Two Calls

Clare called twice yesterday, the first time to tell me about the Field of Dreams’ movie site in Dyersville, Iowa.  It seems some moron drove a vehicle across the field, starting midway between home and first base then out into center and left fields; the tire tracks go as much as four inches deep.  The owners set up a Go-Fund-Me account to help pay for an estimated $15,000 in damages, including the sprinkler system that keeps the outfield grass a beautiful Iowa green in the summer.  Softie that she is, Clare contributed $15.

Twice we took her to the field to hit; the second time in particular I remember, when my sixth grader nearly took my head off with a line drive up the middle.  When she was done trying to injure her father, we walked out to the edge of the outfield, where I took a picture of my daughter coming out of the corn.  You could say we have a connection to the place.

And to Jim Thome, too.  After all, Thome spent just under four full seasons with the Sox, long enough for him to hit 134 of his 612 homeruns for the South Side.  Clare called as soon as the results were made public, which was a testament to Thome’s humble, winning demeanor.  I say this because my daughter started off hating Thome, who cost us Aaron Rowand and Gio Gonzalez to acquire from Philadelphia.  That was dumb, given that we had a surplus of highly touted outfielders (Chris Young and Brian Anderson) who could’ve gone in place of Rowand.  Dumber yet is that the Sox and Cubs passed on Thome—from downstate Peoria, a couple of hours southwest of Chicago—repeatedly.  Thome didn’t go to the Indians until the 13^th round of the 1989 draft.  Oh, well.

I think Thome started to change Clare’s mind with that homerun he hit in 2008 in the one-game playoff against the Twins the Sox won, 1-0.  That was, as they say, clutch.  And then there’s Thome’s personality, which is more than a little endearing.  “Everything starts at your roots,” Thome told reporters after getting the call from Cooperstown.  “I’m proud I grew up where I did.  Peoria is a special place” in part because “that’s where it all started.  Every Midwest kid can dream of a day like this, and I’m living it today.”

Let it be noted that Thome and his lookalike, the animated action hero Mr. Incredible, have never been seen together in the same room.