MINNEAPOLIS — Off the bat, Bryson Stott thought the ball was foul. But it bounced back into the infield, and once he charged and barehanded it, there wasn’t time to make a play in the first inning Thursday night in Iowa.
Welcome back to playing third base.
“It’s little things like that you don’t see at second,” Stott said Saturday before making his 11th consecutive start at third base since switching positions after the trade deadline. “But I’m just trying to catch it and throw it over there. I couldn’t care less how it looks.”
Actually, it has looked really good. It isn’t only the eye test, either. The metrics, from defensive runs saved to outs above average and fielding run value, suggest Stott is playing above-average defense at third base.
If you didn’t know he had only two games of experience at the position before this month — none since April 2022 — well, you wouldn’t know.
Stott has displayed the arm strength for third base. But as a former shortstop, he said reacclimating to a longer throw wasn’t a big concern even after spending the last 3½ seasons making the easier throw from second.
Instead, it was becoming familiar with the different way in which the ball comes off the bat to the hot corner compared to the middle of the infield.
Before this month, Bryson Stott had not played third base since 2022.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“It was more kind of the angles and playing the bunt, and then a guy swings and hits one down the line,” Stott said. “It’s a lot faster than at second. You always hear ‘a step and a dive’ at third, so there’s nothing really you can do when you’re that close and they hit it that hard.
“Once I kind of learned that, when they hit it 107 [mph] down the line and I’m off the line, it’s a really hard play. It’s not one that’s like, how’d you miss that? At second, if they hit it 4 feet to my left or 5 feet to my left and I don’t catch it, I’m going to be mad at myself no matter how hard they hit it.”
Interim manager Don Mattingly and infield coach Bobby Dickerson expressed confidence that Stott could handle the new position. But entering the weekend, Stott got positive marks in defensive runs saved (plus-1) and outs above average (plus-2) at third base.
Stott said it hasn’t been as easy as he’s made it look.
“Some of those weird slow-roller angles, where I’m moving left and throwing right and things like that, I’ve never had to really do before,” said Stott, who is second in baseball in FanGraphs’ wins above replacement (2.7) since June 4. “Bohm’s done a crazy job just picking those balls for me. I think he’s already picked three that I haven’t done on purpose.
“But it’s been good. Any time a ball’s hit in my direction, I want to catch it. I still get made at myself, even playing third, when I don’t.”
Phillies closer Jhoan Duran is back in Minnesota this weekend for the first time since getting traded by the Twins at the trade deadline last summer.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Duran gets closure
Jhoan Duran got traded to the Phillies 381 days ago.
At last, he returned to Minnesota.
“It’s really good, really good to be back,” the star closer said before receiving a pregame video tribute from the Twins. “A little sad, too, because I am being on this side. I remember when the schedule was out, I turned to my wife and said to her, ‘I want to go to Minnesota. I can’t wait for that.’”
Duran made his major-league debut for the Twins in April 2022 and became their full-time closer the next season. He picked up 74 saves for the Twins, 10th on the franchise’s all-time list.
In acquiring Duran last season, the Phillies made their biggest deadline trade in years, packing teenage catching prospect Eduardo Tait and righty Mick Abel. Tait, 19, has 20 homers for high-A Cedar Rapids; Abel has a 3.98 ERA in four games (three starts) for the Twins but likely will miss the rest of the season after arthroscopic elbow surgery in July.
Duran, meanwhile, may be having the best season ever for a Phillies closer. Entering the weekend, he had a 1.70 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 42⅓ innings, and was 25-for-27 in save opportunities.
Mattingly said the Phillies have discussed using Duran for more than three outs down the stretch.
“It’s something that we talked about just the other day,” Mattingly said, “that it’s kind of that time to have that conversation with him so he’s prepared for it. I think really all of [the relievers] at this point. I feel like, as long as we’re rested, you start thinking about [Jonathan] Bowlan at a one-[inning]-plus. You think about the same thing with [Orion Kerkering], any of the guys that have been throwing the ball well.”
Bryson Stott’s “Field of Dreams” cleats designed by Nxt Lvl Customs and Stadium Locker.Courtesy of Ryan Stevens
Extra bases
Stott donated his game-worn Field of Dreams cleats to the Hall of Fame. The custom-designed footwear pays tribute to Phillies legends Tug McGraw, Roy Halladay, Darren Daulton, Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn, and Harry Kalas. … With the Phillies facing a non-opener lefty starter for the first time since Aug. 3, Edmundo Sosa got a rare start in left field. … Backup catcher Rafael Marchan (knee) is scheduled to play nine innings Sunday in triple A, according to Mattingly, who said Marchan is “doing better.” … Lefty reliever Tanner Banks (forearm) is lined up for another bullpen session Sunday before possibly moving to live batting practice. … Andrew Painter (2-8, 6.27 ERA) is scheduled to start the series finale at 2:10 p.m. ET Sunday against Twins righty Dean Kremer (2-4, 5.25).
Striker Pence was one of the 46,000 fans in attendance when the Phillies took on the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park during the National League Division Series in 2011. His uncle, Hunter Pence, was the Phillies’ starting right fielder, batting third in the lineup.
Striker doesn’t remember anything from his visit to the stadium. He was just 2 years old at the time and hadn’t been back since. But on Friday, it was his turn to be on the field at the Bank as the players for the Perfect Game All-American Classic took batting practice and scrimmaged ahead of Sunday’s game. And Pence said he was ready to “enjoy every minute of it.”
Wearing two gloves for batting practice and his socks hidden under his pants, Pence didn’t appear to have any of the oddities his uncle was recognized for. But when he’s back home in Corona, Calif., Pence said he’ll wear his socks above the knee like his uncle does — just one of the quirks the two have in common.
“Our swings are both funky. Everything we do is funky,” said the younger Pence. “But we get it done.”
Pence’s left-handed swing involves bringing his knee up high, similar to how a pitcher would, which makes sense for the two-way player.
The 17-year-old, who throws right-handed, has a four-seam fastball that maxes out at 101 mph and usually sits in the high 90s. His changeup clocks in the high 80s, and his slider hits the mid-80s.
Striker Pence while his uncle played for the Phillies.The Pence Family
He said he’s never wanted to choose between pitching and hitting the way most players do when they get to high school. In an era of baseball with most players having a specialty, he said Shohei Ohtani is changing things. But his desire to be a two-way player predates Ohtani, and said he “must have had something click,” when he was younger, giving him a love for both roles.
“I’ve always wanted to be a two-way, and then [Ohtani] showing it, showing teams it’s possible, makes it awesome,” Pence said. “I’m good at both. I’m going to keep doing it as long as I can.”
That’s what makes him one of the top prospects in the 2027 MLB draft. Currently ranked seventh overall in the nation and second for right-handed pitchers in the Class of 2027 by Perfect Game, Pence reclassified from the Class of 2028 to the Class of 2027 on June 4.
Rather than spend another year in high school, Pence said the decision comes from being “content” with playing at the next level, whether that be within an MLB organization or a college team.
Being drafted seems like the probable next step. MLB.com and Perfect Game list him as a first round-pick at 19th and 23rd, respectively, in their mock drafts.
Jered Goodwin, Perfect Game’s vice president of scouting operations, said Pence is “a complete unicorn.”
“Unique is the absolute word for Striker,” Goodwin said. “We, as a company, have not seen somebody that young throw as hard as he does, typically around the zone, and be able to have the left-handed power that he does. There have been a handful of two-way guys that have been high draft picks over the last couple years, but nobody that has had his power profile that we’ve seen, at least in the last 10 or 15 years.”
Striker is the nephew of Hunter Pence, a former Phillie.The Pence Family
Pence plans on improving his speed offensively and his command when pitching before next year’s draft. Off the field, his poise doesn’t need much refining.
Since he’s attended Perfect Game events at around 13 years old, Goodwin said Pence has always known what he wants out of an experience and how to get it.
This disposition translates to the field and in the clubhouse. Earlier this summer, Pence went to a national showcase with Perfect Game just to field balls at first base and help his team out. Goodwin said Pence’s pedigree, and learning how to be both a competitor and a teammate from a young age, explains his demeanor.
“Nature and nurture is both a big thing,” Goodwin said. “The Pence family are tremendous people, so it’s no doubt that he picked up a lot of those qualities from first off, his parents, and then, obviously, secondly, his uncle.”
The “quiet confidence” Goodwin described Pence demonstrating was learned from his uncle, who taught him the importance of uplifting himself as a player.
“Confidence is one of the highest things that you could do,” Striker said. “It makes you perform the best, and all it takes is you to just think about it and believe in yourself.”
While it was his uncle who passed down his idiosyncrasies and mindset, Pence’s father and Hunter’s brother, Howard, helped him with the rest. Howard helped his son throw and hit in the backyard and with workouts. Striker said his dad taught him “everything that I know.”
Jered Goodwin, Perfect Game’s vice president of scouting operations, said of Striker Pence: “We, as a company, have not seen somebody that young throw as hard as he does, typically around the zone, and be able to have the left-handed power that he does.”Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Howard Pence also was a pitcher and played in the minor leagues with the Astros and Padres affiliates. He threw a cutter that reached up to 97 mph, according to Striker.
Now, Striker said his teammates and opponents are also playing a role in aiding in his development. Being surrounded by top-level talent is helping him hone his skills as he prepares for his draft year, and he expects the Perfect Game All-American Classic on Sunday to help, too.
“Playing against the best talent, seeing the best pitchers, and facing the best hitters, it just makes you better, overall, more prepared,” Pence said. “These guys are all going to be at the next level. So am I, so you got to get used to it.”
MINNEAPOLIS — John Middleton got up from his seat in the front row behind the visitor’s dugout at Wrigley Field when a Phillies fan approached.
“You’ve got to believe!” the fan said.
“Listen, I believe,” the owner replied. “But we’ve got to play better.”
Middleton retells the story every so often because he knows now that it has a happy ending. But nobody foresaw a World Series run in the Phillies’ future on Sept. 29, 2022. Not after a sweep by the Cubs left them clutching a half-game lead for the last National League wild card with six games remaining.
So if you’re down on the Phillies now, think about how you felt then. They hadn’t been to the postseason in a decade, a drought that weighed heavy and negated all benefit of the doubt. Things seemed bleak.
Four years later, they’ve been through some stuff. And because the guts of the roster hasn’t changed, Kyle Schwarber believes they can lean on those experiences to guide them through the season’s final six weeks.
But the Phillies also entered the weekend here against the Twins with four losses in seven games. They were 11-15 since the All-Star break, a skid that took them from two games behind the division-leading Braves to a tie with the Diamondbacks for the last NL wild card.
Everything feels like it’s headed in the wrong direction.
The Phillies won Thursday, 7-1, over the Twins in the third iteration of MLB’s Field of Dreams Game in Dyersville, Iowa.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
And for the first time since 2022, it might come down to the final week of the regular season.
“I think we know what’s at stake,” Schwarber said. “We all know the writing on the wall. We know that, for where we need to go, that we need to step up in a lot of different ways, in a lot of different areas. And I feel like our team is ready for that.”
But now, it’s a 39-game sprint to the finish. The Phillies started 9-19 and got their manager fired. They went on a 45-24 heater under Don Mattingly to climb back into the race. And the latest stumble has them in a five-team cluster for two wild-card spots.
The Braves, Brewers, and Dodgers lead the NL East, Central, and West, respectively. The Cubs are comfortably atop the wild-card standings, with a seven-game lead through Friday.
Behind them, the Padres are surging. The Phillies are trying to ward off challenges from the Diamondbacks, Marlins and Cardinals. It didn’t help that they lost two of three in St. Louis this week.
Kyle Schwarber (right) got the Phillies started with a leadoff home run in the Field of Dreams Game on Thursday night in Iowa.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Entering the weekend, the Phillies had an 87.9% chance to make the playoffs, based on Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projection model. Baseball Reference had them at 61.2%. Fangraphs split the difference, at 73.9%. A good week at home in back-to-back series against the Marlins and Cardinals would go a long way to boosting those odds.
“We know the road ahead that we’re going to have, and we know that everyone’s going to be pulling on that same rope every single day and trying to find different ways to execute and win ballgames,” Schwarber said. “It doesn’t have to be one area every single day. I feel like that all different areas are going to be coming together at a really good time.”
Said Bryson Stott: “We know we have to win games, especially now and coming down the stretch. We’re in a tight race right now.”
It feels like the right time, then, to look closer at the race for the last two wild-card spots. Let’s dive in, with all numbers through Friday’s games.
Fernando Tatis Jr. has been hot since the All-Star break for the surging Padres.Gregory Bull
Padres
Record: 66-57, second place in NL West, second in wild card (one-game lead).
Strength of remaining schedule: .496
Playoff odds: 59% Fangraphs; 58% Baseball Prospectus; 51.1% Baseball Reference.
Key series: Sept. 25-27 vs. the Diamondbacks.
The big question: Will A.J. Preller’s go-for-it trade deadline spur San Diego’s third consecutive playoff berth and fourth in five years?
Ten days before the deadline, officials from multiple teams were still guessing about Preller’s approach. But the Padres went 8-1 against the Marlins, Rockies, and Giants, and allowed Preller to be Preller. Not only did the hyperaggressive executive hold star closer Mason Miller and reliever Adrián Morejón, but he sacrificed two of the organization’s top four prospects for rental starters Robbie Ray and Casey Mize, who joined Michael King and soon-to-return Joe Musgrove in an experienced rotation. The Padres came into the weekend having won six games in a row and 16 of 20.
Outlook: Remember the team that went 0-6 in a span of 11 days against the Phillies in late May and early June? Well, these aren’t your father’s Padres. For one thing, their stars have shined. Entering the weekend, Fernando Tatis Jr. had seven homers and a 1.002 OPS since the All-Star break; Jackson Merrill was batting .343 with a 1.032 OPS. Imagine if Manny Machado ever figures it out this season.
Starting pitchers Cristopher Sánchez (left) and Jesús Luzardo (right) would make the Phillies a formidable postseason team in a short series. Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Phillies
Record: 65-58, second place in NL East, tied for third in wild card.
Strength of remaining schedule: .506
Playoff odds: 73.9% Fangraphs; 87.9% Baseball Prospectus; 61.2% Baseball Reference.
Key series: Aug. 31-Sept. 2, at Diamondbacks.
The big question: Will they run out of major league-quality pitching?
In the playoffs, with short series and frequent days off, the Phillies are a dangerous opponent because of their Three Aces — Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler, and Jesús Luzardo — and stud closer Jhoan Duran. That’s enough pitching to scare even the Dodgers. But it takes a stockpile of arms to make the playoffs. Dave Dombrowski came up empty at the deadline for a starter (from among a bountiful supply of available starters) and a setup reliever. And so, it’s hardly catastrophizing to wonder if Mattingly has enough trustworthy pitching at his disposal to navigate the next six weeks.
Outlook: At various times, Bryce Harper has used four words that may as well serve as the Phillies’ rallying cry: “Just get us in.” Never mind the divisional-round disappointments of the last two Octobers. The Phillies are actually built for the postseason, with a Jenga-tower roster that’s top heavy with stars. But getting there requires layers of depth on the roster and in the farm system. One injury, especially in the pitching ranks, could cause the whole thing to unravel. Keep an eye, too, on Harper and Schwarber, who have dealt with a sore knee and lower back, respectively.
Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo leads a high-powered offense in Arizona.Sue Ogrocki
Diamondbacks
Record: 65-58, third place in NL West, tied for third in the wild card.
The Diamondbacks were close to adding righty Clay Holmes to their rotation, but the Mets reportedly backed out over health concerns about one of the prospects in the deal. Arizona’s lone deadline move was for lefty-hitting outfielder Lars Nootbaar, and general manager Mike Hazen didn’t hide his frustration. “In the end, I could have kept adding,” he said in a radio interview. “I could have kept putting more in to get the deals done and it just didn’t happen.”
Outlook: Unless these Phillies finally win it all, they will be haunted by the 2023 NL Championship Series, when they lost Game 6 and 7 at home. Three years later, the Diamondbacks present many of the same challenges, notably a pesky offense led by Corbin Carroll, Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte, and Gabriel Moreno. They added Nolan Arenado this year, and he’s pushing 20 homers. But the lineup may have to carry them given the rotation depth behind Eduardo Rodríguez. Rookie lefty Brandyn Garcia recently took over as closer and has been dominant.
Eury Pérez is one anchor of the Marlins’ starting rotation, along with veteran Sandy Alcantara.Marta Lavandier
Marlins
Record: 62-61, third place in the NL East, fifth in wild card (three games back)
Strength of remaining schedule: .510
Playoff odds: 11.4% Fangraphs; 10.8% Baseball Prospectus; 17.1% Baseball Reference.
Key series: Sept. 14-16 at Diamondbacks
The big question: Can they reel off another hot streak?
Since June 17, the Marlins won 16 of 20 games, lost 12 in a row, won six out of seven, lost four straight, and won four straight before losing Thursday and Friday. If they were an amusement park ride, they would leave their patrons nauseous. It’s probably the sign of a young team that’s not quite ready for primetime. And the competition will harden, especially in September. The Marlins’ last 15 games are against the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Padres, Cubs, and Braves. How’s that for a gauntlet?
Outlook: The 12-game losing streak turned the Marlins from potential deadline buyers to fence-sitters who leaned toward selling. If they get on a roll, it will be because of the starting pitching, led by Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez. Max Meyer, an All-Star and emerging ace, has been sidelined with a neck strain since July 19. It’s unclear whether he will return before the end of the season. The Marlins traded catcher Liam Hicks to the Rays but held on to Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards, the most underrated middle infield in the sport.
Alec Burleson and the Cardinals won three series in a row after they were sellers at the trade deadline.Scott Kane
Cardinals
Record: 61-61, third place in the NL Central, sixth in wild card (3½ games back)
Strength of remaining schedule: .499
Playoff odds: 8.6% Fangraphs; 4.2% Baseball Prospectus; 15.8% Baseball Reference.
Key series: Aug. 21-23 at Phillies
The big question: Can an accidental contender keep contending?
Not only didn’t the Cardinals plan on contending this season, but at the trade deadline, president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom acted as if they weren’t. In addition to sending Nootbaar to the Diamondbacks, Bloom packaged starter Dustin May and reliever JoJo Romero to the rival Brewers for prospects. Yet the Cardinals won three series in a row since the deadline, taking two of three from the Yankees, Rockies, and Phillies. If they’re still in the race after next weekend’s series in Philadelphia, maybe they will actually have staying power in September.
Outlook: The Cardinals have balance in the top half of the lineup, with rookie sensation JJ Wetherholt and Alec Burleson from the left side of the plate and Home Run Derby champ Jordan Walker and Iván Herrera from the right. And they’re calling up outfield prospect Joshua Báez, who is bringing 34 homers from triple A to the majors this weekend. But an unexpected strength has been the young starting pitchers, chiefly Andre Pallante, Kyle Leahy, and Michael McGreevy. Never heard of them? If the Cardinals are able to hang in there, they will be big reasons why.
Normally, this time of the summer is a slow period for sports, but you wouldn’t know that if you’ve been spending time around Philly. Not only are the Eagles in camp and the Phillies and Union about to hit their seasons’ stretch runs, but there’s also the U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club, Tyrese Maxey and his friends showing out for charity, the Rumph Classic, and much more to come.
But before we look toward events still ahead — like UFC 330, the Philly Cycling Classic, and the Ennoble Care Philly Open — let’s take a look back. Each Friday, Inquirer photo editors pick the best sports images from the last seven days. Here’s what we saw this week …
Justin Matthews, of Canada, hits out of a bunker on the first hole during the Round of 64 at the 126th U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club on Wednesday.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerGolf fans watch players tee off near the 17th hole during the U.S. Amateur at Merion.Jose F. Moreno / Staff PhotographerCharlie Barrickman, 18, of West Chester, tees off on the sixth hole on Monday.Jose F. Moreno / Staff PhotographerGolf fans watch players tee off during the second day of the U.S. Amateur at Merion. Jose F. Moreno / Staff PhotographerEagles quarterback Jalen Hurts warms up before a training camp practice on Tuesdsay at the Jefferson Health Training Complex.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerTeam TBB’s Collin Gillespie, a former standout at Villanova, drives to the basket during the Rumph Classic men’s final at Drexel’s Daskalakis Athletic Center on Monday.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerMembers of Team TBB hold the 2026 Danny Rumph Championship trophy after winning the Rumph Classic on Monday.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerThe Union’s Bruno Damiani (left) heads the ball against Necaxa’s Alexis Peña during the second half of the teams’ Leagues Cup group stage game at Subaru Park on Sunday.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerDanley Jean Jacques (right front) runs with the soccer ball past Necaxa defenders.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerFormer Phillies Shane Victorino (center) and Bobby Wine (seated) talk during the team’s Alumni Weekend festivities at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhillies center fielder Derek Hill celebrates after hitting a walk-off RBI single during the 12th inning of Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Phillies won, 7-6.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerLuis Arraez avoids the tag by Toronto Blue Jays catcher Brandon Valenzuela to score on a sixth-inning sacrifice fly on Saturday.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerKyle Schwarber (left) tags out Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jesús Sánchez. Schwarber, typically the designated hitter, has been getting some reps at first base following Bryce Harper’s move back to right field.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerDerek Hill, with his arms raised, celebrates with teammates after his walk-off hit on Sunday.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerSixers guard Tyrese Maxey (right) held his Friends & Family Weekend that included a skills camp at William Penn Charter School on Saturday.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerTyrese Maxey plays defense as he works with young kids at his 1% Skills Camp, a part of his foundation’s Friends & Family Weekend.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerPedestrians walk past a new LeBron James mural by artist Chenlin Cai at 10th and Arch Streets in Chinatown.Jose F. Moreno / Staff PhotographerFormer Phillies second baseman Chase Utley thanks fans while getting inducted into the team’s Wall of Fame on Friday.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerA rainbow sits over Citizens Bank Park before Chase Utley’s Wall of Fame induction ceremony.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
DYERSVILLE, Iowa — Mike Schmidt was among the first to appear.
After the modern-day Phillies and Twins had emerged from the cornfields in right field, had crossed the grass, and lined up along the baselines, they turned back to look.
A steady stream of Hall of Famers from across multiple generations had followed them out of the stalks. Ahead of Thursday’s Field of Dreams game, it was a nod to the scene in the 1989 film where ghostly versions of the 1919 White Sox materialize between rows of corn and walk on a ball field built by Kevin Costner’s Ray Kinsella. Only instead of ghosts, these were living legends.
A group of 26 Hall of Famers took part in the ceremony, including Schmidt and fellow former Phillies Steve Carlton, Jim Thome, Billy Wagner, Scott Rolen, Jim Kaat, Tony Pérez, and Ferguson Jenkins.
“I felt like I was in a movie,” Schmidt said. “I’m looking around at the guys, and I didn’t want to get too far ahead. I was behind them. You know, I really felt like I was Joe Jackson or something walking on the field.”
While they waited for the ceremony to start, ballplayers past and present had milled about together in the clearing beyond the corn.
Interim manager Don Mattingly saw many old friends. Brandon Marsh was starstruck by his childhood idol, former Brave Andruw Jones. Kyle Schwarber reunited with some former Cubs who visited spring training during his time in Chicago, and he made some new connections as well.
“It was really cool to us, a lot of the guys that I haven’t gotten to meet before, just to shake their hands and introduce who I am and say how big of fans we are of them,” Schwarber said. “These guys all laid the groundwork for us before we even thought about playing baseball, or while we were growing up.”
It was an equally special experience for the old-timers to witness the new generation, and see who might be following in their footsteps.
“It’s kind of almost like a passing of the torch,” said former Twins catcher Joe Mauer. “Those guys on the first and third baselines, maybe a few of them join this group.
“That’s why I think the game is so special. They honor the traditions, the people that have come before you and made an impact on this game, and we hope to leave an imprint on the game and make it better than when you found it.”
Thome’s 18-year-old son Landon was just selected 34th overall by the White Sox in the MLB draft last month. Jim has been spending time with him celebrating that milestone, but couldn’t pass up an opportunity to be a part of a game like Thursday’s, especially considering that his Hall of Fame career included stints in Minnesota and Philadelphia.
“The word for me is thankful,” Thome said. “Thankful for being able to be in this great fraternity with really special men.”
Thome, a Midwest native from Peoria, Ill., attended the inaugural MLB at Field of Dreams game between the White Sox and Yankees in 2021. He played catch with Landon by the cornfields, and then they watched the game together.
He never foresaw a moment like the one on Thursday when he passed through the stalks with fellow all-time greats walking next to him.
“In your career, you have moments where it kind of feels like things slow down,” Thome said. “It felt like you just kind of strolled out with these great players, and it just kind of slowed down.”
The gathering of 26 is believed to be the most Hall of Famers together at one game since the 2008 All-Star Game, which brought together 49 at Yankee Stadium. It accounted for just over one-third of all living members enshrined in Cooperstown.
“The one constant through all the years, Ray,” James Earl Jones’ character, Terence Mann, says in the movie, “has been baseball.”
Byron Buxton, addressing the crowd with a microphone alongside Schwarber during the pregame festivities, referenced that line to prompt the baseball legends to step through the corn.
“I guess to sum it all up,” Schmidt said, “is if I could see my father walk through the cornfields, I tell you what, I’d love to play catch with him.”
DYERSVILLE, Iowa — They wandered in from the corn, paused for a beat at the right field warning track, gazed around, and kept walking. Soon, 26 — 26! — Hall of Famers joined them on the field.
But that was the performative, made-for-Netflix part.
If only everybody could have seen them hours earlier, before the cameras rolled here Thursday night. A few hundred feet from a refurbished 8,000-seat stadium, the Phillies stood on the original Field of Dreams, the one that sits alongside the white farmhouse and tilted red barn and was the set of the 1989 Oscar-nominated film that brings people to this little Iowa town in the first place.
Andrew Painter and his parents walked the outfield made famous by Costner and Liotta. Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott took pictures in front of the house. Brandon Marsh maneuvered between the cornstalks. Don Mattingly had a catch with his 11-year-old son, Louie, near his older son, Preston, the Phillies’ general manager.
And for a few minutes, nobody talked about back-to-back losses this week in St. Louis. Or five losses in eight games. Or a 10-15 record since the All-Star break. Or a playoff spot that is slipping through their fingers.
For a few minutes, they all smiled. They … relaxed.
“I don’t think our guys have a problem relaxing, honestly,” Mattingly said. “But I do think guys like coming to these kind of games. They do break up the monotony. You know, this is a game you don’t really forget.”
But it was a game nonetheless. And before the end of a long day that started in St. Louis and ended on a plane to Minneapolis, Kyle Schwarber homered twice — including a leadoff shot into the corn, as if it had been ordered up by a Hollywood script — in an easy, breezy 7-1 victory over the Twins.
Schwarber played a prominent role in the pregame script. He took the microphone and joined Twins star Byron Buxton in announcing the arrival of the Hall of Famers, who also entered through the corn.
Then, Schwarber stood alongside Mattingly on the first-base line and kibitzed about the legends in their midst.
“Molly’s out there and I’m like, ‘This guy could really hit,’” Mattingly said of Paul Molitor. “And he knew Hawk [Andre Dawson] from Chicago a little bit, and I knew him from Miami. A lot of the guys, I played with. So, it was interesting to be able to talk about that.”
Schwarber went further, calling it “once in a lifetime.” And once the unscripted part of the event began, he hit Twins starter Taj Bradley’s third pitch out to right field.
While Schwarber looked authentic in the Phillies’ gray, red, and navy 1939 throwback uniforms, Aaron Nola threw it back to a time when the Phillies relied on him atop their rotation. He’s more of a supporting actor now, but the Phillies still need him down the stretch.
And in five solid innings, Nola gave up only a homer to Luke Keaschall. Don’t look now, but he has a 2.91 ERA in his last four starts and has allowed three runs or less in seven of his last eight.
Schwarber made it 5-1 in the fourth inning with a two-run shot off a leaping Keaschall’s glove in right field. Marsh homered in the seventh.
Kyle Schwarber celebrates his two-run homer — his second of the game — with Brandon Marsh in the fourth inning on Thursday.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
It all came at the end of a 14-game stretch without a day off. There were times when the bullpen was fried and the lineup didn’t produce runs. The Phillies woke up Thursday in a tie with the Diamondbacks for the last National League wild-card spot.
There was a sense, then, that this Iowa excursion — a “pop-in and pop-out,” as Mattingly called it — couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Actually, it was quite the opposite.
“Maybe the boys needed a little shock like today,” Marsh said. “Really didn’t get to get our routines in. Not complaining, but it was just a quick day, a lot of stuff going on. Maybe the boys needed it.
“We haven’t been playing, like J.T. [Realmuto] said, our brand of baseball that we talk about here. Hopefully today, that’s a little spark for us to turn it on for this push.”
Indeed, sometimes the best way to break out of a rut is to change the routine of a six-month grind. So, the Phillies flew into nearby Dubuque a few hours before the game and took a bus to the Field of Dreams site. They took it all in. The entire front office met them here, too, with owner John Middleton sitting behind home plate.
Even Nola walked around the field with Zack Wheeler and pitching coach Caleb Cotham before studying the scouting report on the Twins.
“We were talking about just how the experience was from when we got here, having the opportunity to go over to the movie set, walk around, see it,” Schwarber said. “We all watched the movie as kids growing up, so it’s really cool to be able to see exactly where it was.
“It’s a unique thing to do, and it’s something that you’re going to bring up to your kids. I’m going to watch that movie together with my kids one day, and to be able to say, ‘Hey, dad got to play there,’ or, ‘Dad got to, you see that house out there in this movie,’ it’ll be really cool.”
Brandon Marsh watches his seventh-inning two-run home run on Thursday.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Wait until Schwarber tells his kids about hitting two homers in front of more than two dozen Hall of Famers.
And maybe even giving the skidding Phillies a jump-start.
“It’s kind of a little pinch, right? A little reality pinch,” Schwarber said. “Overall, just an unbelievable experience. And obviously we’re happy we walked away with a win.”
DYERSVILLE, Iowa — Long before he was a major league manager, even before all the Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers and MVP awards, Don Mattingly was a kid playing baseball in Indiana.
One of the ballparks he played in with his brothers, growing up in Evansville, was down a dirt road surrounded by cornfields. And he couldn’t help but be reminded of it as the Phillies filed off their bus Thursday afternoon in Dyersville, Iowa, at the site of their Field of Dreams game.
Beyond center field of the ballpark where the Phillies took on the Twins, past rows upon rows of corn stalks is the actual set used to film the 1989 movie. The Phillies wandered around the site with their families and friends before the game, exploring the field, bleachers, and house that are all iconic parts of the film.
“Just kind of seeing the house and making sure when I crossed over the chalk line, I didn’t turn into a normal human being,” Bryce Harper said. “Seeing just all of it. Just really cool to be able to be part of it, and be here, and enjoy it.”
Bryson Stott watched the movie with his wife during the Phillies’ last homestand. He’d seen it before, but the latest viewing had a bit more significance knowing the game was on the horizon.
“I paid attention to the little stuff that’s going on, and just trying to see what I would be able to see here, knowing that we’re coming here,” Stott said.
Phillies outfielder Derek Hill, a Des Moines native, takes a photo on the Field of Dreams movie site. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The movie Field of Dreams itself is as much about fathers and sons as it is about baseball. Kevin Costner’s Ray Kinsella builds the ballpark as a way to connect with his late father’s passion for the game. Their relationship is a main thread throughout, and culminates with Kinsella playing a game of catch with a younger version of his father.
For some players, the logistics of having just one game in Iowa were too complicated to bring their families along for the experience. But not for Mattingly, who shares a workplace with his son Preston, the Phillies general manager. He was also be able to bring along his youngest son, 11-year-old Louie.
The Mattingly trio took a photo together on the field pregame. Don and Louie also played a game of catch, just like Ray and his father did in the movie.
“It’s just been a cool dynamic overall to work alongside of [Preston] and be a part of that,” Don Mattingly said. “And then just my little one just being around. Times have changed for kids and families at ballparks and things like that, during BP. And that change is for the better. Your kids get to hang out in the locker room and just be around the guys. It’s been a good experience.”
The Phillies’ Brandon Marsh walks through the cornfield separating the movie site baseball field with the one they played on Thursday night.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Despite all the fanfare, however, the Phillies are aware that the game isn’t an exhibition. Both teams are in the midst of a wild-card race, and are looking to turn things around after a substandard recent performance.
The Phillies had lost six of their last eight series out of the All-Star break and entered Thursday tied with the Diamondbacks for the final wild-card spot. Since Arizona has the tiebreaker, the Phillies have fallen out of playoff position for the first time since early June.
“We know we have to win games, especially now and coming down the stretch,” Stott said. “It breaks it up in a sense where we’re not in Minnesota for three games, but we’re still playing the Twins three times, and got to win some games. And we’re going to try to enjoy being here, but also the main thing is to win the game.”
Phillies coaches stand on the porch of the farmhouse from “Field of Dreams.” Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Extra bases
The Phillies added outfielder Kameron Misner to the roster as the additional player permitted for Thursday’s Field of Dreams game. Misner was acquired in a July trade with the Kansas City Royals in exchange for cash considerations. In 75 games at the triple-A level across both organizations, the left-handed hitter has a .272/.371/.529 slash line. … Catcher Rafael Marchán (left knee patellar tendinitis) began a rehab assignment for triple-A Lehigh Valley Thursday. … Following Friday’s off day, Jesús Luzardo (10-5, 3.32 ERA) is scheduled to start against Twins left-hander Connor Prielipp (3-5,4.79) at Target Field.
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.
Bryce Harper sports the 1939-inspired jersey the Phillies will wear Thursday night. Daniel Shirey
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.
Phillies radio announcer Scott Franzke will call all the action on 94.1 WIP. NBC Sports Philadelphia
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
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NL wild card standings
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Phillies slugger Bryce Harper. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
It was just the previous season that Joe Jackson played a game without cleats, so he had only been “Shoeless Joe” for a few months. Yet it was already obvious that Shoeless Joe was destined to be a star. That’s why Jackson was on a sleeper train bound for Philadelphia in August of 1908.
Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack had dispatched three scouts — including his top lieutenant — earlier that summer to get eyes on Jackson in Greenville, S.C., before signing him for $900.
But Jackson didn’t want to leave his tiny South Carolina hometown. He had just turned 21 years old and was married weeks earlier. A son of a sharecropper, Jackson never went to school and was thrilled to be earning $75 a week for the Greenville Spinners.
Jackson, leery of life up North in the big city, delayed his trip while another teammate whom Mack signed left for Philly.
Shoeless Joe finally relented and boarded the train with his minor-league manager Tom Stauch, who was instructed to deliver Mack the player an A’s scout described as “the sweetest hitter I’ve ever seen.”
Stauch woke up when the train pulled into Philadelphia. Jackson wasn’t there. He hopped off overnight during a stop in North Carolina while everyone was sleeping. Jackson sent Mack a telegram, claiming that his mother was ill and he had to take care of her. Shoeless Joe would one day become baseball royalty before being blackballed in one of sports’ greatest scandals. But he had no interest in playing for the A’s.
“Connie Mack understood,” said Dan Wallach, the former executive director of the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum in Greenville, S.C.
“Shoeless” Joe Jackson was a .356 career hitter over 13 seasons.Anonymous
Field of Dreams
Shoeless Joe will be remembered Thursday night when the Phillies play the Twins in an Iowa cornfield where the 1989 film Field of Dreams was shot. The portrayal of Jackson — “Is this heaven?” his character, played by Ray Liotta, famously asked after emerging from the stalks — is an iconic piece of Hollywood lore.
His baseball career was made for movies, so much that films — the other being 1988’s Eight Men Out — were released in consecutive years about Jackson. He was a baseball superstar who became tied up in a gambling scandal that nearly took down the sport after Jackson and seven Chicago White Sox teammates were banned for life amid accusations of throwing the 1919 World Series.
Jackson denied until his death at age 64 in 1951 that he lost on purpose and a legion of supporters have since worked to clear his name.
Major League Baseball clarified in 2025 that Jackson — along with Pete Rose — was no longer banned as lifetime penalties expire once someone died. So Jackson’s Hall of Fame case will be voted on in December 2027 by a panel assembled by the museum.
“I have never advocated for him to be inducted into the Hall of Fame because I think he’s more famous outside the Hall than in it,” said Wallach, who now hosts a baseball podcast called My Baseball History. “Obviously, I think his play and his career warrants that he be honored the way his contemporaries are. But the entire thing that makes his story unique and gives people a reason to fight for him is that he belongs in the Hall of Fame and he’s not in it. So the day he gets in it, there’s no story anymore. I have mixed emotions about him getting in.”
Jackson, like he is portrayed in Field of Dreams, is best remembered for his time with the White Sox. He won the World Series in 1917 and then hit .375 in the 1919 Series against Cincinnati that the “Black Sox” were accused of throwing. He’ll always be known for the years in Chicago. But his big-league career started in Philadelphia.
“He didn’t spend a ton of time in Philadelphia,” Wallach said. “But it was an interesting footnote to his career.”
Ray Liotta portrayed “Shoeless” Joe Jackson in the classic 1989 film “Field of Dreams.”UNIVERSAL / MCT
It started in Philly
Mack sent Socks Seybold, a player who scouted Jackson earlier that summer, back to South Carolina in hopes of persuading Jackson to give Philly a chance. Seybold found Jackson working at a cotton mill. Shoeless Joe said he would come to Philadelphia but he had to bring his wife, Katie. The A’s agreed.
Mack usually required his players to be high school educated and preferred that they went to college. But Jackson didn’t even know how to read or write. He never signed autographs and carried a copy of his signature signed by his wife in his wallet that he would trace if he had to complete a legal document.
“He knew the lines he was making on the paper spelled ‘Joe Jackson,’ but I don’t think he knew he was writing a ‘J’ and writing an ‘O’ and writing an ‘E,’” Wallach said. “I don’t think he knew exactly what he was doing, but he could mimic the paper.”
That’s how much Mack thought of Jackson’s ability that the owner overlooked his education. Mack offered to get Shoeless Joe a tutor and tried to find ways for him to get comfortable in Philadelphia. But there was little Mack could do.
The A’s players teased Jackson when they went out to dinner and he held his menu upside down.
“If the waitress came to him first, he would say, ‘Give me a second and let everyone else order,’” Wallach said. “He would listen to his teammates’ orders and whatever he thought sounded the best, that’s what he would order when it came back to him. His teammates weren’t stupid. Most of them were college educated. They saw exactly what was going on. He just didn’t feel comfortable being there.”
“Shoeless” Joe Jackson is shown in 1935. He owned businesses in Savannah, Ga., and Greenville, S.C. He died in 1951.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jackson played five games for the A’s in 1908 at Columbia Park in Brewerytown before playing the next season in Savannah, Ga., where he led the South Atlantic League with a .358 batting average. Mack called Jackson back to Philadelphia for the final month of the 1909 season and he again played five games at the newly opened Shibe Park at 21st and Lehigh.
“Connie Mack did what he could to make Joe’s time in Philadelphia positive,” Wallach said. “But it just wasn’t going to work. It became clear pretty quickly that Joe was talented and was going to be a star but that wasn’t going to happen with the Athletics.”
Mack traded Jackson before the 1910 season to Cleveland, knowing the player he lured to Philadelphia would be better suited elsewhere.
Jackson’s career is now cleared to reach Cooperstown, N.Y., via the Classic Baseball Era Committee. It might not happen in December 2027, but he will eventually be enshrined. The numbers — his career .356 average is fifth best all-time — are too strong to deny.
His plaque will likely detail the betting scandal, his trusty bat Black Betsy, and his time in Chicago and Cleveland, where his career blossomed after Mack sent him there.
But the first line under Jackson’s nickname will say “PHILADELPHIA” as Shoeless Joe’s iconic career started with 10 games in North Philly that have long been forgotten.
“Connie Mack said he regretted selling Jackson to Cleveland,” Wallach said. “They really had a mutual respect for each other. Connie Mack wanted Joe to work out in Philadelphia. He knew he was going to be a star. He knew he had this ability. He won batting titles in every league before Philadelphia. He was great.
“But it was like he traded him to Cleveland out of mercy because he wanted him to have success. It was clear to him that that wasn’t going to happen in Philadelphia.”
Tony Gwynn Jr. is a former major league outfielder and son of late Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. Over the last two years, he got to know new Phillies second baseman Luis Arraez, whose contact skills at the plate often draw comparisons to Gwynn. Tony Jr. joined Phillies Extra to discuss his father, Arraez, and the bonds that connect them. Watch here.
You can also subscribe to the podcast version of Phillies Extra on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
