Major League Baseball held the 2026 edition of its Field of Dreams specialty game on Thursday, which included a tribute to the league’s best players and a clash between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Minnesota Twins.
Proceedings unfolded at a newly constructed ballpark in northeast Iowa that is adjacent to the farmland where the 1989 classic sports film Field of Dreams was made.
And the pre-game hype was something for the ages as 26 members of the MLB Hall of Fame emerged from the outfield corn just like the ghost players in the beloved movie did.
Legends emerge from the outfield corn
Despite not having lead actor Kevin Costner on hand – although he narrated the pre-game video that helped pump some old-guard nostalgia into the new-school broadcast on Netflix – the legends stole the show, with Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton leading the way in Phillies uniforms.
Schmidt and Carlton were accompanied by Jim Kaat, who played for both teams, while Joe Mauer and Bert Blyleven donned Twins jerseys.
The other players who appeared from the corn field were Andruw Jones, Harold Baines, Fred McGriff, Adrian Beltre, Andre Dawson, Larry Walker, Cal Ripken Jr., Ivan Rodríguez, Jim Thome, Scott Rolen, Tony Perez, Tony La Russa, Jeff Kent, Fergie Jenkins, Joe Torre, CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner, Rollie Fingers, Lee Smith and Trevor Hoffman.
Both teams emerged from the corn together to take their places along the lines like on opening day.
Twins All-Star Byron Buxton took the microphone to recite a line from James Earl Jones, who played the author Terence Mann in the movie.
Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber followed Buxton by saying a brief script on a late-summer night that was softened by heavy rain earlier in the day.
Around 8,000 people witnessed the game – the largest such gathering at a ballpark, not including the annual ceremonies at the Hall of Fame in New York, since the All-Star Game in 2008 that feted the final season at old Yankee Stadium.
Phillies blast Twins with three homers
The game proved a banger for Schwarber, who hit two home runs in the first and fourth innings to help the Phillies annex a 7-1 win over the Twins.
Schwarber smacked a homer to open the contest and belted a two-run power shot in the fourth to give Philadelphia a 4-1 cushion.
Brandon Marsh added a two-run home run in the seventh to make it 7-1 for the Phillies (65-58).
Marsh reached base four times, Luis Arráez had three hits and Bryson Stott drove in a run for Philadelphia, which moved half-a-game ahead of Arizona for the third and final NL wildcard spot.
Luke Keaschall gave the Twins their lone run after blasting the ball out of the field in the second innings off Phillies starter Aaron Nola.
However, the veteran Nola settled and peppered Minnesota with nine strikeouts in five innings to gain his first victory in 15 starts since May 26 and 4-9 overall.
Taj Bradley (9-5) took the loss for the Twins, who dropped to 60-63.
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