Hmmm, what could possibly have been different about those two games that would have affected viewership? The mind boggles...

Why won't there be an MLB Field of Dreams Game in 2023?

Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Thomas, who's part of the group that owns the complex, told the Des Moines Register, in vague terms, why the game will be taking a season off: construction at the site.

"It's a lot going on," Thomas said, per The Register. "They don't want to come back if the stadium's not prepared."

The construction plan includes adding facilities to house youth baseball and softball. Work will begin this year and extend into next year.

Part of the game's charm is the natural, non-industrial look of the diamond. MLB clearly doesn't want to shatter that illusion by having a game there while construction is going on, even if the project is at the tail end.

Um...isn't the MLB game the biggest event of the year at the Field of Dreams? Couldn't they schedule all of this construction before/after the MLB game, or reschedule the game, or something? (This is like saying, "Can't have the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs next year, boys. Construction, you know.")

All I know about construction, is that it always seems to take longer than it should. Frank Thomas is probably just being realistic in that regard.

This year's FOD game is still the highest rated game of the baseball season.

I was watching CBS Sports and on the ticket was the question 'Where would be another place for a Field of Dreams type game?'
Amy ideas

I was watching CBS Sports and on the ticket was the question 'Where would be another place for a Field of Dreams type game?

Growden Memorial Park, Fairbanks, Alaska. Home of the Midnight Sun Game.

I was watching CBS Sports and on the ticket was the question 'Where would be another place for a Field of Dreams type game?

They already do the little league game (this Sunday).

How about a return to a Hall of Fame game but make it a legitimate game rather than an exhibition? Do it in conjunction with the induction ceremony with at least one team representing players being inducted.

I like the midnight sun game idea.

A Negro Leagues game of some kind. Not sure how that would work since the museum is ten minutes from Kauffman but something.

Also on the "do it somehow" game a sandlot game would be cool. Play it in a big park somewhere. Roped off seating areas, general admission and let people wander around? I don't know. Feels like the kind of thing that could be really cool if done right.

Also on the "do it somehow" game a sandlot game would be cool. Play it in a big park somewhere. Roped off seating areas, general admission and let people wander around? I don't know. Feels like the kind of thing that could be really cool if done right.

I've got to think there are a lot of places MLB could play, if they got creative. I don't think it really works with football, for instance, (it's still just a rectangle). But ballparks incorporate their surroundings in a way the other fields don't.

Maybe one of the remaining historic minor league ballparks, which could also tie-in to a Negro League theme ballpark (assuming there is at least one remaining)

Some far-fetched ideas.....

I seem to recall the idea of building a ballpark with Mt. Rushmore in the background. Without detailing all the reasons it would be a problem, I thought this was a neat concept.

The natural variations of this theme include a game by the Grand Canyon;

rebuilding a ballpark on the Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas borders to celebrate Jim Thorpe's 3 home runs in 3 different states in one game achievement
( https://bleacherreport.com/articles/58441-this-man-hit-a-homer-into-three-different-states-in-the-same-game-know-who )

or maybe in Yellowstone.

I'd watch a game of stoopball featuring two of MLB's better shortstops.

The Birmingham Black Barons played at Rickwood Field, which still exists and seats 10,800.

The natural choice would be to play a game there on Jackie Robinson Day

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickwood_Field

Do it soon while Willie Mays (who played for the Birmingham Black Barons) is still alive.

I'd rather see a game in great old minor league parks than build a new temporary park somewhere.

It'd be fun to see a game between two competitive teams playing in one of the older parks, say Fenway or Wrigley. *rimshot*

I loved the HoF game in Cooperstown with MLB players for fun. I saw Giants-Twins in 1991. Kirby Puckett was in CF for half the game jawing with the fans in the four rows of OF seats. SF's Greg Litton played all nine positions, including part of an inning where Rod Beck played LF so they could switch after a batter or two. It's an exhibition game in a ridiculously small park, but the guys genuinely seemed to have fun with a Monday afternoon game that didn't count. I'd watch that every year.

Switch movies. It's easy to play a game in Durham, NC.

The Birmingham Black Barons played at Rickwood Field, which still exists and seats 10,800.

The natural choice would be to play a game there on Jackie Robinson Day

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickwood_Field

Do it soon while Willie Mays (who played for the Birmingham Black Barons) is still alive.

This. Needs. To. Happen.

Switch movies. It's easy to play a game in Durham, NC.

They don't have to come from movies.

This. Needs. To. Happen.

Agreed.

there is some sentiment about a game at Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, NJ - it's one of the last Negro League parks.

capacity 10,000. Larry Doby grew up in Paterson. New York Black Yankees played in this stadium in 1930s and 1940s, and New York Cubans in 1935-36. Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, and "Cool Papa" Bell, Monte Irvin and Doby (in high school games) all played there.

it's in a poor, urban city next to the Great (Water)Falls, a national historic landmark. to the extent that MLB wants an 'embrace diversity' theme, this might be it. 25 percent of residents are below the national poverty line.

instead of a cornfield, the players come out of the waterfall.

no parking, basically, but it's only a dozen miles from the Meadowlands Sports Complex, which has 20,000+ spaces so just bus the fans over from there. professional golf events from 30 or more miles away from the Complex have done that.

The natural variations of this theme include a game by the Grand Canyon . . .

No outfield walls, let the Canyon be the HR line.

Hopefully "construction" includes tearing down the wall they put up in front of the corn.

Hopefully "construction" includes tearing down the wall they put up in front of the corn.

Yes. Make the outfield deep or something.

This. Needs. To. Happen.

Manfred are you listening? Rajai Davis works for the Commissioners office now, anybody know how to reach him?

Manfred are you listening? Rajai Davis works for the Commissioners office now, anybody know how to reach him?

He's on Linkedin and Twitter -- you can try contacting him on either of those platforms.

there is some sentiment about a game at Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, NJ - it's one of the last Negro League parks.

Hinchliffe is being refurbished, and the independent league New Jersey Jackals will play there in 2023.