*Photo from The Guardian*
Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa. The famous quote from the baseball movie "field of dreams" has been remembered since the movie's release in April of 1989. 32 years later, baseball is back in the cornfields of Iowa. And they put on a show. Eloy Jimenez homered, Tim Anderson hit the walk off homer, and the Chicago White Sox defeated the New York Yankees 9-8 in walk off fashion on Thursday night in Iowa.
Anderson said "We can be dangerous all the way through. You have to go through that lineup four or five times, and that’s tough to do. If we keep fighting and keep pushing and keep being good teammates, we have a chance to do something real special."
The game started with the players on both teams walking onto the field together, through the corn stalks behind the field, while the star of the movie, Kevin Costner, stood on the field after the introduction. It was a surreal experience for baseball, all throughout the night.
The White Sox started off fast, with Jose Abreu hitting a solo homer into the corn, making it 1-0 in favor of Chicago. In the top of the 3rd, Aaron Judge hit a 3 run bomb deep into the corn to give the Yankees a 3-1 advantage, but an RBI double from Anderson and a 3 run homer by Jimenez made it a 5-3 White Sox lead a third of the way through the game.
In the 4th, a two run homer off the bat of Seby Zavala gave the White Sox a 7-3 lead. That was when the Yankees started to come back. First came a 6th inning homer by Brett Gardner, cutting the deficit to 7-4. In the 9th, Judge hit a two run homer to pull the Yankees within a run, and Giancarlo Stanton then hit a two run homer to put the Yankees ahead 8-7. That was when Zavala got on in the bottom half, that Anderson hit the game winning two run homer.
Anderson talked about the dramatic win on a special night for baseball, saying that "Fans came to see a show, and we gave them a show. Being able to walk it off is definitely one of my best moments of my career for sure. I gave everybody a memory tonight. Just come here and leave a mark, it’s definitely a great accomplishment for me. I’m thankful for that moment for sure."
Despite blowing his 6th save of the season, Liam Hendriks got the win for the White Sox, improving to 7-2 on the season. Lance Lynn got the start and put up a good outing, allowing 4 runs on 4 hits and two walks, striking out 7 hitters in 5 innings pitched. Michael Kopech and Aaron Bummer held things down in relief until Craig Kimbrel was ready to come in for the 8th inning, bridging the gap to Hendriks.
For the Yankees, a tough loss ruined what was otherwise a terrific experience for them all around. A bus ride to the stadium through the rural parts of the country, getting a stadium tour before the game, in which they took a look at every aspect of the park, and getting to be the first to play in such a unique environment.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of being walked off that "That ruined it a little bit, honestly. We’re here with business to do and these games are huge. It’s tough to walk in here after a tough loss, after it looked like you stole it back. But that said, it was as special and breathtaking a setting for a baseball game that I can ever remember being a part of."
After a built in day off on Friday, the teams resume their series in Chicago on Saturday, with Dylan Cease getting the ball for the White Sox, and Jameson Taillon starting for the Yankees.
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