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Thread started 03/21/19 9:01am

RodeoSchro

Field of Dreams - It's Baseball Time!


Dang, it's a Sports Cornucopia! We've got March Madness; the Masters; the upcoming Rockets NBA championship run; and now.......BASEBALL!

Hopefully the anomaly of the Boston Red Sox's victory last year will be rectified with another Houston Astros' Words Series title. The 'Stros have gotten stronger, and recently locked up All-Star third baseman and The Second Coming of Craig Biggio, Alex Bregman, to a long-term deal. We've lost some pitching but added other pitchers, and Michael Brantley is tearing it up in Spring Training.

In non-Astros-related news, the Angles just made Mike Trout a gazillionaire; the Phillies added Bryce Harper (and made him a gazillionaire too); and I'm sure the Yankees bought whatever they wanted.

Plenty to discuss but the most important news of the day is this:

The Real Hit King retired today! Ichiro took the opportunity in the Marniers' season-opening series held in Japan to announce his permanent retirement. Click on this link and watch the video. It's really cool!

https://deadspin.com/ichi...1833460270


Batter up!

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Reply #1 posted 03/21/19 9:12am

RodeoSchro



I thought I'd share my one and only Craig Biggio story. It's a classic!

Back in the mid-to-late 90's I was at an Astros game in the Astrodome. We were playing the Chicago Cubs and their catcher was a guy named Tyler Houston. Biggio was at bat, got some chin music, and hit the ground. When he got up, I didn't know what happened, but Biggio freaking LOST IT and I thought he was going to kill Tyler Houston.

Biggio NEVER got mad. EVER. I've been to, seen or listened to the vast majority of Biggio's games and this was the only time I ever saw him do anything like that. I had to know why!

Well, it took me 20 years but last year I got my answer. I ran into Biggio at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. He was riding in a golf cart and had stopped to sign autographs. There were probably about 100 people in the group, and a lot of them were kids.

I asked Biggio about that situation and what happened. He knew IMMEDIATELY what I was talking about. Here, in pretty much his exact words, was his response:

"That year Major League Baseball had a thing on about speeding up the game. The Cubs knocked me down with a pitch and Tyler thought I was taking too long to get up, and said so with some unkind words." (At this point, Biggio's eyes got wide and I swear a vein popped up on his neck.)

"I said, 'Shut the f*** up mother f***** or I'll rip your f****** neck off!' And then the umpire said, 'Yeah Tyler - shut the f*** up!'"

Z.O.M.G. I was speechless. I didn't even know Biggio knew those words, much less would say them in a crowd!

Biggio laughed and said, "Later on Tyler came to me and apologized". I said, "Well I never knew that but I hope that you appreciate that every time I saw that guy in a game, I booed my a** off!"

The end.

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Reply #2 posted 03/21/19 2:41pm

PliablyPurple

Great story smile. And as a Cubs fan I have to say...fuck you Tyler! razz. Not that I'm a Biggio fan, but Tyler is but a forgotten footnote in Cubs lore. Funny, that the ump got involved and said something to a catcher like that. Usually, they have a special kind of relationship with catchers. Maybe it was a legend v/s chump pov that the ump was coming from razz.

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Reply #3 posted 03/22/19 7:24am

RodeoSchro

Here's my other favorite player story, courtesy of my son:

He and his buddies were at an Astros/Diamondbacks game two years ago. They were about 3 rows up, behind the DBacks dugout.

All-Star/hometown guy Paul Goldschmidt came off the field at the end of an early inning and the fellas noticed he stumbled on the clubhouse steps. No big deal, except that he stumbled again going UP the steps to take the field.

So the boys very helpfully assisted Mr. Goldschmidt each time he entered/left the dugout by chanting "Step...step...step step step!" each time Goldschmidt negotiated the stairs.

After three innings of this Goldschmidt stopped at the dugout entrance, looked up at the fellas and said, "You guys are ASSHOLES!"

falloff Dang, talk about NO sense of humor!

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Reply #4 posted 03/28/19 2:04pm

RodeoSchro

The Houston Astros' leadoff hitter is George Springer.

Two years ago, he homered in the first at-bat of the season.

Last year, he homered in the first at-bat of the season (against the dogass Dallas Rangers, no less).

This year, he homered in his SECOND at-bat of the season.

Dude is slipping.

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Reply #5 posted 04/10/19 6:33am

RodeoSchro

The Astros have pulled off two mega-comebacks against the Yankees. And a couple against the A's. In a four-game stretch the Astros scored runs on guys who hadn't been scored on since last year.

Our pitching has been the best; now the bats are coming around. This will fluctuate throughout the year but I think this is the strongest Astros team in history.

And Dallas Keuchel is still out there, available if we want him. Come home, Dallas!

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Reply #6 posted 04/10/19 3:53pm

Pokeno4Money

avatar

Congrats on the two wins the past couple nights! It's nice to see, especially in Houston where the fans are so supportive.

I'm still amazed both Dallas and Craig Kimbrel are still unsigned. If they are planning to wait until after the June draft, so any team can sign them without giving up a draft pick, I think they are making a mistake. It's really hard for pitchers to get into game shape after missing the first couple months of the season. I know Clemens did it that one time, but he's Roger Clemens!

Good luck with the sweep tonight. I'm not that familiar with McHugh, but Paxton is definitely beatable.

"Never let nasty stalkers disrespect you. They start shit, you finish it. Go down to their level, that's the only way they'll understand. You have to handle things yourself."
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Reply #7 posted 04/11/19 7:55am

Empress

The Toronto Blue Jays have traded 90% of their best players, so I don't hold much hope for them this season. In fact, I don't hold any hope! wink

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Reply #8 posted 04/11/19 8:33am

RodeoSchro

Pokeno4Money said:

Congrats on the two wins the past couple nights! It's nice to see, especially in Houston where the fans are so supportive.

I'm still amazed both Dallas and Craig Kimbrel are still unsigned. If they are planning to wait until after the June draft, so any team can sign them without giving up a draft pick, I think they are making a mistake. It's really hard for pitchers to get into game shape after missing the first couple months of the season. I know Clemens did it that one time, but he's Roger Clemens!

Good luck with the sweep tonight. I'm not that familiar with McHugh, but Paxton is definitely beatable.




Thanks for luck - Jose Altuve especially says thank you!

I agree about pitchers. I wonder if Keuchel or Kimbrel have received any offers at all but turned them down, or if no one has even sniffed at them?

I'm not a giant Kimbrel guy, but I'd take Dallas Keuchel TODAY if I was a GM.

Now, the Astros go to Seattle and let's hope we bring those dudes back down to Earth!

.

[Edited 4/11/19 8:34am]

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Reply #9 posted 04/11/19 10:01am

RodeoSchro

NICK MARKAKIS UPDATE

As you may recall, Nick Markakis is the current player most likely to possibly reach 3,000 hits. He's 35 years old and is at 2,251 career hits. It won't be easy, but he has a shot.

Speaking of shots, Markakis was robbed yesterday and the thieves took his guns. They knew where to look:

"A safe in the master bedroom closet had been stolen, which Markakis told police had $20,000 cash, an AR-15 rifle, three 9 mm handguns and a Breitling watch inside. Another firearm in a basement bedroom was also stolen, according to the report."

https://deadspin.com/repo...1833952624

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Reply #10 posted 04/11/19 3:47pm

Pokeno4Money

avatar

RodeoSchro said:

Pokeno4Money said:

Congrats on the two wins the past couple nights! It's nice to see, especially in Houston where the fans are so supportive.

I'm still amazed both Dallas and Craig Kimbrel are still unsigned. If they are planning to wait until after the June draft, so any team can sign them without giving up a draft pick, I think they are making a mistake. It's really hard for pitchers to get into game shape after missing the first couple months of the season. I know Clemens did it that one time, but he's Roger Clemens!

Good luck with the sweep tonight. I'm not that familiar with McHugh, but Paxton is definitely beatable.




Thanks for luck - Jose Altuve especially says thank you!

I agree about pitchers. I wonder if Keuchel or Kimbrel have received any offers at all but turned them down, or if no one has even sniffed at them?

I'm not a giant Kimbrel guy, but I'd take Dallas Keuchel TODAY if I was a GM.

Now, the Astros go to Seattle and let's hope we bring those dudes back down to Earth!


I think both their asking prices is still sky-high. I know Kimbrel has talked with the Braves and Brewers, not sure who has shown serious interest in Keuchel.

I love Altuve, he reminds me so much of Mookie.

I still get a kick out of this picture with Embiid!




"Never let nasty stalkers disrespect you. They start shit, you finish it. Go down to their level, that's the only way they'll understand. You have to handle things yourself."
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Reply #11 posted 04/12/19 6:50am

RodeoSchro

Pokeno4Money said:

RodeoSchro said:




Thanks for luck - Jose Altuve especially says thank you!

I agree about pitchers. I wonder if Keuchel or Kimbrel have received any offers at all but turned them down, or if no one has even sniffed at them?

I'm not a giant Kimbrel guy, but I'd take Dallas Keuchel TODAY if I was a GM.

Now, the Astros go to Seattle and let's hope we bring those dudes back down to Earth!


I think both their asking prices is still sky-high. I know Kimbrel has talked with the Braves and Brewers, not sure who has shown serious interest in Keuchel.

I love Altuve, he reminds me so much of Mookie.

I still get a kick out of this picture with Embiid!







eek biggrin

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Reply #12 posted 04/14/19 3:55pm

Pokeno4Money

avatar

Y'all just showed them upstart sailors who is still King of the West, congrats!

And sadly, it makes my team's performance against Seattle (lost 3 of 4) look even worse. sad

"Never let nasty stalkers disrespect you. They start shit, you finish it. Go down to their level, that's the only way they'll understand. You have to handle things yourself."
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Reply #13 posted 04/14/19 4:03pm

Pokeno4Money

avatar

RodeoSchro said:

NICK MARKAKIS UPDATE

As you may recall, Nick Markakis is the current player most likely to possibly reach 3,000 hits. He's 35 years old and is at 2,251 career hits. It won't be easy, but he has a shot.



Nothing against Markakis, but don't ya think Miggy (435 more hits than Nick and only 1 year older) and Cano (230 more hits than Nick and the same age as Miggy) have better chances of being the next Mr. 3000?

"Never let nasty stalkers disrespect you. They start shit, you finish it. Go down to their level, that's the only way they'll understand. You have to handle things yourself."
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Reply #14 posted 04/15/19 6:54am

RodeoSchro

The Astros have swept three series in a row. We are 1 game out of first.

The Dallas Rangers, on the other hand, are already in last place in the American League West. Good, that's where the Arlington Rangers deserve to be. As long as punk-ass owners Ray Davis and Bob Simpson, and super punk-ass general manager Jon Daniels are runing the show, the Six Flags Over Texas Rangers don't deserve anything but the nation's scorn.

That's how I feel about the Frontage Road Rangers.

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Reply #15 posted 04/15/19 7:06am

RodeoSchro

Pokeno4Money said:

RodeoSchro said:

NICK MARKAKIS UPDATE

As you may recall, Nick Markakis is the current player most likely to possibly reach 3,000 hits. He's 35 years old and is at 2,251 career hits. It won't be easy, but he has a shot.



Nothing against Markakis, but don't ya think Miggy (435 more hits than Nick and only 1 year older) and Cano (230 more hits than Nick and the same age as Miggy) have better chances of being the next Mr. 3000?




Hmmmm, you might be right. I can't remember why I thought Markakis was the next-best guy to get to 3,000. I looked up last year's thread and it appears I was just thinking he was A guy that could get to 3,000.

However, researching all the stats it looks like maybe Markakis DOES have the best chance to hit 3,000 first.

Cabrera is batting .259 this year; Cano is at .183. Each has 55 - 60 ABs, same as Markakis, but Markakis is hitting .327 right now.

Cabrera is 1/2 year older than Markakis; Cano is a year older. My first thought was that Cabrera and Cano may have run out of gas, but all three players had spring training batting averages well over .300, and Cano hit .414 this spring. So maybe those two guys are just off to slow starts.

I honestly never in my life thought I'd write this much about Nick Markakis!

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Reply #16 posted 04/16/19 12:55am

Pokeno4Money

avatar

RodeoSchro said:

The Astros have swept three series in a row. We are 1 game out of first.

The Dallas Rangers, on the other hand, are already in last place in the American League West. Good, that's where the Arlington Rangers deserve to be. As long as punk-ass owners Ray Davis and Bob Simpson, and super punk-ass general manager Jon Daniels are runing the show, the Six Flags Over Texas Rangers don't deserve anything but the nation's scorn.

That's how I feel about the Frontage Road Rangers.


I don't know anything about Rangers ownership or management, so I'll take your word for it! lol

Maybe Nolan Ryan will buy the team someday.

"Never let nasty stalkers disrespect you. They start shit, you finish it. Go down to their level, that's the only way they'll understand. You have to handle things yourself."
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Reply #17 posted 04/16/19 1:08am

Pokeno4Money

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RodeoSchro said:

Hmmmm, you might be right. I can't remember why I thought Markakis was the next-best guy to get to 3,000. I looked up last year's thread and it appears I was just thinking he was A guy that could get to 3,000.

However, researching all the stats it looks like maybe Markakis DOES have the best chance to hit 3,000 first.

Cabrera is batting .259 this year; Cano is at .183. Each has 55 - 60 ABs, same as Markakis, but Markakis is hitting .327 right now.

Cabrera is 1/2 year older than Markakis; Cano is a year older. My first thought was that Cabrera and Cano may have run out of gas, but all three players had spring training batting averages well over .300, and Cano hit .414 this spring. So maybe those two guys are just off to slow starts.

I honestly never in my life thought I'd write this much about Nick Markakis!


If Miggy can stay healthy, he should reach 3K next year. He needs only 310 and he's usually good for about 180 per year.

Nick needs 745 more hits. Best case scenario, he averages 180 hits thru 2022. Seems like he'll reach 3K in 2023 at age 39.

I won't even estimate Cano, as we don't know what he'll do in a full season without PED's. lol

"Never let nasty stalkers disrespect you. They start shit, you finish it. Go down to their level, that's the only way they'll understand. You have to handle things yourself."
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Reply #18 posted 04/16/19 6:53am

RodeoSchro

Pokeno4Money said:

RodeoSchro said:

The Astros have swept three series in a row. We are 1 game out of first.

The Dallas Rangers, on the other hand, are already in last place in the American League West. Good, that's where the Arlington Rangers deserve to be. As long as punk-ass owners Ray Davis and Bob Simpson, and super punk-ass general manager Jon Daniels are runing the show, the Six Flags Over Texas Rangers don't deserve anything but the nation's scorn.

That's how I feel about the Frontage Road Rangers.


I don't know anything about Rangers ownership or management, so I'll take your word for it! lol

Maybe Nolan Ryan will buy the team someday.



LOL, this is left-over hostility from August 2017.

Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston. In addition to all the lives, homes and property that were lost, Minute Maid Park's field was under several feet of water. The Astros had a series scheduled for Minute Maid Park with the Pop Dick Rangers the weekend after Harvey finally quit dumping rain on us but it was impossible to play.

So the Astros - who'd been out of town playing the Los Angeles Angels when Harvey hit - called the Dog Ass Rangers and said, "Hey guys. We can't play at our park this weekend. It's under water, plus many in our organization lost some or all the things they have, including their homes. We have a series with y'all in Arlington next month. We'd like to flip the series. Let's play in Arlington this weekend and then y'all come down to Houston in September. By then we should have our field dried off, plus we will have gotten our lives back together. Deal?"

The Frontage Road Rangers said, "No. We're trying to make the playoffs and we want to play you at home in September, so screw you and your devastation. But we'll offer this - how about we play BOTH series here in Arlington? We'll let you guys be the home team this weekend."

The Astros - and the entire baseball world - said, "WTF?!? We just suffered through the worst hurricane in history. We just got more rain than Houston has ever had before. Dozens of people died. DIED! Thousands of homes were completely lost. Our players, coaches, staff and fans are in utter shock right now. And you want to be this petty? F YOU".

MLB couldn't make the Second Grade Rangers flip the series so they did the next worst thing, which was to move the series to Tampa. Which meant the Astros had to fly from LA to Florida, play three games, and THEN finally go home to see how much they'd lost in the flood.

Well, karma got those Pimple Faced Rangers but GOOD. We did go up to Arlington to play them in that September series. We swept their punk asses. We scored FORTY - count 'em, 40 - runs on them in a three-game series. And we knocked their scraggly butts out of the playoff hunt in the process.

No Texan with even a hint of state pride will EVER place the name "Texas" in front of that classless organization's team name again. At least, I won't.

I have no animosity against the Rangers' players or fans. This was solely a management decision. So that's who I am addressing when I say

FUCK THE RANGERS.





.

[Edited 4/16/19 10:02am]

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Reply #19 posted 04/16/19 5:32pm

Pokeno4Money

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Thanks for the info on 2017, very interesting and yes the anger directed at Rangers management is certainly deserved. I remember that series being played in Tampa, but didn't know all the details.

What the Rangers did was not only petty, but nonsensical. What difference does it make if the home games are played in August or in September? It's not like September games are worth more in the standings than August games!

When they were down in the 2017 ALCS heading into Game 6, I was one of the very few who firmly believed they would come back to win it all. Because I knew they had two big advantages over the Yankees: Great pitching and Kate Upton.

It was beautiful how that 2017 season ended, I think most of America was rooting for your 'Stros because of what Houston had gone through with the hurricane. And winning their first title made it even more special.

Not to mention that championship left the Rangers as the only remaining original expansion team to never have won a title. lol

"Never let nasty stalkers disrespect you. They start shit, you finish it. Go down to their level, that's the only way they'll understand. You have to handle things yourself."
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Reply #20 posted 04/24/19 2:57pm

sexton

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Congratulations to the Red Sox organization for having the first all-female baseball broadcast team in history:

These women made history as baseball's first ever all-female radio broadcast team

Thanks to the hard work of Melanie Newman and Suzie Cool, history was made on Tuesday night as baseball's first all-female radio broadcast team took to the airwaves to call the Salem Red Sox' 2-0 win over the Potomac Nationals.

Read more: https://www.mlb.com/cut4/...ng-history.

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Reply #21 posted 04/25/19 8:40pm

PliablyPurple

I always thought it was cheesy, but otherwise, I agree razz. Bull Durham has always crushed this movie...wonder where he was on ranking them back in the day.

------------------------------------------------------------

'Field of Dreams' came out 30 years ago Sunday and some people love it — but sorry, it is a terrible movie

Paul NewberryAssociated Press

“If you build it, he will come.”

Puh-lease.

Thirty years after the release of "Field of Dreams," it's time for a major reassessment.

Sorry, all you folks who view baseball — and this movie — as some sort of timeless metaphor for connecting to your past and understanding what America is really all about.

In reality, it's just another terrible film.

If you can somehow get past all the factual errors and horrible casting — Ray "Goodfellas" Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson? — you realize this is nothing more than an epic helping of corniness, passed off as some of ethereal fantasy that gets to the deeper meaning of life, which apparently is nothing more than the chance to play one more game of catch with your athletically challenged dad.

Like so many people, I remember gushing over "Field of Dreams" after it was released on April 21, 1989, but that was also a time when I still clung to the schmaltzy belief — pushed by folks such as George Will and Bob Costas — that baseball was more than a sport. It was the national pastime, a slow-moving game that somehow managed to epitomize all that is great about our country on a patch of grass and dirt marked by 90-foot paths.

Or as James Earle Jones' character, reclusive author Terence Mann, tellsKevin Costner's Iowa farmer, Ray Kinsella, in one of the film's signature scenes: "The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again."

Can someone pass a barf bag?

That sequence gets to one of the major problems with "Field of Dreams," which conveniently ignores the ugly racial history of baseball and America, even though it chose to cast Jones, one of our most esteemed African-American actors, as a central character. (In the novel the movie was based on, "Shoeless Joe," the reclusive author was J.D. Salinger, but the filmmakers were apparently afraid of a lawsuit if they referenced him, so they came up with a fictional character instead).

Jones' Terence Mann, we're told, was a 1960s firebrand whose push for social change was so radical that an Iowa school wants to ban his books. Yet he's mesmerized by a cornfield that features a bunch of players from an era when Major League Baseball was for whites only.

To briefly recap, Costner's Kinsella is the owner of a struggling Midwest farm who, while wandering through his stalks one evening, hears an ominous voice command, "If you build it, he will come." This leads to him to mow down part of his crop to construct a baseball field, even though this will likely cause his financial ruin. (It's never explained why using a small patch of land on a farm that appeared to be hundreds if not thousands of acres would cause it to go under, but we digress).

We also learn that Kinsella had a troubled relationship with his father, who idolized Jackson despite him being implicated in the Black Sox scandal. One day, Jackson appears on the field in his Chicago uniform, and he later returns with the other seven players who were accused of taking payoffs to throw the 1919 World Series.

We also find out from Shoeless Joe that they won't let the ghost of Ty Cobb play because he wasn't a good guy.

No jerks allowed on this field!

But you fixed a World Series?

No problem.

After hearing more voices, Kinsella takes off for Boston, winds up kidnapping Mann, goes to a game at Fenway Park, travels on to Minnesota to pick up the ghost of Moonlight Graham (portrayed by Burt Lancaster in his final film role and based on a real person who played one game in the major leagues, didn't get a chance to hit and went on to become a doctor), reveals a falling-out with his father over the Black Sox, returns to Iowa to watch more ghosts playing ball and — well — blah, blah, blah.

Moving ahead to the spoiler alert: Graham finally gets a chance to bat against big leaguers (though, strangely, he hits a sacrifice fly, which still doesn't count as an official at-bat even for a ghost) and Mann follows Jackson and all those players into the corn stalks (apparently to integrate baseball in the great beyond). Then Kinsella gets a chance to play one last game of catch with his dad, who was on the field the whole time but obscured by his catcher's gear, and throws like someone who's never picked up a baseball in this or any other life.

"Field of Dreams" was a success at the box office and a hit with the critics, who apparently skipped all the scenes with Liotta portraying Jackson, who was born, raised and died in South Carolina. Liotta played Jackson with the same wise-cracking demeanor and New York accent that would fit the part much better the following year, when he portrayed a turncoat mobster in an actual movie classic, "Goodfellas."

The baseball flick was nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards — losing to "Driving Miss Daisy" in what was clearly a down year for the film industry — and added to the National Film Registry for its historical significance in 2017. No mention was made was all the cliche leads the movie's best-known line would inspire from lazy sportswriters (yep, me included) every time a new stadium was built.

If you want to watch Costner in a baseball movie with some entertainment value, may we suggest "Bull Durham."

"Field of Dreams" deserves to be ghosted.

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Reply #22 posted 04/26/19 7:41am

RodeoSchro

PliablyPurple said:

I always thought it was cheesy, but otherwise, I agree razz. Bull Durham has always crushed this movie...wonder where he was on ranking them back in the day.

------------------------------------------------------------

'Field of Dreams' came out 30 years ago Sunday and some people love it — but sorry, it is a terrible movie

Paul NewberryAssociated Press

“If you build it, he will come.”

Puh-lease.

Thirty years after the release of "Field of Dreams," it's time for a major reassessment.

Sorry, all you folks who view baseball — and this movie — as some sort of timeless metaphor for connecting to your past and understanding what America is really all about.

In reality, it's just another terrible film.

If you can somehow get past all the factual errors and horrible casting — Ray "Goodfellas" Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson? — you realize this is nothing more than an epic helping of corniness, passed off as some of ethereal fantasy that gets to the deeper meaning of life, which apparently is nothing more than the chance to play one more game of catch with your athletically challenged dad.

Like so many people, I remember gushing over "Field of Dreams" after it was released on April 21, 1989, but that was also a time when I still clung to the schmaltzy belief — pushed by folks such as George Will and Bob Costas — that baseball was more than a sport. It was the national pastime, a slow-moving game that somehow managed to epitomize all that is great about our country on a patch of grass and dirt marked by 90-foot paths.

Or as James Earle Jones' character, reclusive author Terence Mann, tellsKevin Costner's Iowa farmer, Ray Kinsella, in one of the film's signature scenes: "The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again."

Can someone pass a barf bag?

That sequence gets to one of the major problems with "Field of Dreams," which conveniently ignores the ugly racial history of baseball and America, even though it chose to cast Jones, one of our most esteemed African-American actors, as a central character. (In the novel the movie was based on, "Shoeless Joe," the reclusive author was J.D. Salinger, but the filmmakers were apparently afraid of a lawsuit if they referenced him, so they came up with a fictional character instead).

Jones' Terence Mann, we're told, was a 1960s firebrand whose push for social change was so radical that an Iowa school wants to ban his books. Yet he's mesmerized by a cornfield that features a bunch of players from an era when Major League Baseball was for whites only.

To briefly recap, Costner's Kinsella is the owner of a struggling Midwest farm who, while wandering through his stalks one evening, hears an ominous voice command, "If you build it, he will come." This leads to him to mow down part of his crop to construct a baseball field, even though this will likely cause his financial ruin. (It's never explained why using a small patch of land on a farm that appeared to be hundreds if not thousands of acres would cause it to go under, but we digress).

We also learn that Kinsella had a troubled relationship with his father, who idolized Jackson despite him being implicated in the Black Sox scandal. One day, Jackson appears on the field in his Chicago uniform, and he later returns with the other seven players who were accused of taking payoffs to throw the 1919 World Series.

We also find out from Shoeless Joe that they won't let the ghost of Ty Cobb play because he wasn't a good guy.

No jerks allowed on this field!

But you fixed a World Series?

No problem.

After hearing more voices, Kinsella takes off for Boston, winds up kidnapping Mann, goes to a game at Fenway Park, travels on to Minnesota to pick up the ghost of Moonlight Graham (portrayed by Burt Lancaster in his final film role and based on a real person who played one game in the major leagues, didn't get a chance to hit and went on to become a doctor), reveals a falling-out with his father over the Black Sox, returns to Iowa to watch more ghosts playing ball and — well — blah, blah, blah.

Moving ahead to the spoiler alert: Graham finally gets a chance to bat against big leaguers (though, strangely, he hits a sacrifice fly, which still doesn't count as an official at-bat even for a ghost) and Mann follows Jackson and all those players into the corn stalks (apparently to integrate baseball in the great beyond). Then Kinsella gets a chance to play one last game of catch with his dad, who was on the field the whole time but obscured by his catcher's gear, and throws like someone who's never picked up a baseball in this or any other life.

"Field of Dreams" was a success at the box office and a hit with the critics, who apparently skipped all the scenes with Liotta portraying Jackson, who was born, raised and died in South Carolina. Liotta played Jackson with the same wise-cracking demeanor and New York accent that would fit the part much better the following year, when he portrayed a turncoat mobster in an actual movie classic, "Goodfellas."

The baseball flick was nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards — losing to "Driving Miss Daisy" in what was clearly a down year for the film industry — and added to the National Film Registry for its historical significance in 2017. No mention was made was all the cliche leads the movie's best-known line would inspire from lazy sportswriters (yep, me included) every time a new stadium was built.

If you want to watch Costner in a baseball movie with some entertainment value, may we suggest "Bull Durham."

"Field of Dreams" deserves to be ghosted.




Boo! Boo! BOO!

I bet Paul Newberry is an Six Flags Over Arlington Rangers fan and a hit at parties! biggrin

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Reply #23 posted 04/26/19 9:44am

Empress

Look out for Vlad Guerrero Jr. He's finally here!

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Reply #24 posted 04/26/19 10:18am

RodeoSchro

Empress said:

Look out for Vlad Guerrero Jr. He's finally here!




Can't wait to see him!

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Reply #25 posted 04/27/19 3:59am

Pokeno4Money

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RodeoSchro said:

Empress said:

Look out for Vlad Guerrero Jr. He's finally here!




Can't wait to see him!



I saw him play in the 2017 Futures Game.

Offensively he's not overhyped, he's the real deal.

Defensively, he's not nearly as good as his dad. He doesn't have the live arm, and is not nearly as in shape as Senior. With some weight issues, hopefully he won't become another Panda. I think there's a strong chance he's a future DH.

Image result for vlad guerrero

"Never let nasty stalkers disrespect you. They start shit, you finish it. Go down to their level, that's the only way they'll understand. You have to handle things yourself."
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Reply #26 posted 04/27/19 6:36am

2freaky4church
1

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Reds, Dodgers

All you others say Hell Yea!! woot!
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Reply #27 posted 05/11/19 5:12pm

Pokeno4Money

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My team is finally playing to it's capabilities, we just need our pitchers to get healthy.

Get ready Astros, we've got 6 games during the next couple weeks!

Preview of the 2019 ALCS rematch?

"Never let nasty stalkers disrespect you. They start shit, you finish it. Go down to their level, that's the only way they'll understand. You have to handle things yourself."
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Reply #28 posted 05/13/19 7:20am

RodeoSchro

The HOUSTON Astros completely dismantled the Dallas Rangers this past weekend. We swept a four-game series with the Frontage Road Rangers. The scores weren't even close. We beat the Six Flags Over Arlington Rangers were 4 - 2; 3 - 0; 11 - 4; and 15 - 5. We beat the Popdick Rangers by a combined score of 33 - 11.

Not quite as bad as the 30-run differential pasting we gave the Minor League Rangers a couple years ago in their park after their selfish Hurricane Harvey debacle, but soul-crushing for them nonetheless.

Texas only has one baseball team that deserves to be associated with the Lone Star State, and that team is the HOUSTON Astros.

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Reply #29 posted 05/13/19 7:21am

RodeoSchro

Pokeno4Money said:

My team is finally playing to it's capabilities, we just need our pitchers to get healthy.

Get ready Astros, we've got 6 games during the next couple weeks!

Preview of the 2019 ALCS rematch?



Bring it. You don't want any part of us right now. You guys had better hope the Tigers take some wind out of our sails.

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Forums > General Discussion > Field of Dreams - It's Baseball Time!