‘Field of Dreams’ preps for historic Hall Tour event

The historic Baseball Hall of Fame Tour Announcement Event, featuring Commissioner Rob Manfred and Hall of Famer John Smoltz, will be streamed live exclusively on MLB.com at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday from the “Field of Dreams” movie site in Dyersville, Iowa.

Denise Stillman, head of the ownership group that recently purchased the iconic 193-acre site, said amid preparations Wednesday that it was “almost like welcoming in the President.”

“This is very historic. We’ve never had a Major League Baseball Commissioner at the ‘Field of Dreams’ movie site,” Stillman said. “In our circle of the world, we don’t get involved in politics and world affairs. We focus on kids and baseball, and the Commissioner is head of all that.

“We’re excited and a little nervous to make sure everything goes perfectly.”

The once-in-a-lifetime event will unveil details about the Baseball Hall of Fame Tour that will begin its multiyear journey to dozens of cities across North America in July — bringing fans a one-of-a-kind experience through the illustrious history of the national pastime with cutting-edge technology and digital media.

The Commissioner will appear on the same field where, on the big screen in 1989, Ray Kinsella once played catch with his late father, Shoeless Joe Jackson appeared from cornstalks, Moonlight Graham had a brush with fame and Terence Mann promised that “the memories will be so thick they’ll have to brush them away from their faces.”

“I grew up in a really, really simple place,” Manfred once remarked of his hometown of Rome, N.Y. “It’s a small town. Everybody knows everybody, and it’s not like there’s a ton to do. I learned pretty early in life the value of family and relationships with friends and the fun you make by having those sorts of relationships with people.”

More memories are coming on Thursday. Manfred will be joined on the field by Smoltz, the 2015 Hall of Fame inductee, as well as …

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