Dipped in Magic Waters

I’m not the world’s greatest Field of Dreams fan.

I’ve enjoyed it pretty much every time I’ve seen it, and I’m glad for its fame. I’m even planning to celebrate it’s 25th Anniversary Year with a re-viewing or two. But if I’m honest with myself, I find that I’ve always enjoyed the idea of the story more than the actual telling. There’s something a bit too predictable about it, for me; something a bit forced.

…except for Terence Mann’s speech, which is amazing. And which has been playing on a loop in my head of late, for some inexplicable reason. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve been spending nearly every non-work-related waking moment at our town’s Little League field. Maybe it’s because I so love the idea of baseball as The One Great Constant. Or maybe it’s just because we can all sympathize with its sentiments in some way or another, whether we’re baseball people or not.

And they’ll pass over the money without even thinking about it, for it is money they have and peace they lack.

…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, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again.”

Attribution(s): All publicity images and movie stills are the property of United Artists/MGM and other respective production studios and distributors, and are intended for editorial use only.