Field of Dreams

1

RAY:
My father"s name was

John Kinsella.

lt's an lrish name.

He was born

in North Dakota in 1 896

and never saw a big city

until he came back

from France in 1 91 8.

Settling in Chicago ,

he learned to live and die

with the White Sox.

Died a little

when they lost

the 1 91 9 World Series,

died a lot when eight

White Sox were accused

of throwing that Series.

He played some

in the minors,

but nothing came of it.

Moved to Brooklyn in '35,

married Mom in "38,

was already an old man

at the naval yards

when l was born in 1 952.

My name's Ray Kinsella.

Mom died when l was three ,

and l suppose Dad did

the best he could.

lnstead of Mother Goose ,

l was put to bed

to stories of Babe Ruth ,

Lou Gehrig,

and the great

Shoeless Joe Jackson.

Dad was a Yankees fan then ,

so l rooted for Brooklyn .

ln '58, the Dodgers

moved away , so we had to find

other reasons to fight.

We did.

When l chose a college ,

l picked the farthest

from home l could find.

This drove him up the wall,

which , l suppose ,

was the point.

Officially , my major was

English , but really ,

it was the '60s.

l marched,

l smoked some grass,

l tried to like sitar music,

and l met Annie .

The only thing we had

in common

was that she came from lowa,

and l"d once heard of lowa.

After graduation ,

we moved to the Midwest

and stayed with her family

as long as we could,

almost a full afternoon.

Annie and l got married

in June of '7 4 .

Dad died that fall.

A few years later,

Karin was born.

She smelled weird,

but we loved her anyway .

Then Annie got the crazy idea

she could talk me

into buying a farm.

l'm 36 years old,

l love my family ,

l love baseball,

and l'm about to become

a farmer.

But until l heard the voice ,

l'd never done a crazy thing

in my whole life .

MALE VOlCE:
lf you build it,

he will come .

lf you build it, he will come .

Hey, Annie !

Annie, what was that?

What was what?

That voice just now.

What was it?

We didn't hear anything .

All right.

MALE VOlCE:
lf you build it,

he will come .

Okay, you must

have heard that!

Sorry. Hey,

come on in to dinner.

Let's go, pumpkin .

ls there, like,

a sound truck on the highway?

Nope. Hey, Karin ,

dinner's ready!

Kids with a radio?

Nope.

Hey, are you really

hearing voices?

J ust one.

What did it say?

"lf you build it,

he will come."

lf you build what,

who will come?

He didn't say.

l hate it when that happens.

Me, too.

MALE VOlCE:
lf you build it,

he will come .

Build what? What is this?

Ray?

lt's okay, honey. l . . .

l'm just talking

to the cornfield .

Anyway , l was walking down

along the street,

and l heard this voice saying,

"Good evening, Mr. Dowd. "

Well, l turned around,

and here was this big,

six-foot rabbit leaning

up against the lamppost.

Why did you do that?

lt was funny.

Trust me, Karin .

lt's not funny.

The man is sick. Very sick.

Karin , honey,

get your book bag . Let's go !

Hon , l'll take her today.

l've got errands

to do in town .

Far out.

Hey. What if the voice calls

while you're gone?

Take a message.

AN N l E:
(CH UCKLl NG) Bye .

Bye.

ln all those years,

did you ever. . .

lt's just l've heard

that sometimes farmers

in the field . . .

They hear things.

You know, voices.

You hearing voices?

No. lt's just l heard

some farmers do.

l , of course, don't,

so l was wondering if l was

doing something wrong .

Did you . . . Did you ever hear

voices out there?

Who's hearing voices?

Ray is.

Out in the fields .

No, l'm not.

l'm . . .

(CRAZY PLAYl NG ON STEREO)

(RAY LAUG H l NG)

Noises. That darned tractor. . .

l'm just going to get

some 3-in-1 oil .

That ought to do it.

lt was nice. . .

N ice talking to you .

MALE VOlCE:
lf you build it,

he will come .

All right, that's it!

H uh? Who the. . .

Who are you , huh?

What do you want from me?

Son of a. . .

MALE VOlCE:
lf you build it,

he will come .

lf you build it. . .

lf you build it,

he will come.

AN N l E:
You don't suppose

this is like

an acid flashback, do you?

l never took acid .

Maybe you will someday.

lt's like a flash-forward .

Annie, there's more.

Honey, why don't you eat

a little bit?

l . . . l think l know what

"lf you build it,

he will come" means.

Why do l not think

this is so good?

l think it means

that if l build

a baseball field out there,

Shoeless Joe Jackson

will get to come back

and play ball again .

You're kidding?

U h-uh .

AN N l E:
Wow.

Yeah .

You're kidding .

Boy, l thought my family

was crazy, but this is

the craziest thing ever.

l know. lt's totally nuts.

l mean , Shoeless Joe !

He's dead . Died in ' 5 1 .

He's dead .

They suspended him , right?

Right.

He's still dead?

As far as l know.

RAY:
Did you know

Babe Ruth copied his swing?

lf l did , l've forgotten it.

He was supposed to be

so graceful and agile.

l'd actually like

to see him play again ,

to let him play,

to right an old wrong .

Wait. Wait a minute, Bosco.

Are you actually thinking

of doing this?

No.

l mean , l can't think of

one good reason

why l should , but. . .

l'm 36 . l have a wife,

a child , and a mortgage,

and l'm scared to death

l'm turning into my father.

What's your father got

to do with all of this?

l never forgave him

for getting old .

By the time he was as old

as l am now, he was ancient.

l mean , he must have

had dreams, but he never did

anything about them .

For all l know, he may have

even heard voices, too,

but he sure didn't listen

to them .

The man never did

one spontaneous thing

in all the years l knew him .

Annie, l'm afraid

of that happening to me,

and something tells me

this may be my last chance

to do something about it.

l want to build that field .

Do you think l'm crazy?

Yes.

But l also think

if you really feel

you should do this,

then you should do it.

What the hell is he doing?

He's plowing under his corn .

Why?

Ty Cobb called him

the greatest left fielder

of all time.

He said his glove

was the place

where triples go to die.

KARlN :
Could he hit?

RAY:
Could he hit?

Lifetime average .356,

third highest in history .

KARlN :
Why'd they call him

Shoeless Joe?

RAY:
When he was still

in the minors,

he bought a new pair of spikes

and hurt his feet.

ln the sixth inning,

he took them off

and played in his socks.

The players kidded him,

called him "Shoeless Joe , "

and the name stuck.

MAN :
He's going

to lose his farm .

WOMAN :
Damned fool .

RAY:
Then in 1 9 1 9 , his team,

the Chicago White Sox ,

they threw the World Series.

KARlN :
What's "threw"?

RAY:
lt means

they lost on purpose .

Gamblers paid them to .

Except Shoeless Joe .

He did take their money ,

but nobody ever proved

he did one thing

to lose those games.

lf he threw it,

how do you explain he hit . 375

for the Series and committed

no errors?

l can't.

Twelve hits including

the Series' only home run ,

and they said

he's trying to lose?

lt's ridiculous.

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