MLB’s inaugural Field of Dreams Game was an amazing spectacle in 2021. White Sox and Yankees players emerged from the cornfields in Dyersville, Iowa, before putting on what felt at times like a home run derby. It ended with Tim Anderson hitting a walk-off dinger.
Major League Baseball is going back to the well this year with the struggling Reds and Cubs playing at the hallowed site on Thursday. The clubs will sport throwback looks that acknowledge their histories as two of the oldest franchises in baseball.
But baseball will take a break from Dyersville in 2023.
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Why won’t there be an MLB Field of Dreams Game in 2023?
Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Thomas, who’s part of the group that owns the complex, told the Des Moines Register, in vague terms, why the game will be taking a season off: construction at the site.
“It’s a lot going on,” Thomas said, per The Register. “They don’t want to come back if the stadium’s not prepared.”
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The construction plan includes adding facilities to house youth baseball and softball. Work will begin this year and extend into next year.
Part of the game’s charm is the natural, non-industrial look of the diamond. MLB clearly doesn’t want to shatter that illusion by having a game there while construction is going on, even if the project is at the tail end.
Given the game’s popularity, expect a return in 2024 after the work is completed.