Mike's Take on Sports Archive

Home Baseball Facts The Power of the Dark Side All Hail New York Giants Finally a Bride If There Were no Red Sox Where Am I? Showing Up the MLB Tiger in the Tank My Letter to The Mick It's the Cardinals' Turn History Again My Pigrimage What Happened to Class? Ghosts? Curse? Oh, But That's Different Blame it on the Fame Greed is Good The Best There Ever Was Nineteen-Year-Old Professionals Shame Sports' First Millionaires A Rose By Any Other Name... Who Needs Soaps? Do You Believe in Miracles? Money Problems Our Farewell Trip Define Success (Frank DiPatri) SEC Football (Frank DiPatri) Boy Does It Feel Good (Frank DiPatri) What I Saw This Post Season And Why is That? In Again Rebel Forces Sense Weakness?! Episode 27 My Files



 
    My Pilgrimage
    Mike DiPatri             07/02/05

I made the pilgrimage this summer that every real baseball fan should make.  I went to the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa.  This is the real place and it's great.

 

 

 

For a real baseball fan like me, it was like a dream.  I could not believe I was really there.  Of course I got pictures.  Some are here.  Take a look, but toget the real experience, you have to go there.  I got lucky.  My wife is from Iowa and during a trip to her home, she took me to the field.

 

 

My daughter, the graphic artist, made it possible for me to come out of the corn with the "Black Sox"
Looking in from the mound where Ray pitched to Shoeless Joe
It was a great trip.  I can't really explain how it felt.  If you're a real baseball fan, you'll understand.  It felt as if I had gone back to a time when baseball was a pure sport; when it was good to be a fan.  It was like sitting at a ballpark to watch a game before baseball became the corrupt business it is today.  There was an innocence about the place and it felt good to be a fan.  If you've ever doubted your faith in the game, you have to go there.  It will restore your faith and you'll see that baseball has a chance to recover.  I thought it was heaven, but the guy there said, No, it's Iowa.  Trust me, just go there and you'll understand.