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 Field of dreams Adults relive childhoods at baseball farm
Posted: Sunday July 18, 1999 01:40 PM
LANDISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Jim Fuller admits his baseball talent is limited. "I can't throw, can't hit, can't judge a ball. But other than that I'm OK," he said. Those liabilities did not prevent the Mechanicsbug resident from driving an hour on a recent evening to relive his youth on a ballfield adjacent to a cornfield about 40 miles west of Harrisburg. About 2,000 people are expected to visit the 90-acre farm this summer, hoping to have similar experiences. Brad Shover is counting on that. The baseball coach at Dickinson College in nearby Carlisle and former minor league baseball team owner bought the farm three years ago with the idea of giving people a chance to relax, rekindle memories and have fun. He was inspired by the 1989 movie "Field of Dreams," in which a farmer constructs a baseball diamond in a cornfield and a group of long-dead baseball players re-emerge. The film played on the public's nostalgia, which is what Shover does, such as providing wool uniforms like those worn in the 1930s. "I thought the guys would come out here and say, 'I remember when.' They remember their playing days, they remember the old players," said Shover. To further emphasize the historical ties, Shover's resort is called the Doubleday Country Inn & Farm, named for Abner Doubleday, who is credited by some for inventing the game. And to help visitors remember yesteryear's players, a different one comes each weekend to tell stories and, occasionally, give lessons and play ball. On a recent evening, former Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski chatted, posed for pictures and signed autographs. Despite his quick-throwing arm that earned him the nickname "no touch," almost all the fans talked about his game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of the seventh game of the 1960 World Series. Mazeroski said beating the Yankees -- who have won more world championships than any other team -- was especially satisfying. "I was a Cleveland Indians fan, I didn't like those damn Yankees," he said. Though he retired from the game in 1972, he still keeps his hand in it by working with players at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Fla., where his son Darren is the coach. Gary Clay of Lancaster, who plays outfield on a softball team and pitched for Grove City College, grew up in McKeesport near Pittsburgh and had fond memories of Mazeroski and his teammates. "The local police chief used to rent buses six or seven times a summer and take us to watch the Pirates. So this is special," Clay said. "When Mazeroski hit the home run, I was in school. The teachers let us listen while working on a project. The whole city was listening to the game." Scott Bishop, a 42-year old former college infielder from Mechanicsburg, was more interested in his own game and revisiting his glory days at the cornfield-turned-ballfield. He said "age is a factor" in his not playing much any more, but he has fond memories of his days on the Clarion University of Pennsylvania team. Joe Joyce Sr. of Philadelphia and his son Joe Joyce Jr. of Harrisburg played infield together at Shover's field and saw it as a way to reconnect with the ball playing they did when they were both younger. "I played little league baseball and in the Police Athletic League, but haven't played much since then. I heard about this and it seemed like a neat idea so I gave it to my parents for Christmas," Joe Joyce Jr. said Joe Joyce Sr. said he had "spent a long time away from baseball," though he regularly goes to Philadelphia Phillies games. Baseball as a source of continuity between generations is a frequent theme of books and movies. In "Field of Dreams," a character uses it to explain why the farmer should turn his field into a baseball diamond. "The one constant through all the years ... 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, is a part of our past. ... It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again."
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