Savoring baseball and ‘Field of Dreams’ memories
On the night of Aug. 12, I dipped myself in magic waters and let the memories of a lifetime wash over me as I sat watching, spellbound, as the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox baptized the newly built Field of Dreams Ball Park in Dyersville, Iowa, in the first-ever MLB game to be held there.
First Kevin Costner walked out of the cornfield, evoking memories of his role as Ray Kinsella in the movie. Then, as the players from both teams walked out of the cornfield together to emerge onto the playing field, the haunting sound of the “Field of Dreams” soundtrack playing in the background, I started to tear up just a little bit. The lush green cornfields of Iowa, specially planted to surround the beautiful baseball diamond, were an awe-inspiring sight. “They’ll watch the game and it will be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they’ll have to brush them away from their faces. The one constant through all the years has been baseball,” writer Terrence Mann tells Ray Kinsella in the movie.
Along with so many other Americans who have seen the film over the years, “Field of Dreams,” and its message of passion for the game of baseball, love of family and the belief in a dream, has always moved me deeply. You see, I grew up living, breathing, eating and sleeping baseball. Those were the days the Pittsburgh Pirates fielded such immortal greats as Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente. Maz’s walk-off home run to win the 1960 World Series is still a sacred memory for all of us old enough to remember it, or to even have seen the video of it.
I can still remember the time my dad took me to meet Clemente, and “The Great One” signed my autograph book. It was September 1971, and the Pirates had just defeated Baltimore to win the World Series. All of us kids were delirious over our beloved team. Clemente talked with me for a few minutes as he signed my autograph book, and to this day it remains a magical memory, forever frozen in time for me. Three months later I awoke to the tragic news on New Year’s Day that my hero was lost forever, and I cried along with rest of the country. But the memories of those golden years of baseball have never faded.
One year we traveled to Dyersville to visit the farmhouse and baseball field built in front of the cornfield, where “Field of Dreams” was filmed. After taking several pictures of each other popping out of the cornfield giggling, we just sat quietly on the bleachers taking in that lovely, peaceful sight.
Many people remember my dad, Patsy Petro, as Uniontown’s “Mr. Baseball.” His lifelong love affair with Pirates baseball started when he was only 14, and sneaked his dad’s car out of the yard to drive to Pittsburgh to watch his first Pirates game. For years his dad blamed the next-door neighbor for borrowing his car and returning it with an empty tank! Dad finally fessed up to his father when he was around 30!
As a member of the Pirates Gold Club in the ’80s and ’90s, he was tasked with stirring up local interest in the Pirates, despite less-than-stellar seasons. Dad loved selling game tickets, and the doorbell at our house was constantly ringing with customers. He, along with Colleen Watson in later years, organized many Uniontown Community Nights at Three Rivers and PNC Parks and arranged for the spring “Pirate Caravans” to visit Uniontown Mall.
When I think of my father, the memories of the smell of roasting hot dogs, the cries of the concession sellers and the crack of the bat across Forbes Field and Three Rivers Stadium pop into my head. Dad took me to many Pirates games when I was a child, and provided me with an ample supply of tickets as an adult! We shared a special bond over baseball, and when my son came along and began to play, Dad never missed a game of his. He and my mom would set up their folding chairs behind home plate where they would have the best view of their grandson, who was the starting catcher for his high school and America Legion teams. I was never more content than when watching those games with my family on those perfect summer nights, Dad sitting right by my side, the pride showing in that big smile of his as he watched his grandson at bat and behind the plate. As Moonlight Graham said in the movie, ” Once a place touches you like this, the wind never blows cold again. You feel for it like it was your child.” And that’s exactly how I feel every time I pass by Hutchison Field, Wharton Field and PNC Park.
I applaud the MLB for bringing the magical Field of Dreams moments to us. Even during these desperately hard times, baseball brings us together as a community, as a country, and gives us something to smile about. To quote the movie, “This field, this game: it’s a part of our past … It reminds us of all that once was good and it could be again.”
Watching that Sox-Yankees game, which lived up to the hype, as Tim Anderson hit a two-run homer into the cornfield in the bottom of the ninth, was pure magic. That game took me back to savor every baseball memory from childhood on. Thinking about those baseball games with my dad, brought up the line in the movie that always makes me cry: “Dad, you wanna have a catch?”
Paula O’Connell is a Uniontown resident.