That’s the classic exchange between Kevin Costner and his baseball-playing, father-ghost in Field of Dreams. First time I saw the movie happened to be in Ames, Iowa, and the line drew whooops and hollers. It should even be on the Iowa license plate.
Commonly thought of the best baseball movie ever, the movie did pass my key test—Does the main character throw like a girl?—luckily, Costner can throw, no doubt due to his years of playing as a kid. Even Robert Redford in The Natural, swung a bat ok, but threw like Rosie O’Donnell.
The only thing that didn’t ring true in Field of Dreams was actually at the highlight of the movie, when Kevin asked his dad if “he wanted to have a catch?” You play catch, you don’t go out and have a catch.
Costner should have known that.
(JobDig is in Iowa.)
7 users commented in " ‘Is This Heaven?’ “No, It’s Iowa.” "
I would love to know how many hours I spent as a kid playing catch. Bliss! Do any kids do that anymore?
Ah-ha…we played catch, didn’t we, we did not have one? If I recall correctly, you were the Bob Feller of the town back then, threw hard fast, but not all that sure where it would end up. It might have been THOSE glasses…wait, Ryne Duren comes to mind…now THERE is an old reference….
Yeah, as I recall, a lot of the strikes were swings in defense! The Ryne Duren reference is perfect. He used to always make sure to throw one to the backstop when he was warming up so that the batters were light on their feet!
For those of you that don’t know, GL was the only catcher that could actually catch my wildness. I was just honing his edge!
“… play a catch…”
It’s a movie about a guy who plows his corn field under to build a baseball diamond for ghost players from the past including his father… and THAT’S the part that doesn’t ring true?
But I’m glad you brought that up, GL; it’s the one line that always bugged me too.
have one vs. play….
I guess it depends where you grew up. I grew up saying playing catch with my friends, but having a catch with my father.
My wife grew up elsewhere and she calls it “playing pickle.”
Playing pickle was always the 3-person rundown situation (you know, a guy caught between bases).
Kids who live around me don’t play catch any more. That saddens me but maybe the line that you referenced can help me here. Maybe, its about seeking heaven right here in the fruit of your efforts and sharing it in a manner that allows others to dream beyond their realities.
Ok that’s my thought…from the brain of a White Sox fan! ! ! Cubs still in first say it ain’t so.
Leave A Reply