DYERSVILLE, Iowa – David Bell’s grandfather, father and brother played Major League Baseball. Bell spent 12 years in the majors himself and worked as a coach and front office executive before taking over as manager of the Cincinnati Reds.
So yeah, “Field of Dreams” hits a little differently for him.
“Baseball’s a big part of our life,” Bell said, “and I thought that the movie did a great job of kind of just telling the story of how important baseball can be to families and just to people in general.”
“Field of Dreams” will receive another tribute Thursday night when Bell’s Reds take on the Chicago Cubs in a throwback ballpark in the cornfields of eastern Iowa, a short walk from the field where Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta and Amy Madigan starred in the 1989 movie.
Under a light blue sky with a few dashes of clouds, workers put the final touches on the temporary MLB park on a warm Wednesday afternoon. A couple of youth teams played on the field from the movie as Cubs and Reds fans wandered around the grounds.