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, Ray.
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.
What did I see?
Chisholm, Minnesota.
We were the only ones who saw it.
Did you hear the voice, too?
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.
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 ball player.
I'll explain when I get home.
How are things with you?
Fine.
Great. Look, Ann, I got to go, OK?
Give Karin a hug for me,
and I love you.
I love you, too.
Hey, someday explain all this to me, OK?
I'll try.
Bye-bye.
Bye.
Why didn't you tell him?
Annie, 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
named Archibald Graham.
Oh, you mean Doc Graham.
No. I think his nickname was "Moonlight."
Well, that's Dr. Graham.
Dr. Graham?
His baseball career never amounted to much.
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.
"And there were times
when 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.
Well, he sounds like he was a wonderful man.
Half the towns in North America have a Doc Graham.
What makes this one so special
we travel across the country to find him
16 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?
It got to be a habit,
something to hang on to.
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.
Terence.
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, uh, 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.
Well, 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 taking 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, we were way ahead.
In three weeks, 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,
then watch them brush past you,
like a stranger in a crowd.
Then, you don't think about it.
We just don't recognize
life's most significant moments
while they're happening.
Back then I thought,
"Well, there'll be other days."
I didn't realize that that was the only day.
And now, I want to ask you a question.
What's so interesting about half an inning
that you'd 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... a wish...
And you're the kind of a man
who could grant me that wish?
I don't know. I'm just asking.
Well, 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.
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
it hurts your eyes to look at it,
to feel the tingle in your arms as you connect with the ball,
run bases...
stretching a double into a triple
and flop face first into third,
wrap your arms around the bag.
That's my wish. 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.
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... like it was your child.
I can't leave Chisholm.
I un... I understand
I do.
But I really think
you're supposed to come with us.
You're supposed to come with us.
No.
But your wish?
Lt'll have to stay a wish.
I was born here, I lived here,
I'll die here, but no regrets.
50 years ago, for 5 minutes
you came this close.
It would kill some men
to get that close to their dream
and not touch it.
God. They'd consider it a tragedy.
If I'd only gotten
to be a doctor for five minutes,
now that would have been a tragedy.
[Clock Chimes]
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?
Did for these people.
If he'd gotten a hit,
he might have stayed in baseball.
I don't know.
Oh, your wife called.
She wants you to call her tonight.
[Telephone Rings]
[Ring]
Ray?
Ohh.
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.
Ray, we don't have the money.
Look, um, I've got to take Mr. Mann
back to Boston first.
OK? So it's, uh...
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?
Lowa.
If it's OK, 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.
In some places, they'll find you a day job
so you can play ball nights and weekends.
It's your lucky day.
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 you could play on their team.
They haven't done that for years.
Dad did that for a while,
but that was in the twenties.
What happened to your father?
He never made it as a ballplayer.
He wanted his son to make it for him.
By 10, playing baseball got to be
like eating vegetables or taking out garbage.
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.
I never played catch with him again.
That's the 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?
Oh...
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.
Hey.
Daddy!
Karin, come here.
Hi!
Oh...
We missed you.
Are you, OK?
Yeah. This is Terence Mann.
Terry.
Welcome.
Hi, Terry.
And this young fella is... This is Archie Graham.
Archie.
He's come to practice with the team.
He'll be able to do a lot more than that.
What does that mean?
What do you say?
Hey, Ray.
Welcome back.
Thanks, Joe.
Oh, my God.
What?
That's Shoeless Joe Jackson.
Of course it is.
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.
We got tired of just having practices,
so we brought another team out
so we'd have some real games.
I don't mind.
Where'd they come from?
Where did we come from?
So many wanted to play here.
We had to beat them off with a stick.
Hey, that's Smokey Joe Wood
and Mel Ott
and Gil Hodges.
Ty Cobb wanted to play.
Nobody could stand him when we were alive.
We told him to stick it.
Hey...
are you Graham?
Yes, sir.
Why are you on the sidelines?
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.
Ho!
Safe!
[Whistling]
Go, Graham!
Go, kid!
Come on, Archie!
He looks like a baby next to those guys.
He is.
Let's get a hit.
Let's go.
Oh!
Watch it, boy!
[Raspberries]
Say hey!
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.
Let's go. Come on.
Yeah!
Ball.
Hey, ump!
Come on. Give us a break!
Hey, ump.
How about a warning?
Sure. Watch out you don't get killed.
Ha ha ha.
Time!
Ha ha ha.
Those first two were high and tight.
What will the next one be?
Well...
either low and away or in my ear.
He won't want to load the bases.
So look for low and away.
All right.
But watch out for in your ear.
- Come on, Archie! - Let's go, kid!
Batter, batter, batter, batter!
Come on, Arch.
It just takes one.
Never hit it, kid.
Yeah. 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.
Mmm.
What is this?
What is this jerk doing?
Hi!
Shit!
Wreck him.
Let me at him!
You're interrupting the game, Mark.
Ray, 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?
He can't see any of them.
Well, 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.
You have no money.
Look. I'm not selling.
You have a stack of bills!
Come fall, you got no crop to sell.
I have a deal
that allows you to stay on the land.
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 bucks 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.
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 little 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.
You're still going to have to sell.
I'm sorry, Ray.
We got no choice.
Ray...
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.
Just sign the papers.
Then they'll walk out to the bleachers
and sit in their shirt sleeves
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.
Ray, 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.
Oh,
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.
[Sighs]
You're crazy! Absolutely nuts!
I can't do it, pal.
I mean, 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?
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.
[Cough]
[Coughing]
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.
Hey, 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, Doc.
Win one for me one day, will you, boys?
OK, 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.
OK.
Hey, 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 want to know what's out there.
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 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?
There's a reason they chose me,
just as there's a reason
they chose 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.
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."
What? 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?
Honey, where's he going?
Terry's been invited to go out with the others.
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. L...
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.
Hi.
This is my daughter Karin.
Karin, this is my f...
This is John.
Hi, John.
Hiya, Karin.
Well, we're going to let you two talk.
I mean, 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, hon.
You catch a good game.
Thank you.
It's so beautiful here.
For me...
Well, for me it's like a dream come true.
Can I ask you something?
Is... ls this heaven?
It's lowa.
Iowa?
Yeah.
I could have sworn it was heaven.
Is...
Is there a heaven?
Oh, yeah.
It's the place dreams come true.
Ha ha ha ha!
Maybe this is heaven.
Well...
Good night, Ray.
Good night, John.
Hey...
Dad?
You want to have a catch?
I'd like that.