Field of Dreams Page #6

Can you believe that?

American boy refusing to have

a catch with his father?

Why 1 4?

That's when

I read The Boat Rocker

by Terence Mann .

Oh , God .

l never played catch

with him again .

That's the crap

people always lay on me.

lt's not my fault you wouldn't

play catch with him .

l know.

Anyway, when l was 1 7 ,

l packed my things,

said something awful ,

and left.

After a while,

l wanted to come home,

but l didn't know how.

Made it back

for the funeral , though .

What was the awful thing

you said?

To your father?

Oh .

l said l could never respect

a man whose hero was

a criminal .

Who was his hero?

Shoeless Joe Jackson .

You knew he wasn't a criminal .

Then why did you say it?

l was 1 7 .

The son of a b*tch died

before l could take it back.

Before l could tell him ,

you know.

He never met my wife.

He never saw

his granddaughter.

This is your penance.

l know.

l can't bring my father back.

So the least you can do

is bring back his hero.

Well . . .

Now l know what

everybody's purpose here is,

except mine.

Hey.

KARl N :
Daddy!

Karin , come here.

AN N l E:
H i !

Oh , we missed you .

Are you , okay?

Yeah . This is Terence Mann .

T erry .

Welcome.

H i , Terry.

RAY:
And this young fella

is . . .This is Archie Graham .

Archie.

RAY:
He's come to practice

with the team .

He'll be able to do

a lot more than that.

What does that mean?

(MEN CHATTERl NG)

MAN :
What do you say?

What do you say?

JOE:
Hey, Ray. Welcome back.

Thanks, Joe.

Oh , my God .

What?

That's Shoeless Joe Jackson .

Of course it is .

You didn't believe me?

MAN N :
l thought l did , but. . .

Oh , my God .

JOE:
H i , Annie .

H i , Joe.

Good to see you .

Terry, l'd like you

to meet Shoeless Joe Jackson .

Joe, Terry Mann .

lt's a pleasure meeting you .

The pleasure's mine.

We got tired

of just having practices,

so we brought another team out

so we'd have some real games.

l don't mind .

Where'd they come from?

Where did we come from?

So many wanted to play here .

We had to beat them off

with a stick.

Hey, that's Smokey Joe Wood

and Mel Ott

and Gil Hodges .

Ty Cobb wanted to play.

Nobody could stand him

when we were alive.

We told him to stick it.

Hey, are you Graham?

ARCH l E:
Yes , sir.

Why are you on the sidelines?

Came to play ball , didn't you?

Yes, sir.

All right. Well , go warm up .

Yes, sir.

Rookies.

U nbelievable.

lt's more than that.

lt's perfect.

MAN 1 :
Ho !

MAN 2:
Safe !

(ALL CH EERl NG)

Go , Graham ! Go , kid !

Come on , Archie !

He looks like a baby

next to those guys.

He is.

MAN 1 :
Let's get a hit.

MAN 2:
Let's go.

Oh !

MAN :
Watch it, boy!

(BLOWl NG A RASPBERRY)

Say hey!

AN N l E:
Don't let him

shake you up . Hang in there !

Knuckles, what did you throw

at the kid for?

He winked at me.

Don't wink, kid .

Good thing for you

he didn't throw the fastball .

Let's see that fastball .

MAN :
Let's go . Come on .

MAN :
Yeah !

UMPl RE:
Ball .

Hey, ump ! Come on .

Give us a break !

Hey, ump .

How about a warning?

Sure .

Watch out

you don't get killed .

Time !

Those first two were

high and tight.

What will the next one be?

Well , either low and away

or in my ear.

He won't want

to load the bases.

So look for low and away.

All right.

But watch out for in your ear.

AN N l E:
Come on , Archie !

MAN N :
Let's go, kid !

Batter, batter,

batter, batter!

Come on , Arch .

lt just takes one.

MAN :
Never hit it, kid .

AN N l E:
Yeah . Yeah .

RAY:
That's deep enough .

MAN :
Go ! Go !

Go home !

Safe !

Son of a. . .

Way to go, Arch ! Way to go !

MAN :
Attaboy, Arch !

This is the wave !

MAN 1 :
Way to go, man !

MAN 2:
Yeah , Archie.

MAN :
All right.

That's what we needed .

Way to go.

Yeah . Way to go.

(MEN CHATTERl NG)

MAN 1 :
What is this?

MAN 2:

What is this jerk doing?

H i !

Sh*t!

Wreck him .

MAN :
Let me at him !

You're interrupting

the game, Mark.

Ray, it's time to put away

your little fantasies

and come down to Earth .

lt's not a fantasy.

They're real .

Who is real?

Shoeless Joe Jackson ,

the White Sox, all of them .

You mean?

He can't see any of them .

Well , who is this, Elvis?

AN N l E:
Ray.

As a matter of fact,

it's Terence Mann .

How do you do?

l'm the Easter bunny.

Let's settle this thing now.

You have no money.

Look. l'm not selling .

You have no money!

You have a stack of bills !

Come fall ,

you got no crop to sell .

l have a deal that allows you

to stay on the land .

We don't have

to sell the farm .

You'll live

in the house rent-free.

What about the team?

Do you realize

how much this land is worth?

Yeah . Yeah .

2,200 bucks an acre.

We can't keep

a useless baseball diamond

in rich farmland .

Read my lips.

We're staying , all right?

We're staying .

Ray, you're bankrupt!

l'm offering you a way

to keep your home

because l love my sister.

My partners don't care

and are ready to foreclose.

Daddy, we don't have

to sell the farm .

Karin , please !

J ust wait!

Wait!

People will come.

What people, sweetheart?

From all over.

They'll just decide

to take a vacation , see?

And they'll come to lowa City.

They'll think

it's really boring .

So they'll want to pay us .

Like buying a ticket.

You're not seriously listening

to this, are you?

Yes.

Wait a minute.

Why would anybody pay money

to come here?

To watch the games.

lt will be just like

when they were little kids

a long time ago.

They'll watch the game

and remember what it was like.

What the hell

is she talking about?

People will come.

All right.

This is fascinating ,

but you don't have the money

to bring the mortgage

up to date.

You're still going

to have to sell .

l'm sorry, Ray.

We got no choice.

MAN N :
Ray.

People will come, Ray.

They'll come to lowa

for reasons

they can't even fathom .

They'll turn up your driveway,

not knowing for sure

why they're doing it.

They'll arrive at your door

as innocent as children ,

longing for the past.

"Of course , we won't mind

if you look around ,"

you'll say.

"lt's only $20 per person ."

They'll pass over the money

without even thinking

about it.

For it is money they have

and peace they lack.

J ust sign the papers.

MAN N :
Then they'll walk out

to the bleachers

and sit in their shirt sleeves

on a perfect afternoon .

They'll find

they have reserved seats

somewhere along

one of the baselines,

where they sat

when they were children

and cheered their heroes,

and 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.

Ray, when the bank opens

in the morning ,

they'll foreclose.

People will come, Ray.

You're broke, Ray.

You sell now,

or you lose everything .

The one constant

through all the years, Ray,

has been baseball .

America has rolled by

like an army of steamrollers.

lt's been erased

like a blackboard ,

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