After losing two straight series, the Phillies hope to find a bit of heaven in Iowa.
The Phillies will take on the Minnesota Twins in Dyersville, Iowa Thursday night (7:30 p.m., Netflix) in MLB’s first Field of Dreams game in four years, named after the beloved film starring Kevin Costner.
Costner will be on hand as part of Netflix’s exclusive coverage, with veteran play-by-play announcer Matt Vasgersian calling all the action. He’ll be joined in the booth by CC Sabathia and former Phillies outfielder Hunter Pence, with Lauren Shehadi reporting throughout the game.
Netflix’s pregame coverage will once again be hosted by Elle Duncan and feature Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, and Anthony Rizzo. Bonds and Rizzo worked particularly well together during Netflix’s coverage of the Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park last month.
Despite that, the pregame show felt overstuffed, needlessly shoehorning in Will Ferrell in an attempt to promote his new Netflix show. They took a similar approach during MLB’s opening night in March, drawing widespread criticism for the number of promos.
Gabe Spitzer, Netflix’s VP of sports, signaled on a recent conference call that Thursday night’s approach for the Field of Dreams game might be different, noting the teams and setting make a case for “not overthinking this and not trying to do too much.”
“It’s a game that matters for these two teams in the playoff chase, it’s an iconic venue, and we want to let that do most of the work,” Spitzer said.
As for the Phillies, they’re certainly testing the whole “if you build it” mentality. Since the All-Star break, the team and its $321 million payroll — fourth most in all of baseball, according to Spotrac — has lost six of eight series, and slumping new addition Luis Arráez has just seven hits and one walk in 38 plate appearances with the Phillies (though he did drive in the team’s only run during Wednesday’s loss to the St. Louis Cardinals)
If the season ended today, the Phillies wouldn’t qualify for the playoffs, missing out on the final wild-card spot to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
At least they’ll get to sport cool 1939-inspired throwback jerseys as part of the Field of Dreams game festivities, which even include a centennial patch all teams wore that season.
Latest weather forecast for Field of Dreams game
They built it, but mother nature was threatening to show up.
Earlier forecasts were seeing chances for heavy rain and thunderstorms around first pitch.
However, it appeared the rains were backing off Thursday afternoon, said Alex Gibbs, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Office in Davenport, Ohio, and weather prospects were brightening considerably.
“We have a pretty good feeling,” said Gibbs (a diehard Milwaukee Brewers fan). “It looks like a good window.” He said the only concern was the potential for thunderstorms — with lightning, of course — later at night. While chances are they would hold off until the game was over, “We have to keep an eye on stuff,” he said. Timing and location of thunderstorms in summer are notoriously unpredictable, as Philadelphians are aware.
The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch just south of Dyersville through Friday afternoon, but there remains a lot of uncertainty on the timing or exact location of the potential storms.
If the game is rained out Thursday, both teams will take the field Friday, but showers are again possible in the evening, said Gibbs.
Scott Franzke just hopes there’s a booth
While Netflix will exclusively stream the game, Phillies fans can still tune into 94.1 WIP to hear Scott Franzke and Kevin Stocker call all the action.
Despite the hyped-up setting and national spotlight, Franzke hasn’t been told what to expect.
“I don’t have any idea about the broadcast conditions. Is it a big booth or a small booth? I imagine it’s pretty small,” Franzke said. “I’m assuming there’s a booth. There wasn’t in London. We just did it from the seats.”
Franzke said as an announcer, these event-style games are a fun diversion. But he’s not sure how the team feels about them.
“It does create a little different wrinkle in the rhythm of the summer and the travel, and it’s not an exhibition game,” Franzke said. “There’s a lot at stake, both for us and the Twins. One game can make all the difference in the world.”
Phillies TV announcers Tom McCarthy and Rubén Amaro Jr. were to travel with the team to Iowa, despite NBC Sports Philadelphia not broadcasting the game. They’ll call the final two games against the Twins Saturday and Sunday at Target Field in Minneapolis, but don’t expect to hear them on Thursday’s radio broadcast.
“I think they’re just going to hang out,” Franzke said.
One big plus is Franzke and his colleagues won’t have to rely on Porta Potties to get through the night, thanks to recent renovations that added amenities like running toilets and sewer lines.
“I always appreciate some good indoor plumbing,” Franzke said.
Phillies NL East standings
window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});
NL wild card standings
window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});
Phillies news
- Bryce Harper is dealing with knee soreness and appeared to be in some discomfort during his final at-bat Wednesday.
- Phillies announcer Kevin Stocker on the team’s infield shuffle, why Trea Turner isn’t an outfielder, and more.
- Bryson Stott’s Field of Dreams cleats feature Harry Kalas, Roy Halladay, and more.
- Iowa native Derek Hill says Field of Dreams game will be a “full circle” experience.
- Shoeless Joe Jackson is known for the movie Field of Dreams and the Black Sox. But his career started in Philly.
Upcoming Phillies TV schedule
- Phillies at Twins
- Marlins at Phillies
- Cardinals at Phillies
- Phillies at Mariners
- Phillies at Angels
Leave a Reply