima. “Because of his baseball ability and how good he was, putting the whole scandal aside, because if he hadn’t been involved in that, it’s a no-brainer.”
Kelly and Russ Smith, amid their first trip to the Field of Dreams, visiting from Seattle, support Jackson’s reinstatement.
“I feel like he should be given an honest chance for a vote,” says Kelly.
“He certainly had the career, the statistics, so it’s more than fair to let the voters decide,” echoes Russ.
The Smiths say the “Field of Dreams” is their favorite movie, and this week’s inaugural pilgrimage to the site lived up to the hype.
“Just the emotion, being here, you just can’t describe it. It’s so peaceful and serene, and all your worries just disappear,” holding back tears, Kelly recalls the days-long stay at the site. “You just feel like you’re in the movie with them, and being inside the house made it personable and just took it to a whole new level.”
“We’ll be talking about that for years to come,” follows Russ.
This summer marks Rima’s 32nd year embodying the legacy of the “Field of Dreams.” His favorite part is “the people.”
“When people come out, they want to see the field. If they run into a ghost player while they’re out here too, it just makes it extra special,” says Rima. “That’s what makes it so special to me. To see the smiles on these kids’ faces, to see their folks smiling because their kids are out here having a blast and playing with the ghost players, I can’t even describe the joy I have for being able to perform and do what I do.”
The Field of Dreams Movie Site hosts Meet a Ghost events every Tuesday and Thursday from 10 am to 2 pm throughout the summer.
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