Kevin Costner gave a beautiful tribute to Ray Liotta as part of the Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa, on Thursday, just three months after the actor died at age 67. The baseball field set used in their 1989 film Field of Dreams has been turned into a tourist attraction that has hosted MLB games for the past three years.
In a moving video, Costner remembered the “amazing Ray Liotta,” and his character from the movie, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson.
“Ray Liotta was special,” Costner said in the video, along with the clip from the movie where Liotta’s “Shoeless” Joe Jackson watches the baseball stadium lights illuminate the playing field, surrounded by cornfields, and says, “Man, I love this game.”
“In honor of MLB at Field of Dreams this week, I wanted to share some memories from the movie but more importantly remember the amazing Ray Liotta. ‘Shoeless Joe Jackson’ will be out there with all of us for a great night of baseball in the fields of Iowa,” Costner continued.
Costner’s tribute played as the Chicago Cubs played the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday night. To set the stage for the game, both teams wore special uniforms, “inspired by what both franchises wore in the early 1900s,” Fox News reported.
The actor also posted a tribute on his Instagram page, with photos of Liotta from the classic movie:
Costner also remembered the memorable batting practice scene that he and Liotta shared during the filming of the movie, and how he thought on that moment when he heard the news of Liotta’s death.
He said:
When Ray died back in May, I reminisced about how our batting practice moment together was not a stunt. It was real, and it happened as you saw it. I said that God gave us that stunt that night, and now God has Ray. And though he may be gone, that’s the beauty of a game like baseball and a movie like ‘Field of Dreams.’ He gets to live forever in our hearts whenever he steps out of that cornfield. He’s become eternal. Long live Shoeless Joe, and long live Ray, who helped show us that when dreams come from the heart, they really can come true.
Liotta, who created iconic characters for movies such as Goodfellas and Field of Dreams, died in his sleep on May 26 in the Dominican Republic, where he was filming the movie Dangerous Waters.
In a tearjerker moment during the game Thursday, MLB veteran outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. and his dad surprised fans by coming out of the corn to “have a catch,” in a nod to the legendary Field of Dreams scene:
Both teams posted photos of their throwback uniforms:
MLB will not return to the Field of Dreams stadium in 2023 because of a long-term construction project planned for the site, which will feature youth baseball and softball fields for boys and girls, team dormitories and a hotel, owner Frank Thomas told the Des Moines Register.
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