Vol. IV, Issue #5 - July 2016

** Field of Dreams Movie Site --
a two part report by Wolfman Shapiro **

(The movie, "Field of Dreams" has been my most favorite baseball film, and since 1989 over
1 million people have visited the Baseball Field located here. In July of 2016 it was my turn - read
all about it and the incredible interviews I was able to arrange to tell the full story ...........)

Field of Dreams Movie Site Logo shown on their website

(Notes from the Wolfman:  This summer, my life partner Katrina and I, decided to visit my father in Bloomington, IL.  He helped us with the expenses to do so, and instead of flying in to the Bloomington airport, we decided to drive from Seattle.  Of course, to get to Illinois, you have to go through Iowa.  You know, where the famous Baseball Field created for the movie, "Field of Dreams" is still alive and well. So I said to Katrina, "Why don't we visit this place and see what happens? It would be a grand adventure!!"

Anyway, I became really inspired to make this visit happen when I read on the MLB website that the commissioner of Major League Baseball, was going to make this field his first stop on a special baseball tour he would be doing this summer. He made this trek with ex-major league hall of fame pitcher John Smoltz, for the purpose to meet directly fans from all over the country.  This caused me to be very curious about this Baseball Field and its current situation. When I went looking on the internet to discover the field's current situation, I was able to discover a great deal of information from various sources that discovered how the baseball field was built, who was the family that owned the farm who had agreed to allow their home to be used and the farm and the land had been sold at the end of 2012. 

So here is the current status. The Baseball Field, the land and buildings on the farm reside in Dyersville, IA (Iowa) which is 20 miles west of the city of Dubuque.  All the key features linked to the baseball field, the corn fields and the house we saw on the farm in the movie are still there with a few additions.  The last name of the family who owned the farm and agreed to allow the movie production to use their land to build the baseball field and film the movie was Lansing.  However, Don Lansing, getting up there in years, who decided it was time to enjoy the Baseball Field from the sidelines, sold the farm (with the Baseball Field) to a special investment group who called themselves, "Go the Distance Baseball, LLC" (Denise Stillman from the Chicago area is the owner and ex-major league Wade Boggs also joined this group) in December of 2012.  This investment group had to agree to keep the Baseball Field as is, or the Lansings wouldn't sell it to them.  And Ms. Stillman with her team, have kept this promise to the letter.  Of course, the rest is history and we all still have the "Field of Dreams" Baseball Field to enjoy.

So therefore, we were able to visit the "Field of Dreams Movie Site", as it is called today, on Thursday, July 14th as we were traveling in from Sioux Falls, S.D. During this first day our visit, which lasted about an hour, we received a good taste of what the Baseball Field was like (there was a game in progress while we were of some very young children with so-called more veteran players) as well as setup an interview with Betty {Lansing was her former name, she is now married}, who works now at the Field on the farm where she lived in the early part of her life. She is the sister of Don Lansing, who was the previous owner of the farm and the individual who made the final agreement with the movie company to let his farm be used for the film. Then, we came back to the Baseball Field and the farm on the morning of Friday, April 15th, to get a second look plus to fulfill one of my personal dreams and talked with Betty.

Because it is going to take me some time to transcribe Betty's interview (as we were on vacation in July that made this visit possible) as well as the interview I did with the new owner, Denise Stillman (via skype on Monday afternoon on July 18th), I have decided to divide this report into two parts.  In this first part of this report I will share information linked to the following:

a) Discuss the "Story" that we watched in the movie called "Field of Dreams" and how the film had been adapted from the book written by W. P. Kinsella, entitled "Shoeless Joe".

b) A brief discussion about the history of how the film came to be made and who were some of the key actors.

c) My personal experiences and observations when we were at the "Fields of Dream Movie Site" for the two days supported with some digitial photos.

d) a summary of Key Insights Betty shared with us during her interview.

e) Part I of an email interview with W. P. Kinsella {I was able to find Mr. Kinsella via his website on the internet and he graciously agreed to do this interview - this happened before I interviewed Ms. Stillman.}

Part II of this report will come out in August of this year and will have the full transcription of the interview with Betty (Lansing), Denise Stillman and part II of the interview with W. P. Kinsella plus a few other goodies, so stay tuned but please read this part of the report first!

Special Note: As some of our members know, the main activities I do for my livelyhood is dealing in writing books and doing public presentations linked with spiritual subjects and the paranormal.  Obviously, within the story told within in Mr. Kinsella's book and supported by the adaptation of the novel within the film, we get to meet the ghosts of a number of professional baseball players who all have passed on. However, in this story, they have the ability to enter a doorway to come upon this Baseball Field that enables them to play more baseball games.  I will be exploring this other worldly aspect with all of those I will have interviewed, to determine if this type of phenomena surrounds the Baseball Field in any way. I will also discuss what I personally sensed upon the Baseball Field when I was present and if I felt any special energies or presences around me.  If you are a member who is very religious, I apologize in advance and hope the discussion of this topic does not offend you. However, in order to write a complete report, one most cover all aspects of the topic or subject you are researching and what made the story in the film (and book) so powerful what the opportunity the main characters had to speak directly to these ghosts, who they were able to see and hear.

So dear members, I hope you enjoy this new report for our newsletter as I present the first part (still quite long) for this month. For many people who have visited the Field of Dreams Movie Site, it is absolutely a dream come true.  Even with our two short visits, we watched how excited and happy the other people were to visit this field while we were present. We also wish to acknowledge the following individuals for their kind help and assistance, which made this report possible: Betty, Denise {her assistant Margie} and W.P. Kinsella for their openness to speak to us and to be interviewed.  So are you ready to enter the "Field of Dream Zone"?)
 

---

Visit to the Field of Dreams Movie Site -
the continuation of the Baseball Field shown in the Film

Report by Wolfman Shapiro
(personal notes during the two days of visits,
July 14th - July 15th, 2016, Dryersville, IA)

The Wolfman's Dream to Pitch on the Field of Dream's Mound - Read More from the July 15th Field Summary

July 14^th, 2016 – arrived at the Field of Dreams Movie Site around 3:30 PM CT – drove from Sioux Falls, SD starting around 8:30 AM

Background:  The film entitled “Field of Dreams”  was released in 1989 and starred the following actors/actresses – Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta and Burt Lancaster. This film was based upon the successful novel written by W. P. Kinsella called 'Shoeless Joe' and of course the author chose for the main character to be named Ray Kinsella, using his last name, who was portrayed in the film by Kevin Costner.

This story is about Ray and Annie Kinsella with their daughter Karin, who are living as farmers in Iowa when all of a sudden, while Ray is working in the corn fields on the farm one day, he hears the famous voice speak to him which utters the historic words “If you build it, he will come”.  At this point Ray is unclear if he builds "what", "who" will come; but this inspiration voices leads Ray on a great adventure. He eventually has a vision to build a baseball field upon his land which seems crazy to his neighbors as he loses money from his crop that he will sacrifice.

After several months the ghost of "Shoeless Joe Jackson", a person who use to play MLB for the Chicago White Sox in the early 1900's, mysteriously just shows up in left field of Ray's baseball field, ready to play ball. After a brief conversation between "Shoeless Joe" and Ray, it is agreed to allow the other seven White Sox players who were expelled in 1919 from Baseball during that year's World Series (known as the "Black Sox"), to come out to play practice games with each other on the baseball field. Such players are now known on this movie site as the so-called "Ghost Baseball Players". These eight players were expelled because it was claimed they were paid off to diminish their level of play by gamblers so the highly favored White Sox would lose the world series that year. No one could believe that "Shoeless Joe" was a part of this, as he played very well in the series. 

The next message from this so called voice sends Ray to Boston to seek out the assistance of a person named Terence Mann (played by James Earl Jones) who was a well-known writer for peace in the 60's living at this time in Boston. While Ray is gone, seeking to find Terence Mann, the "Ghost Players" get tired of playing practice games and invite other "Ghost Baseball Players" who perform for other professional teams to join them so they can play full baseball games.  A few other great players are mentioned being present on the field.

"Shoeless Joe" was also Ray's father most favorite baseball hero.  Ray ran away from home when he young to be on his own and had a very difficult relationship with his father. His father passed away before Ray could try to fix this problem and patch things up. So Ray thought, at least then he could bring his father some peace by brining his hero back to life. 

Related to these so-called "Ghost Players", throughout the story they are described as seemingly coming onto the baseball field and leaving it by walking into the corn fields in the outfield and just disappearing into nothingness or some other dimension which some of them referred to as "Heaven". This incredible story then becomes so popular, especially when the film adaptation is released in 1989, that many many people were inspired, after viewing the movie, (well over one million visitors) to come to experience the Field of Dreams Baseball Field directly themselves. This fascination with the film and the Baseball Field continues to this day and could only exist due to the love of the Lansing Family which has maintained it and has been continued by the investment group since the end of 2012.

My Objectives for this special report:  I have long had a dream to visit and see this field. As I stated before, we had the opportunity to do so this July (2016) enroute to visiting with my father who lives in Bloomington, IL. This drive took us 5 days to reach Illinois with stops in Helena, MT; Gillette, WY; Sioux Falls, SD; and Dubuque, IA, which is close to Dryersville, IA where the Field of Dreams Movie Site (as it is now called) is located -- we decided to visit the field on two different days. 

As I discussed before, I had various goals I hoped to achieve during these visits. Therefore, you will find within this report a discussion about my personal experiences on the Baseball Field along with a few interviews I was able to conduct with some key people who are linked to maintaining the farm and field.

One of my main goals, as stated earlier, is based upon my personal interest and studies into the paranormal. I wanted to discover for myself if there might have been some special reason why this farm was selected as the location for the movie out of the hundreds of farms the production company investigated.  Perhaps, the Lansing farm was finally selected due to some special energies attached to the land the farm lies upon? Also, I was very curious if there might be something extraordinary taking place in the center field corn field which was linked to the dimensional door or portal that the Ghost Baseball Players used to come in and out to play their baseball games and then go back (or return home?).

After I visited the Baseball Field on the late afternoon of July 14th, another idea presented itself to me, which I had not considered before as I recalled in the movie, Ray playing catch with his (ghost) father on the field. I therefore became inspired to attempt to pitch from the mound of the Field of Dreams Movie Site myself. Now, I don't know if I have mentioned this before to our members, but when I was younger and I played baseball in little league and high school I was a fairly decent pitcher with a good fastball. Due to my pretty good pitching abilities I did make it to a few all star teams in those early days. However, I wasn't much of a hitter though (maybe more in softball). You know, I am always asking the people I interview if they played baseball when they were younger, so now you know what I did ... anyway ....

So I have probably not tried to seriously throw the baseball and pitch like this for maybe over 40 years. I mean I have practiced throwing rocks here in the Seattle across a river but I really had no idea at all if I could still throw like a pitcher.  Did my ancient 61 year old arm have any stuff left in it?.  For this dream to work out though, I would need to borrow a glove from the Field of Dreams Store that sold souvenirs (which fortunately they had a few spares, so no problem) but I had to also hope on Friday morning (early) when we arrived that I would meet a young person who would be willing to catch me.

Therefore, please find first, below, my notes that I wrote during the evening of July 14th of our first day of experiences and observations followed by a second exciting day of more good stuff ... 

My Personal Observations and Experiences from our visit on July 14^th for about 40 minutes …

We got off U.S. Highway 20 at exit 294 to take Iowa local road 136 north to head towards the Field. Then we were guided by various signs (actually just two turns) to arrive at the Field of Dreams Movie Site which was about 3 miles away from the highway exit. First, we drove through a commercial area of Dryersville and then headed out into the country which was filled with many farms till we reached the Movie Site …

As we drove around the last corner of the road, we immediately recognized the Baseball Field from the movie along with the photos I had seen of this Field on the internet. There is a small dirt road you turn up on from the main road and then drive into the parking lot, which is a gravel lot.  Next to the parking lot is a fairly large souvenir store where you can get your questions answered or buy one of the visit items they sell linked to the Baseball Field or the movie such hats, or t-shirts, post cards, the book by Mr. Kinsella or the DVD of the movie.  Obviously this store was setup after the movie was completed. Between the Store and the Baseball Field was a two sided information board with further details about the farm and field as well as I remember seeing many photos of Don Lansing with key people from the film on this board too.

So, the layout of farm is basically the same as we saw in the movie. The White House with its white fence is behind the field and still looks exactly like we saw in the movie. The Baseball Field is basically the same except on the 3rd base side in the movie was a Fence close to home plate where one of the teams sat while waiting to hit -- but this Fence was no longer there. Then on that side of the field was a second wooden bleacher seats as was on the 1st base side that we saw in the movie.  The light posts were there as before and the outfield was all bordered by the corn fields – the corn at this time was quite high, like 6-7 foot tall, taller than me even.

Other changes I noticed on the baseball field was there was a telephone wire that went over the field from the 3rd base side (RF) through CF and LF about the same height as the Light Poles. On the 3rd base side was a new white colored building with two doors that we didn’t see in the movie and in RF it appeared as if there was a volley ball net out there.

Also if this was a real baseball field with the line of the cornfields being the line where a ball is hit to becomes a home run, I would say the corn field was more than 450 feet or more away from home plate.

Another observation I made was that there were two red barns that were close to the house and behind it, which I don’t think we saw these barns very much or at all during the film.

The first thing I did when I arrived at the site is I went to the store to see if Betty was there. Most of my dealings to setup my interviews with special people to speak to and for the visit itself had been done through a woman named Margie who worked in the White House (their offices) and represented the owner of the investment group. Margie said she personally wouldn’t be  available this day at the site after 1 PM but Betty was suppose to be working at the store till 4:30 PM.  So I assumed the woman I met there and spoke to was Betty, but it was not. This other woman called to the house and I spoke to Betty over the phone. We agreed to do her interview the next day at 10 AM (Friday, July 15th).  To do this interview live with Betty, I had brought a digital recorder with me which I thought I also might use to interview other people we would meet while we were around the Baseball Field.

Now that we knew how to find the Baseball Field and I had my chance to see and feel this place out, I knew we had to come back the next morning from our hotel in Dubuque, early that morning so we could take some really good photos, do Betty's interview and have a more personal experience of this place. I had some good ideas of some photos I wanted to take for your enjoyment of this report so I won’t discuss these photos till you see them in this article. Thanks to Katrina, who is a great photographer for her help with many of the photos you will see here.

Now getting back to the Baseball Field ... during this first visit, when we arrived there were already about, I would say 30-40 people here and quite a few of these visitors were playing a baseball game on the field. We start participants of all ages, some very young people playing with and against some older people. You see, it is always free to visit the baseball field and enjoy if there is not some special event that is scheduled to go on because there are people who rent the field to play real games. This day it was not rented so I could just walk around at my pleasure in the outfielder as the players on the field were only situated in the infield where most of the action of this game was taking place.

So I then decided to leisurely walk out to right field with my objective to see if I experienced any special energies in this outfield (there he goes again with the paranormal aspect of his quest) or any spiritual presences (since I am known to have this particular gift).  I can actually report that while walking from RF to LF – and even entering into the corn field in CF (hoping I might go into the spiritual dimension where the ghost players went so I could finish the report Terry Mann was suppose to give us from the movie) that unfortunately nothing of significance happened as I didn’t feel anything special around me. This was just another baseball field and one that had been popularized by a very successful movie. However, as you will see in Day 2 from my on-site report, I have some other thoughts about this, so hold on, which doesn't take away from the magic that happens around this field all the time. 

I did go specifically to the location in LF where the character Shoeless Joe Jackson first appeared in the movie and thought the current hitter just might hit a ball out to my position. When this did happen I was prepared but the SS was able to reach the ball before I could as it went into short LF.

One other thing I noticed as I was walking in the outfield, I was surprised that the ground felt uneven – I think if someone was running to catch balls in the outfield they might trip – so I planned to ask someone about this point in my interviews coming up.

Anyway after walking all throughout the outfield, I re-met Katrina, as we were quite tired from driving about 6 hours this day, and we decided to leave. This would allow us to arrive at our hotel fairly early (by 5 PM) so we could relax and Katrina could take advantage of the pool they had. As we drove away from the Baseball Field we did notice two clouds in the sky near the field that looked quite unusual (the explanation about this is for another time for those who might open to believe what we would say).  Then we stopped at a local gas station in Dryersville to get some food for our dinner along with a restroom stop. I took this opportunity to speak to one of the people who worked at the store. who just happened to live in Dryersville basically all his life. I asked him if the Baseball Field had changed people’s lives in the city and he said, maybe when the movie first came out, it put Dryersville on the map and that about 150,000 visitors a year came to see the field. He said his grandfather’s farm was on the property right next to the properly where the baseball field is, the old Lansing Farm.  But for the most part, this young man stated that these visitors haven’t made much a difference to their lives.

Next month, you will see in my interview with Denise, the new owner, about her plans to build more baseball fields in this area that will come through her other organization called Allstar Ballpark Heaven. When this idea was first proposed, many citizens of Dryersville were against this.  The employee of the convenience store knew about this plan and said from his perspective that he really had no opinion about it either way but that he knew there were quite a few other people were opposed to it.  Also there was a report on the internet that a professional baseball team was considering to use the baseball field for their games. Again this young man commented that he knew there were several adult baseball leagues in this area (as baseball is huge in Iowa) but normally they didn’t have many people attending their games. So he wasn’t sure if there would be enough people attending such ball games that it would be worth it.  When I went to Goggle to see the number of people who lived in Dryersville, it show slightly over 4,000 from a consensus taken in 2013.  I don’t suppose this city is going to see many more people all of sudden just moving there. Of course Dubuque, which is only about 20 miles away has a larger population of over 58,000 (since 2013) but would these people be willing to drive 20+ miles to go to a game of what would probably be some minor league baseball team?

Anyway, it was an amazing feeling to finally have a chance to see and walk around this famous baseball field. I am very excited to see what will happen next with my interview with Betty tomorrow on July 15th and later of course, the interview I will do with Denise via skype, the morning of July 18th done from our hotel in Bloomington.  Stay tuned for the next report ...

(Note: Once again, please find below in the next section my notes dealing with our experiences from our second visit on Friday, July 15th ....

==========================

Personal Report of my experience on July 15^th, 2016 – we arrived at the Field of Dreams Movie Site around 9:27 AM CT , driving from Dubuque, IA and stayed till about 10:50 AM

Today was our day, for our main activities at the Field of Dreams site - an overview of what is to come in this report:

a)  to take more photos of the whole field and farm which Katrina helped me with;

b) to interview Betty Lansing, (her former last name), the sister of Don Lansing who lived on the farm when the Movie Production company came knocking on his door to ask if he would give permission for his farm and the crop field to be used in the film which ultimately he agreed (note - we will hear a bit more about this decision via Betty's interview);

c) to try and rekindle my youth when I used to be a pretty good pitcher (when I had a darn good fastball in little league and high school) from perhaps 1967-1973 and pitch from the mound of the Field of Dreams site, that is if I could find someone to catch me (which I did) as well as visit the corn field in center field and see what's really out there.

Since we needed to be in Bloomington during this afternoon (about a 4 hour drive), we got up early this morning to drive to Dryersville, IA first so we could be on time for my appointment with Betty. On the way there, I noticed that the sky was pretty cloudy and prayed to the Strat Gods to help us to have some sun when we arrived, a nice sunny day as it was the day before. The sun did open up in bits in the sky as we arrived and before we left, the sun was in all its glory.
 

Now I spoke about Denise's assistant Margie who had been helping me via email to arrange the two interviews I planned to do (with Betty and her boss Denise) so I thought she might be around when we arrived so I could thank her in person but it didn't work out this way. When I went back to the store where they sold all the souvenirs and asked about Margie, she had not come in yet. I explained to the new attendee that I spoke to Betty the day before to do an interview with her at 10 AM. The attendee called the office to check (the white house close by) and I heard that Denise was here (she goes between her office in Chicago and Dryersville).  So I thought maybe instead of waiting till Monday to do a skype interview with Denise I could do it today but the attendee said Denise was too busy at that moment as she had many phone calls to make. Oh well, then we would do her interview as planned the following week.

While we were waiting for Betty to arrive, I was able to borrow a glove from the store but they didn’t have a ball (they had run out - oh no!).  However, I saw a group of four young people by the first base bleachers and I saw it was a young man (who had a ball in his glove – Eureka!) with a Chicago Cubs cap on and three young ladies.  So I asked the young man (Derrick) if he would play catch with me for a short time which he agreed. Phase I accomplished!

Now, as I share earlier, I have not tried to pitch in over 40 years so I had no idea if I would be any good or even if I would be able to catch the ball thrown by this young man. I found the distance from the mound to home plate was a little bit too far for me so I moved up maybe 15-20 feet on the dirt area of the mound.  Then I tried to throw the ball and geez-h-Christ was I very bad. I couldn’t throw a good fastball to save my life either 3/4's overhand or side armed – either it would skip into the ground or go way off the plate. The only way I could get the ball over was to arch it high in the air and then a few times, a very few times it would go over the plate. This was a great shock to me and my pride but then if you don’t practice something for 40 years how can you expect to do well?  I thanked Derrick for his help – and while I was pitching, Katrina took some photos of my feeble attempts and so did Derrick's sister Jazmin. 

If you watch my body action, it looks good but if you saw where the ball went that I threw, not so much.  Also Katrina took some other photos of the field while I was so-called “pitching”.  I can say with some pride however, that I only missed one ball Derrick threw to me. And yes he throw that ball fairly hard back at me and the ball did sting in the mitt of my catching hand (welcome back Wolfman to the world of playing baseball ...).

Your Wolfman Trying to Recapture his former "Glory" as a Pitcher (photos by Katrina Head and Jazmin Brown)
It appears above as if I know how to go through the motions to be a pitcher, although as you can see I was not throwing from 60 feet away from the mound ... but I had no speed or accuracy and even at the shorter distance I had to throw the ball high and have it arc over the plate - but I did enjoy doing this again.

The one good part of this so-called exercise (I must have thrown 25-30 pitchers) was that when Derrick threw the ball back to me, I was able to handle catching them for the most part. It was just my arm was gone and that I couldn't do what I use to be able to do - I still plan to pitch for the Chicago Cubs one day!

Well, after a physical rewarding exercise but frustratingly poor performance as a pitcher, I returned the glove to the store and we went back to our car for a moment. Then I saw this some-what elderly lady approaching me and I knew it was Betty.  It was very important for me and for this report to speak to her, as Betty would represent the family that had grown up on this farm. I think their story about there life on the farm before the movie, during the movie was be filmed here and what happened to them afterwards, is a special perspective to understand to see the whole story around the Baseball Field. 

Betty was the most friendly and down to earth person you would ever want to meet. I probably spoke with her for over ½ hour.  At first, she suggested we set on the porch of the house but then they had people working on the grass there so we set on the first step of the bleachers on the 3rd base side which wasn’t there during the filming.  I am going to transcribe in full her interview for our August issue along with the interview with Denise Stillman the new owner, but since we are traveling and transcription takes quite a while to do, I wanted to share here some of the key points Betty talked with me about that I think you will find most interesting right now.

Wolfman interviewing Betty, who grew up on the farm, speaking to her on the 3rd base spectator seats.

She said her father, who unfortunately passed away before the shooting of the movie (but we think he was helping her brother from the other side, if you believe in such things, to whisper to him to allow the farm to be in the movie and many special miracles would happen afterwards ...), had a dream to have some type of baseball field on the farm so every could play this game as he loved baseball. That on the lawn in front of their house, they would play baseball when they were younger.

I asked why her brother sold the farm with the field and she said that he was in his 70’s now, with her in 80's (but in my opinion she looked and acted much younger than her years), and that Don didn’t want to be out front any more –  entertaining all the people who were coming. It was time to let it go and that he wanted to be behind the scenes. Therefore, he was willing to turn the farm and field over to another person but that the new owner had to promise to keep the field exactly as it was.  And so Denise agreed to these terms on behalf of the investment group and this why they are in charge now. 

Further, Betty told us that in the contract with the movie company, her brother Don could have asked the production company to return his farm and house as it was (they made changes to his house on the outside) before the filming began. However, when people started to show up after the movie had come out (Betty said the first person travelled all the way from NYC weaving a Yankee baseball cap which he gifted one to Don), Betty and her brother knew they had to keep the field as is, keep it simple.  She said they had many suggestions how they could have change the baseball field and made it more commercialize as well as have new hotels built nearby to house the visitors but they turned all these ideas and suggestions down. And I for one wish to publicly thank the Lansing Family for making this decision and keep the field open to whomever wishes to come and experience it.  It is said, but in the world we live in today, there are too many special opportunities that are offered that are all about making money and life has so much more to offer us as we do to each other.

So Don and Betty never ever charged anyone to visit the Baseball Field and many times people who came by would come and just spontaneous start to play baseball.  Their store started out small in a trailer but eventually grew to the size it was this day with all the special items they have for sale (Katrina even bought me a "Field of Dreams" t-shirt).  Betty said the production company visited like 200 farms and not just in Iowa or the U.S., but also in Canada. Then it took the production company several months to decide how build the baseball field and that once Don signed the agreement for the movie, they also needed some of the land of Don’s neighbor where the cornfield is so the corn field would look correctly in the film. Now this extra land is part of the current farm.

Only the Lansing family was allowed to visit the farm during the actual filming of the movie and they also were featured in the film in various scenes.  At the end of the movie, when we see all the cars driving up to the baseball field at night with their headlights on; her brother was in the front car, she was behind him and their two other sisters in the next car after that. Her favorite actor to talk with (as the actor/actresses had trailers they stayed in on the farm during the filming) was James Earl Jones, who they would sit with quite a bit and was very friendly with them. Betty mentioned she and her family did meet and speak to Kevin Kostner and Amy Magidan as well.  Her brother had to stay with friends during the filming as they totally changed the inside of his house for the movie and he wouldn't be able to live there during this time.

And finally the key for Betty and her family linked to this special land and field has been watching the joy and happiness the Baseball Field has brought to all of those who have come to visit and experience it.  That there seemed to be a magic here that changes people’s lives.  That this Field has continued to help make people’s dreams happen.  Anyway the transcription of the full interview will be out in August, our next issue, I am sure you will enjoy it.

I finished the day by taking a few photos of my visit and entering into the corn field in CF as shown in the movie. Take a peek at my photos below and comments. Then Derrick and his 3 sisters came out to meet us there – to ask for my email as they took some photos while Derrick and I were playing catch and wanted to send to me. I had an opportunity to interview Derrick and two of his sisters here (see their comments below).  They were stopping at the Field of Dreams Movie Site as they were headed to Peoria, IL to visit with their cousin who was getting married and thought this would a great time to finally see the Baseball Field. One of his sisters present played softball and according to Katrina who watched her playing catch with Derrick, she was very good.

------------------------------
 

Interview with Derrick and his sisters 

Wolfman: Today I had the pleasure to meet this young man – are you from Chicago?

Derrick:  I am not, I worked in Chicago -- we actually live in South Carolina now.

Wolfman:  Oh South Carolina … what was your name again? (Derrick: Derrick Brown) – and he works for Stats, Inc., which all of our members know about Stats (Derrick: chuckles) and he allowed me to humiliate myself trying to recapture my younger days as as a pitcher – I couldn’t pitch from the mound as it was too far away – (And even from the shorter distance I threw from) I could barely get the ball over the plate … (Derrick: you got the last one was a strike) …. Well the last one was a strike – even though I was occasionally throwing strikes, any good hitter could have knocked the ball out of the park easily because there was no speed and nothing to any of those pitches – it was just trying to get the ball over the plate.

So what is your job for the Stats?

Derrick:  I am a software developer (Wolfman: oh you’re  a software developer?) I work mainly with football and hockey.

Wolfman:  So are you involved when the statistics are taken from the games – to get the stats incorporated into a system – and then is Stats providing for the professional teams the analyst as they do for baseball?

Derrick:  yes – yes we provide all information for major league baseball and a lot of other players and organizations all that information for them and everything.

Wolfman: So what was your opinion of this guy that you were catching – “Give an honest opinion ok!!”

Derrick:  I wouldn’t pick him on my fantasy team.

Wolfman:  Ok, Well there you go – I just have to stay with writing and interviewing …. I can’t go back to my glory days when I threw that one hitter when I was in little league.

Katrina: Well he is pretty good in strat-o-matic.

Wolfman: Yes, Well, strat-o-matic is another story. I know how to pick the professional players for my team and the stats and all that but to play no.

Katrina: Tell him how long you have been playing strat-o-matic.

Wolfman:  Let’s see, since 1967 or something like this, you know, for a long time. So let me just ask you one last question Derrick. Why did you decide today to come here or any of you, to come to the Field of Dreams. What was there that is appealing about this place that drew you to visit here today?

Derrick:  I have always wanted to come out here. The "Field of Dreams" has always been my favorite baseball movie.  So, I’ve always planned on coming out here one day. And finally we got the opportunity this weekend because my cousin is getting married in Peoria which is only 2-1/2 hours away.  So like, ‘we are only 2-1/2 hours away, we are right here, we have to do it this weekend!”  And we came out yesterday, we came back out here today, and we have seen pretty much everything here.

Wolfman:  So what was your main experience that you enjoyed the most of your visit to the Field of Dreams Movie Site?

Derrick:  Probably the best thing was just playing catch with my sister which was just awesome. (Wolfman to Derrick’s Sister:  Are you a baseball player?) She is a college softball player. (Wolfman: oh then you are probably better than me too.)  She is better than me. (Wolfman: oh she’s better than you) Yes she is really good.

Wolfman:  Ok great. Well Derrick thank you for speaking with me very much.  (Derrick:  Your welcome.) OK then, is there anyone in your entourage who has anything else you want to say about your visit to the "Field of Dreams"?  If you could, please say your name first.

Haley: (the college softball player) – my name is Haley and it was really just an incredible experience getting to be here and see where the movie happened … being here with family, it was really fun.  (Wolfman:  all the people here are part of your family?) Yep. (Wolfman: and your family member is getting married then?) Yeah my cousin is getting married in Peoria.

Wolfman: Anyone else has anything else they would like to share?

Jazmin:  Sure I’m Jazmin and I think that the best part of the day was seeing the siblings like playing ball for the first time together after so many years and running bases together.  And then yesterday we saw a Dad and his three grown up boys playing for the first time in years – so it just brings it back to the memories.

Haley:  Especially when we don’t live together so its like – we don’t get to do stuff like that very often – its really cool to go back to our childhood and share it with my other siblings.

Wolfman:  So you weren’t entertained by a 61 year old trying to throw the ball over the plate. (Haley:  Yes, it was cool seeing you living your dream too.). Well my dream is, if I could ever get back to my pitching days when I was younger is I would pitch for the Chicago Cubs in Exhibition.  Like you know George Plimpton use to do this if you remember him from long ago. And that is what I would do. I would pay the Cubs a million dollars but of course I don’t have a million dollars but whatever it would take or (Haley: the next best thing, right?) -- Yes right. But after what I saw how I did today, I would have to have a lot of training for years to be able to even get to a place where I could throw one strike past a major league hitter without them laughing – so that was it.

Haley:  You did a really good job. When we first came out, we were throwing the ball into the ground too … we were like oh!

Wolfman:  I used to be able to throw the ball a long way – throw it really fast … I could probably throw the ball 80 or 85 mph and that is when I was 12 or 13 and that was how I was able to make the Little League All Star Team because nobody could hit me as I was striking everyone out. And now it was pitiful, you know I justn’t couldn’t do it. And this is what happens when you don’t use your muscles. (Derrick and Haley – yes!)

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

Interview with W.P. ("Bill") Kinsella, Part I
 

Wolfman Shapiro:  Dear members, as you know I had the opportunity to visit the Field of Dream's Baseball Field which was used in the movie, and tried to regain my younger days as a pitcher.  While I was doing my interview of Betty (Lansing) who was born on the farm and was one of the family member allowed to be present during the filming of the movie and also thinking about the interview I would be doing with the new owner, of the farm (Denise Stillman); I was curious if the book written by W. P. Kinsella entitled "Shoeless Joe", really did take place in Iowa?  So I went on the internet and not only found via Wikipedia that the story did happen in Iowa City, Iowa but I found a website for Mr. Kinsella himself.  So I wrote an email to his agent, thinking maybe in a week or so I might have a chance to interview him or at least hear back BUT, the very next day I had an email back from Mr. Kinsella who said he was very open to do an email interview with me.

So dear members, it is my great honor and pleasure (perhaps another Dream coming true via my visit to this magical field) to introduce you to W. P. Kinsella who likes to be called Bill.

Bill, welcome to the Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter.

W.P. Kinsella:  Thank you, nice to be with you.

Bill, before we ask you about your book "Shoeless Joe" and the circumstances that inspired you to write it, in addition to what happened when you were approached to have it made into a movie, lets talk about your youth first.  So when you were younger, did you like baseball? 

W.P. Kinsella:  My dad always talked a good game. The only baseball we got was by the radio, and then only when the World Series was happening. My first memories are of the St Louis/St. Louis series, and I pulled for the Cardinals with Musial and maybe Joe Garagiola.

Wolfman Shapiro:  What area of the world did you grow up?

W.P. Kinsella:  Western Canada, on a farm until I was 10, then we moved to Edmonton.

Wolfman Shapiro:  Did you ever play baseball with friends, in little league or for high school or college?  If you did play, what was your best position?

W.P. Kinsella:  I never played. There was nowhere on the field it was safe for me to be.

Wolfman Shapiro:  Was there a professional team that you rooted for?  Who are some of the baseball players were your favorites?

W.P. Kinsella:  The Cardinals and Cincinnati, Grady Hatton, Bucky Walters. (Wolfman Shapiro:  Was "Shoeless Joe Jackson" one of these players?)  No.

Wolfman Shapiro:  Did you always know that you would be a writer?  When you were younger did you do any writing (articles, stories, etc ...)?

W.P. Kinsella:  I woke up at age five knowing how to read and write. Did lots of free lance stuff. Beat my head against the walls of North American literature for many years before becoming successful.

Wolfman Shapiro:  Ok Bill, now lets focus on the creation of the story of "Shoeless Joe".  Where did the idea for this story come from? 

W.P. Kinsella:  I was in Graduate School at the University of Iowa, when I recalled stories my dad told of S. J. ("Shoeless Joe") and the black sox scandal. I just said, what would happen if Joe Jackson came back to life in this time and place, Iowa City, IA in 1978, and just continued to say what if?

Wolfman Shapiro:  Was there something that happened to you in your personal life that was a catalyst for some parts of this story that you wrote?

W.P. Kinsella:  No.

Wolfman Shapiro:  Now I know that when a person comes up with a story - there are two levels to the story, one is the story itself and how to share the pieces of the story, holding on to key elements for later to surprise and delight your readers. But the second aspect to the story is a kind of message or something to teach others through the story.  I am curious what was your personal motivation to make this story and what did you hope would be the key message you wanted to share?

W.P. Kinsella:  I could never plan a novel. I need a good starting point, so from there on I continually surprised myself.  No messages. If I want to convey a message I'll write an essay.

Wolfman Shapiro:  Now I noticed that you used your last name to associate it with your main character Ray and his family along with his father who was one of the ghost players - any reason you chose to do this?

W.P. Kinsella:  Salinger used two characters named Kinsella in his fiction (he once had a college roommate by that name). I said, what if I name my character Ray Kinsella and have him turn up on Salinger's doorstep saying, "I'm one of your fictional characters come to life!"

(Note - J. D. Salinger was the author of the book, "Catcher in the Rye", that was a very popular novel that was linked to Baseball published in the 1940's -- Bill)

Wolfman Shapiro:  Quickly, did you think this story would become as popular as it did?

W.P. Kinsella:  I read Section Two aloud and realized at that point I was onto something special.

Wolfman Shapiro:  So it sounds like you were not surprised at all how popular the story would become and touch so many people, is this correct?

W.P. Kinsella:  Yes.

Wolfman Shapiro:  How was the novel doing as far as in sales, prior to the movie being done? 

W.P. Kinsella:  It sold out its 25,000 first printing.

Wolfman Shapiro:  Were you surprised a production company approached you to make the story into a film?

W.P. Kinsella:  No. Only that it took them so long. Hollywood is really full of morons, always completely opposed to anything original.  (Wolfman Shapiro:  We will come back to your experiences around the film in Part II of this interview. )

Wolfman Shapiro:  My next question for this part of my interview relates to the Baseball Players that came back to life in the story. Ms. Stillman, the current owner of the "Field of Dreams Movie Site" calls them the "Ghost Players" in their recreation of the Black Sox of 1919, a reoccurring event they offer on the Baseball Field (including two of the actors who were in the film).  Where did the idea come from that these well-known MLB players who had passed away would come back to life to play on the Baseball Field, the field Ray was inspired to build?

W.P. Kinsella:  Just a logical advancement of the story. It came about because of hard work.  (Wolfman Shapiro: So, the idea of the so-called Ghost Players was just an idea that made your story work?) Yes.

Wolfman Shapiro:  What is your personal life philosophy related to the after-life? 

W.P. Kinsella:  Life is hard and then you die. There is no afterlife.

Wolfman Shapiro:  Have you ever had contact with what we might call a "Spirit" or perhaps a person you knew in life that passed on?

W.P. Kinsella:  There are no gods. There is no magic. I may be a wizard, for it takes a wizard to know there are none.

Wolfman Shapiro:  On your website it says you are living in the Pacific Northwest. Since we live in the Pacific Northwest in Washington, I am curious if you might be close to us?

W.P. Kinsella:  I live about an hour from the Sumas, WA., a Border crossing, near a town called Hope in the Cascade Mountains in Canada. I used to to travel to Mariner's games regularly, but after 911, the border people became so aggressive I just stopped going to the U.S.

Wolfman Shapiro:  Finally I don't know if any of your fans have ever asked this question but have you ever thought about writing a sequel to "Shoeless Joe" or have you done so? The purpose of this sequel would be to discuss what happened to the writer character (Salinger in the book, Mann in the story) when he went out with the players and what he saw?

W.P. Kinsella:  No.

Wolfman Shapiro:  thank you Mr. Kinsella so much for your time.

(Note: - we will be back with Part II of Mr. Kinsella's interview next month when he discusses more about his experiences and thoughts related to the film and more questions about the story he wrote for this novel.)

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

Wolfman:  So in conclusion, I was very happy to finally visit the "Field of Dream's Baseball Field". I felt a great admiration to the Lansing Family for allowing the Baseball Field to continue to exist as it was in the film and permit so many people to visit it and have their own dreams take place as I had.

Now, if you would like to know more the "Fields of Dreams Movie Site" feel free to visit their website at: http://www.fodmoviesite.com/  (this website is maintained by the investment group called "Go the Distance Baseball, LCC")

Next month I will share the full transcription of the interview I conducted with Denise Stillman, the current owner of the field and farm along with about a 40 minute interview we did with Betty. I also put a request to Ms. Stillman to see if Wade Boggs, an ex-major leaguer (who we all know and admire and wish during his playing years he was on our draft teams), who as mentioned previously is a member of the investment group that worked together to acquire the Baseball Field and Farm, if he might be open to do an interview with us too. I heard back just before going to press, there is a good chance I will have a chance to speak to him in August and we will see where we go from there.  And of course, I had a lot more questions for Mr. Kinsella as well (what good editor doesn't have questions?). So, I hope you enjoyed this first part of my report with all the photos, as we will see you again next month. So when will you be making your visit to Dryersville, Iowa to see the "Field of Dreams Movie Site" with the Baseball Field?

 

 

Support the Cause If you are enjoying the content and information our newsletter shares with you, why not support us with your helpful donation for our minor expenses and time?

Contained inside this exciting issue of Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter:
(to view the various interviews, articles, columns and special sections click on the links {underlined}
and this will take you to the appropriate webpage)
 

♦  RETURN TO NEWSLETTER MAIN PAGE

♦  STRAT WISE with MARC WASSERMAN commissioner of the Cyber Baseball Association (CBA) continues his new column sharing various perspectives on SOM Baseball. In this issue Marc shares insights about how to do League Enforcements by using a league he is in called the Great Midwest Baseball League.

♦  ARTICLE with LARRY BRAUS, Larry, an old friend of the Wolfman from Chicago and periodic contributing writers shares with us about his experience playing at the Strat Tournament Players Club tourney held in Chicago in April of this year.

♦  SOM BASEBALL LEAGUE REPORT with WOLFMAN SHAPIRO -- the editor of "The Ultimate Strat Newsletter" and 2012 CBA Champion, talks to members of various Strat-o-matic Baseball Leagues that he has discovered on the internet about the history of their league and their experiences. This is the first time we get to speak to a League Commissioner of a Baseball Retro League and how these leagues are different than the normal draft league.  To read the interview, click on the link below:

INTERVIEW with MARK SIMONS, Commissioner of 4 Leagues, P-VIII (Computer)
INTERVIEW with SCOTT LEITNER, Commissioner of IVSL, P-XI (Computer)

♦  ARTICLE with WOLFMAN SHAPIRO (linked with Baseball Daily), This the Wolfman second report about the new "Baseball Daily" game play with SOM Baseball as he continues to manage the 2016 Chicago Cubs day by day. He shows you his results through the end of July 28th and give an analysis linked to the Cubs how they have been playing and their chances to get to the World Series.

♦  RECOMMEND ON-LINE SOM RESOURCES -- On-line Strat-o-matic and Baseball related websites
that offer amazing information, special tools and products to improve your game play that we strongly recommend. In most cases, we have had personal contact with these sources who agree with the principle to work together and help promote each other.

♦  BOOKS TO DIE FOR and Become a BASEBALL GURU -- This page is specifically about special books we are finding that either will expand your insights about the game of Baseball, help you in the creation of your current league teams or with your replays and learn more about the Strat-o-matic Baseball Game and Game Company's history.  We have a special arrangement with Acta Sports, who is a publisher of a number of great baseball books (including Bill James Handbooks) to offer for our members a 10% discount. We will continue to add more books to this page in the future as we uncover other gems our members should know about.