The Cubs reportedly will face the Reds in the ‘‘Field of Dreams’’ game next season in Dyersville, Iowa. The game tentatively is scheduled for Aug. 11, 2022, and will be considered a Reds home game, according to USA Today Network’s Bob Nightengale. August 11 is currently a scheduled off day for both teams before they begin a three-game series at Great American Ball Park.
Major League Baseball announced the game would return in 2022, even before the wildly popular Yankees-White Sox game took place last Thursday. With 5.9 million viewers, that game was the most-watched regular-season baseball game on Fox in 16 years.
The White Sox hosted the Yankees last Thursday. The teams then had an off day Friday before concluding the series Saturday and Sunday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Cubs manager David Ross let it slip the Cubs were scheduled to play in next year’s game during a chat with reporters last week.
The White Sox beat the Yankees 9-8 thanks to Tim Anderson’s walk-off home run.
The Cubs’ being in the 2022 game was first reported by NBC Sports Chicago. Major League Baseball has not made an announcement, although commissioner Rob Manfred did say MLB would return in 2022.
The made-from-scratch stadium in Dyersville (pop. 4,000) — built to hold about 8,000 fans — was placed next to the actual diamond where the 1989 movie starring Kevin Costner was shot outside the town.
The film, naturally, remains a strong source of local pride, and Iowa residents were given purchasing priority when the limited amount of public tickets went on sale.
