SportsHollywood: In the spirit of the film Field of Dreams, will you stand out in the center of the field and "have a catch?" MARCIA WEIGEL(Shop Lady, Field of Dreams Movie Site): Sure. I could do that. JOYCE LANSING (Shop Lady, Left and Center Field of Dreams): Oh, sure I would!

That's right! We went around the owners and made a plea to the shop clerks! Were we really that desperate -- would we really go that low?

You bet.

We looked out onto the field, which seemed to turn greener in the golden light of the late afternoon; the corn in the outfield gently rocked and rumbled in the breeze, as if applauding. We were healing the field's pain! The open wound from third base into center was finally closing. Visions of Kevin Costner and Dwier Brown playing catch in center field filled our minds -- and now Joyce and Marcia were going to "have a catch" along with them. Let the healing begin!

Sadly, one of the ladies informed us that there was a pending lawsuit that prevented either woman from crossing the field into enemy territory. So we devised a relay, with Rodney Lee on the center field border to catch the throws from each clerk and toss the ball on to the rival shop, avoiding any "touching."

Unfortunately, by the time we were set up to film the historic catch across the borderline, the shop clerks had lost their nerve. (Better to lose your nerve than your job.)

It was over.

Baseball had not brought people together. The field's pain would never be eased.

AFTERMATH

Ray Kinsella: "No wait, I have done everything that I've been asked to do! I didn't understand it, but I've done it; and I haven't once asked 'what's in it for me?'" Shoeless Joe: "What are you saying Ray?" Ray Kinsella: "I'm saying, what's in it for me?" Shoeless Joe: "Is that why you did this... for you?"

Sometimes a greater lesson can be learned from a loss than from a victory. What did we learn here?

Not much.

We learned that baseball can not always bring people together.

We learned that Phardoe can urinate into Wisconsin all the way from Iowa (when we park on the state border and he relieves himself on the freeway roadside).

We learned that paying for plane tickets, publicists, cameramen, models, hotel fees, ballfield tickets, specialized jerseys, caps, and meal money can run into a lot of money.

Mostly, we learned that while there are a lot of nice people in Iowa, film is not reality, and neighbors aren't necessarily neighborly.

The corn was now gone, baseball season was over, and a long winter was approaching.

On the flight back, the voice beckoned us to Dallas for some football to reunite Nick Nolte, Mac Davis and the cast of North Dallas Forty, but the magic was gone.

We took our ball and went home.

It was just a bunch of corn, anyway.

CHAPTERS

	MAIN PAGE: "If you build it, the other guy won't leave." How baseball didn't bring two people together.
	CREDITS: They built it and Rodney Lee Conover, Dave West and Jeff Hause went to tear it down.
	BUY THE MOVIE: Buy the DVD or video. (The DVD contains a documentary about the field.)

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