Back in 2020 the iconic baseball field in Dyersville, Iowa which is owned by former White Sox star Frank Thomas was set to host a game between the White Sox and Yankees before it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They ended up play a game there instead against Yankees during the 2021 season. I did not watch that game last year because I was too caught up in other things going on in my life! Tonight though my favorite team the Cubs are playing the game against the Cincinnati Reds. You can bet every dime you have that I will be watching the game even though the Cubs are as bad as ever.
Some of the guys on this years squad, namely Ian Happ and Willson Contreras, came up through the Cubs farm system. For the Cubs-Reds game tonight to be played in Iowa on the iconic movie field makes complete sense to me when we look at the fact that the Cubs organization has had their AAA affiliate in Des Moines for 52 years. That means this years Field of Dreams game tonight will be a home coming for the guys who came up through the Cubs farm system!
The trade deadline came and went without the two main pieces that were expected to be gone getting traded and I am of the belief that Jed Hoyer kept Ian and Willson to give them this experience and continue extension talks with both of them before seeing them both go this off season. Sadly, I think that might have been a mistake with Willson. I think he will be gone this winter no matter what even if the qualifying offer he is given is so good that he can’t turn it down I think he will still test the market and go elsewhere after the emotional week he had going up to the trade deadline being recognized by fans in a way that the 2016 core guys were not able to get the recognition last season.
On a side note: The big Cubs news earlier this week was that Hoyer has had conversations with Jason Heyward and Jason will be staying with the team for the rest of the season but has played his last game as a Cub! I know many other Cubs fans who wanted him gone last year. I have always been on the bandwagon of fans who wanted to keep him because of his leadership skills in the clubhouse. With that said, I believe that his playing days could be over due to the knee injury that has ended his season.
With that… let’s play ball!