Go the distance.
What's the matter?
- You didn't see that? - See what?
I'm sorry. I guess you didn't have to be here.
What?
Whenever you want to go, we can go.
Fine. Let's go.
What is it you're not telling me?
I've already taken up too much of your time.
I wish I had your passion.
Misdirected though it might be, it is still a passion.
I used to feel that way about things, but...
- You got another message, didn't you? - You'll think I'm crazy.
I already think you're crazy. What did it say?
It said, "The man's done enough. Leave him alone."
Moonlight Graham.
- You saw it. - Saw what?
You saw it. New York Giants, 1922. He played one game. He never got to bat.
- You saw it! - What did I see?
Chisholm, Minnesota.
We were the only ones who saw it. Did you hear the voice, too?
It's all right to admit it.
It's what told me to find you. Did you hear it?
"Go the distance"?
- Yes. Do you know what it means? - Yes.
What?
It means we're going to Minnesota to find Moonlight Graham.
- We're going... We? - I must be out of my mind.
- What do we do when we find him? - How the hell am I supposed to know?
That's right. You're right.
- This is so bitchin'. - I don't believe I'm doing this.
Hey, Annie, guess what? I'm with Terence Mann.
Oh, my God. You kidnapped him.
No, I didn't. He wanted to.
I'm really sorry, but I'm going to be a few days longer.
We're going to Minnesota.
I don't believe this. What's in Minnesota?
An old ballplayer. I'll explain when I get home.
- How are things with you? - Fine.
Great. Look, Ann, I got to go, okay?
Give Karin a hug for me, and I love you.
I love you, too.
Someday explain all this to me, okay?
I'll try. Bye-bye.
'Bye.
Why didn't you tell him?
You got no choice in the matter.
Half a dozen Grahams. No Archibald. No Moonlight.
Follow me.
Hello.
Excuse me. Maybe you can help us.
We're looking for an ex-baseball player, Archibald Graham.
- Oh, you mean Doc Graham. - No, I think his nickname was "Moonlight."
- That's Dr. Graham. - Dr. Graham?
His baseball career never amounted to much, so he went back to school.
His father was a doctor.
- Do you know where we can find him? - It's nothing bad. We're not from the IRS.
Doc Graham is dead. He died in 1972.
"At times children could not afford eyeglasses or milk or clothing.
"Yet no child was ever denied these essentials...
"...because, in the background, there was always Dr. Graham.
"Without any fanfare or publicity, the glasses or the milk...
"...or the ticket to the ball game found their way into the child's pocket."
- You wrote that. - The day he died.
Can I see that?
- You're a good writer. - So are you.
Something's missing.
He sounds like he was a wonderful man.
Half the towns in North America have a Doc Graham.
Why do we have to travel halfway across the country to find this one...
...sixteen years after he died?
There's got to be more.
What else?
He always wore an overcoat...
...he had white hair, and he always carried an umbrella.
What was the umbrella for?
I think it got to be a habit, something to hang on to.
If you asked him, he said he used it to beat away his lady admirers.
Tell me about his wife.
Alicia.
She moved to South Carolina after Doc passed.
She passed a couple years later.
She always wore blue.
The shopkeepers in town would stock blue hats...
...because they knew if Doc walked by, he'd buy one.
When they cleaned out his office...
...they found boxes of blue hats...
...that he never got around to give her.
I'll bet you didn't know that.
No, I didn't.
No screwing, no drinking, no opium, no midnight abortions.
No illegitimate children, no shady finances.
You sound disappointed.
Shoeless Joe had a problem. That's why he needed you.
This guy doesn't need us.
Do you know you're missing?
Oh, God.
"His father, who lives in Baltimore, notified police after receiving...
"...no answer to repeated telephone calls." Shoot.
I better call him.
- You want me to... - Thanks.
I'm taking a walk. Be back in a while.
What do I tell him?
"This year's"?
Dr. Graham?
My name's Ray Kinsella. I'm from lowa.
Are you Moonlight Graham?
No one's called me Moonlight Graham in 50 years.
I've come a very long way to see you.
I couldn't sleep tonight. Usually I sleep like a baby.
I told Alicia I was going to take a walk.
Do you mind if I join you? I'd like to talk to you.
Let's walk over to my office.
What do you want to talk to me about?
When you got to the majors, you played only one inning of one game.
What happened with you?
It was the last day of the season.
Bottom of the eighth inning, we were way ahead.
I'd been up with the club for three weeks, but I hadn't seen any action.
Suddenly old John McGraw points a bony finger in my direction...
...and he says, "Right field."
I jumped up like I was sitting on a spring.
Grabbed my glove, and ran out on the field.
Did you get to make a play?
They never hit the ball out of the infield.
The game ended. The season was over.
I knew they'd send me back down.
I couldn't bear the thought of another year in the minors.
So I decided to hang them up.
- Go on. Sit down. - Thank you.
So what was that like?
It was like coming this close to your dreams...
...and then watching them brush past you, like a stranger in a crowd.
At the time, you don't think much of it.
We don't recognize our most significant moments while they're happening.
Back then I thought, "Well, there'll be other days."
I didn't realize that was the only day.
And now, I want to ask you a question.
What's so interesting about half an inning that would make you come from lowa...
...to talk to me about it 50 years after it happened.
I didn't really know till just now...
...but I think it's to ask you, if you could do anything you wanted...
...if you could have a wish...
And you're the kind of man who could grant me that wish?
I don't know. I'm just asking.
You know, I never got to bat in the major leagues.
I'd have liked to have had that chance, just once...
...to stare down a big-league pitcher.
Stare him down, then just as he goes into his windup, wink.
Make him think you know something he doesn't.
That's what I wish for.
The chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes to look at it.
To feel the tingle in your arms as you connect with the ball.
To run the bases, stretch a double into a triple...
...and flop face first into third.
Wrap your arms around the bag.
That's my wish.
Is there enough magic out there in the moonlight...
...to make this dream come true?
- What would you say if I said yes? - I think I'd actually believe you.
There's a place where things like that happen...
...and if you want to go, I can take you.
This is my most special place in all the world.
Once a place touches you like this, the wind never blows so cold again.
You feel for it. Like it was your child.
I can't leave Chisholm.
I understand. I do.
But I really think you're supposed to come with us.
No.
But your wish?
It'll have to stay a wish.
I was born here, I lived here, I'll die here, but no regrets.
Fifty years ago, for five minutes, you came this close.
It would kill some men to get that close to their dream and not touch it.
They'd consider it a tragedy.
Son, if I'd only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes...
...now that would have been a tragedy.
I better be getting home. Alicia will think I got a girlfriend.
And he smiled.
And then I figured, maybe we're not supposed to take him with us.
I don't know.
I don't know why in the hell we were supposed to come here.
Maybe it's to find out if one inning can change the world.
- Think it did? - It did for these people.
If he'd gotten a hit, he might have stayed in baseball.
I don't know.
Your wife called before. She wants you to call her tonight.
I'm fine. I'm just so glad it's you.
Listen, I talked to the bank...
...and I asked them if we could miss a payment or two...
...and they told me that they had just sold the note on the farm...
...to Mark and his partners.
Right. So they own the paper now.
He says if we don't sell to them, they're going to foreclose.
We don't have the money.
Look, I've got to take Mr. Mann back to Boston first.
- No. - Wait a second.
I'm going to lowa with you.
We're coming home.
Hell, I can't quit now. I got to see this ball park.
Not everyone can see it. You might not.
Give it a try.
I need all the karma I can get right now.
- Thanks. You're the first car by. - How far you going?
- Iowa.
If it's okay, I'll just ride along a while. I play baseball.
- Hop in. - All right.
I'm looking for a place to play.
I heard that all through the Midwest, they have towns with teams.
And in some places, they'll even find you a day job...
...so you can play ball nights and weekends.
This is your lucky day, kid. We're going someplace kind of like that.
All right.
- I'm Ray Kinsella. This is Terence Mann. - Hi.
I'm Archie Graham.
It's funny the way he described towns finding you a job...
...so that you could play on their team. They haven't done that for years.
My dad did that for a while, but that was in the '20s.
What happened to your father?
He never made it as a ballplayer...
...so he tried to get his son to make it for him.
By the time I was 10, playing baseball...
...got to be like eating vegetables or taking out the garbage.
So when I was 14, I started to refuse.
Can you believe that?
American boy refusing to have a catch with his father?
Why 14?
That's when I read The Boat Rocker by Terence Mann.
God!
I never played catch with him again.
That's the kind of crap people always lay on me.
It's not my fault you wouldn't play catch with him.
I know.
Anyway, when I was 17...
...I packed my things, said something awful, and left.
After a while, I wanted to come home, but I didn't know how.
Made it back for the funeral, though.
What was the awful thing you said?
To your father?
I said I could never respect a man whose hero was a criminal.
Who was his hero?
Shoeless Joe Jackson.
You knew he wasn't a criminal. Then why did you say it?
I was 17.
The son of a bitch died before I could take it back.
Before I could tell him...
...you know.
He never met my wife.
He never saw his granddaughter.
This is your penance.
I know. I can't bring my father back.
So the least you can do is bring back his hero.
Well...
Now I know what everybody's purpose here is.
Except mine.
- Daddy! - Karin, come here.
Hi!
- We missed you. Are you okay? - Yeah. This is Terence Mann.
Terry.
- Welcome. - Thank you.
Hi, Terry.
And this young fellow is... This is Archie Graham.
- Archie. - He's come to practice with the team.
Yeah? He's going to be able to do a lot more than that.
What does that mean?
- Welcome back. - Thanks, Joe.
- Oh, my God. - What?
That's Shoeless Joe Jackson!
Of course it is. You mean you didn't believe me?
I thought I did, but... Oh, my God.
- Hi, Annie. - Hi, Joe.
Good to see you. Terry, I'd like you to meet Shoeless Joe Jackson.
Joe, Terry Mann.
- It's a pleasure meeting you. - The pleasure's mine.
I hope you don't mind, but we got tired ofjust having practices...
...so we brought another team out so we could have some real games.
I don't mind. Where'd they come from?
Where did we come from?
You wouldn't believe how many guys wanted to play.
We had to beat 'em off with a stick.
That's "Smokey" Joe Wood, and Mel Ott...
...and Gil Hodges!
Ty Cobb wanted to play.
We couldn't stand the son of a bitch when we were alive...
...so we told him to stick it!
- Are you Graham? - Yes, sir.
What are you doing on the sidelines? You came to play ball, didn't you?
Yes, sir.
- All right. Well, go warm up. - Yes, sir.
Rookies.
Unbelievable.
It's more than that.
It's perfect.
Safe!
Go, Graham! Go, kid!
Come on, Archie!
He looks like a baby next to those guys.
He is.
Let's go.
Watch it, boy!
Don't let him shake you up. Hang in there!
Knuckles, what did you throw at the kid for?
- He winked at me. - Don't wink, kid.
Good thing for you he didn't throw the fastball.
Let's see that fastball.
Ball.
Hey! Come on. Give us a break!
Hey, ump.
- How about a warning? - Sure. Watch out you don't get killed.
Time!
Those first two were high and tight. So what do you think the next one will be?
Either low and away or in my ear.
He's not going to want to load the bases. So look for low and away.
Right.
But watch out for in your ear.
- Come on, Archie! - Let's go, kid!
Batter, batter, batter!
Come on, Arch. It just takes one.
- Yeah. - That's deep enough.
Go! Go! Go home!
- Safe! - Son of a...
Way to go, Arch! Way to go!
Attaboy, Arch!
This is the wave!
- Way to go, man! - Yeah, Archie.
- All right. - Archie, we need it.
- Way to go. - Yeah. Way to go.
- What is this? - What is this jerk doing?
Hi!
- Shit! Wreck him. - Let me at him!
You're interrupting the game, Mark.
It's time to put away your little fantasies and come down to Earth.
- It's not a fantasy. They're real. - Who is real?
Shoeless Joe Jackson, the White Sox, all of them.
- You mean? - No. He can't see any of them.
Who is this, Elvis?
Ray.
As a matter of fact, it's Terence Mann.
How do you do? I'm the Easter Bunny.
- Let's settle this thing now. - Look. I'm not selling.
You have no money. You have a stack of bills!
Come fall, you got no crop to sell.
But, I have a deal that allows you to stay on the land.
Daddy? We don't have to sell the farm.
- You'll live in the house rent-free. - What about the team...
Do you realize how much this land is worth?
Yeah. Yeah.
$ 2,200 an acre.
We can't keep a useless baseball diamond in rich farmland.
Read my lips. We're staying, all right?
- We're staying. - Ray, you're bankrupt!
I'm offering you a way to keep your home because I love my sister.
My partners don't care and are ready to foreclose right now.
Daddy, we don't have to sell the farm.
- Karin, please! - Just wait! Wait!
People will come.
- What people, sweetheart? - From all over.
They'll just decide to take a vacation, see?
And they'll come to lowa City. They'll think it's really boring.
So they'll want to pay us. Like buying a ticket.
You're not seriously listening to this, are you?
- Yes. - Wait a minute.
Why would anybody pay money to come here?
To watch the games.
It will be just like when they were kids, a long time ago.
They'll watch the game and remember what it was like.
- What the hell is she talking about? - People will come.
All right. This is fascinating...
...but you don't have the money to bring the mortgage up to date.
So, you're still going to have to sell.
I'm sorry, Ray. We got no choice.
People will come, Ray.
They'll come to lowa for reasons they can't even fathom.
They'll turn up your driveway, not knowing for sure why they're doing it.
They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children...
...longing for the past.
"Of course, we won't mind if you look around," you'll say.
"It's only $ 20 per person."
They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it.
For it is money they have and peace they like.
Ray! Just sign the papers.
Then they'll walk off to the bleachers...
...and sit in their shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon.
They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines...
...where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes...
...and they'll watch the game...
...and it will be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters.
The memories will be so thick...
...they'll have to brush them away from their faces.
When the bank opens in the morning, they'll foreclose.
People will come, Ray.
You're broke, Ray. You sell now, or you lose everything.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, 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.
It's a part of our past, Ray.
It reminds us of all that once was good...
...and it could be again.
People will come, Ray.
People will most definitely come.
Ray, you will lose everything.
You will be evicted.
Come on, Ray.
I'm not signing.
You're crazy! Absolutely nuts!
I can't do it, pal.
Ray, you build a baseball field in the middle of nowhere...
...and you stare at nothing.
It's not nothing.
- Your daughter's turned into a space case. - Get your hands off her!
Karin?
- Is she all right? - I don't know.
- Is she breathing? - Should I get the car?
I'm going to call emergency.
- Annie, wait. - What?
Just wait.
- What have we got here? - She fell.
- This child's choking to death. - Get her up.
Hold her steady now.
Hot dog. Stuck in her throat.
She'll be all right.
She'll be turning handsprings before you know it.
Thank you, Doc.
No, son. Thank you.
Oh, my God. You can't go back.
- You can't go back. - It's all right.
- I'm sorry. - It's all right.
I best be getting on home...
...before Alicia begins to think I got a girlfriend.
Hey, Doc.
Good work, Doc.
Nice going, Doc.
Going to miss you.
Win one for me one day, will you, boys?
- Okay, Doc. - Yeah.
When did these ballplayers get here?
Hey, rookie!
You were good.
Do not sell this farm, Ray. You got to keep this farm.
You've had a rough day.
- Go inside and get something cold to drink. - Yeah.
That's a good idea.
Don't sell the farm, Ray.
Ray?
We're going to call it a day.
- See you tomorrow. - Okay.
Do you want to come with us?
- You mean it? - No, not you.
Him.
- Him? - Come with you?
- Out there. - What is out there?
Come and find out.
Wait a second. Why him? I built this field.
- You wouldn't be here if it weren't for me. - I'm unattached. You have a family.
I want to know what's out there.
- I want to see it. - But you're not invited.
"Not invited"? What do you mean I'm not invited?
That's my corn out there. You guys are guests in my corn.
I've done everything I've been asked to do. I didn't understand, but I've done it.
I haven't once asked what's in it for me.
- What are you saying? - I'm saying, "What's in it for me?"
Is that why you did this? For you?
I think you'd better stay here, Ray.
Why?
Ray. There's a reason they chose me...
...just as there's a reason they chose you and this field.
I gave an interview.
What are you talking about?
The one about Ebbets Field, the one that sent you to Boston to find me.
- You lied to me. - You were kidnapping me at the time.
- You lied to me! - You said your finger was a gun.
- That's a good point. - Ray.
Listen to me, Ray. Listen to me.
There is something out there...
...and if I have the courage to go through with this...
...what a story it'll make.
"Shoeless Joe Jackson comes to lowa."
- Are you going to write about it? - You bet I'll write about it.
- You're going to write about it. - That's what I do.
Good.
Honey, where's he going?
Terry's been invited to go out with the other players.
- How are you feeling, sweetheart? - Stupid.
You mean "out"?
Yeah.
Out.
Far out.
I want a full description.
Take care of this family.
Be careful.
'Bye.
What?
What are you grinning at, you ghost?
"If you build it...
"...he will come."
- Oh, my God. - What? What is it?
It's my father.
"Ease his pain."
"Go the distance."
It was you.
No, Ray. It was you.
My God.
I only saw him years later when he was worn down by life.
Look at him.
He's got his whole life in front of him, and I'm not even a glint in his eye.
What do I say to him?
Why don't you introduce him to his granddaughter?
Hi.
I just wanted to thank you folks for putting up this field...
...letting us play here.
I'm John Kinsella.
I'm Ray.
My wife Annie.
This is my daughter Karin. Karin, this is my...
This is John.
Hi, John.
Hi, Karin.
Well, we're going to let you two talk.
If all these people are going to come, we got a lot of work to do.
It was very nice meeting you.
Ma'am.
Come on.
You catch a good game.
Thank you.
It's so beautiful here.
For me...
For me, it's like a dream come true.
Can I ask you something?
Is this heaven?
It's lowa.
- Iowa? - Yeah.
I could have sworn it was heaven.
Is there a heaven?
Oh, yeah.
It's the place where dreams come true.
Maybe this is heaven.
Good night, Ray.
Good night, John.
Hey! Dad?
You want to have a catch?
I'd like that.