Field of Dreams Named Among Pro Baseball’s Best Parks
A small baseball field in Iowa that captured the nation's spirit this summer has also garnered national attention from a professional baseball website that, according to KWWL, just named it their "Major League Baseball Park of the Year".
Not too shabby for a field where only one real game has ever been played
You know the backstory. A specially constructed, major league-regulation field was built to hold about 8,000 fans on the Dyersville movie site to host pro teams. The first matchup was the New York Yankees vs. The Chicago White Sox but fans are already clamoring for what's been announced as next year's game. The beloved Chicago Cubs will take on the Cincinnati Reds on August 11, 2022. The excitement surrounding this first game was enough for BaseballParks.com to take notice and name it their "Baseball Park of the Year".
The park beat out some big competition
BaseballParks.com has given this award, which is mostly for bragging rights, to new or remodeled fields since the year 2000. This year's other nominees were Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas; Polar Park in Worcester, Massachusetts; Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis, North Carolina; Toyota Field in Madison, Alabama; Riverfront Stadium in Wichita, Kansas; FredNats Ballpark in Fredericksburg, Virginia; CaroMont Health Park in Gastonia, North Carolina; and ABC Supply Stadium in Beloit, Wisconsin.
Dyersville city leaders have a lot to be proud of
City administrator Mick Michel said "after working on this project for six years, it is great to win this award. We took great care in carrying forward the vision of Populous, BaAM, and BrightView. We really felt the love and passion for the game on August 12th, because it was a reflection of our community.”
You can bet they are already hard at work to make next year's experience even bigger.