MLB on Thursday is hosting its second-ever regular season game at the Field of Dreams location, but they won’t be back in 2023.
Hall of Fame first baseman Frank Thomas is one of the owners of a group that has a controlling interest in the Field of Dreams location in Dyersville, Iowa. The Big Hurt told the Des Moines Register that MLB won’t be able to play at the Field of Dreams next year because of construction plans the ownership group has.
“It’s a lot going on,” Thomas told the Des Moines Register on Wednesday in Dyersville. “They don’t want to come back if the stadium’s not prepared.”
Thomas says the ownership group has plans to turn the area into a youth sports complex that includes nine baseball and softball fields. Eventually, they would like to have a hotel and dormitories there too. Their plan sounds similar to what Cooperstown Dreams Park has created in New York.
Though no game is scheduled for 2023, the group might try to have MLB return in 2024 once construction is complete.
Last year, MLB hosted a game between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox at the location that drew a sellout crowd and nearly six million viewers. The Reds and Cubs are playing in the 2022 version of the game. There was also a minor league game at the location on Tuesday between two Iowa-based minor-league teams.
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