Hochman: The late James Earl Jones’ baseball speech in ‘Field of Dreams’ remains relevant (2024)

The speech from “Field of Dreams.” It’s tattooed to my soul. James Earl Jones’ words perfectly and poetically confirmed what we feel about baseball, which, for many of us, was our first love.

The iconic actor Jones died Monday at 93. He reached a scope of pop culture that few celebs could— from “Star Wars” to “The Lion King” or “Roots: The Next Generations” to “Coming to America,” even “The Sandlot” to “Field of Dreams.” And it was in that 1989 film that Jones spoke of baseball as “the one constant through all the years,” a game that makes fans feel as if “they'd dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces.”

The speech, penned by screenwriter Phil Alden Robinson, is part of movie history and, really, baseball history. It’s recognizable, sure, due to its most famous line: “People will come, Ray.” But it’s also influential. The words touched thousands and thousands of Americans— raising and increasing inner baseball fandom just so. It made baseball more beloved.

And the phrases and descriptions make us yearn for baseball— both to transport us back to our cherished childhood memories but also to create new memories (perhaps with our own children). Sure, I admit, you could argue that the speech is cheesy. And some people feel “Field of Dreams” is hokey. But to those who love the movie and revere the speech, well, as Terrence Mann said, it “reminds us of all that once was good— and it could be again.”

Mann was the character played by Jones— based on reclusive writer J.D. Salinger. In the film, Kevin Costner’s character Ray believed a voice from his corn field told him to build a baseball field and bring Terrence Mann there to Iowa. (Yup, no idea how anyone could deem this as hokey.) Ray cut down much of his crop and built the field, and sure enough, out of the outfield cornstalks, walked the ghost of the deceased ballplayer “Shoeless” Joe Jackson.

Soon, other old-timey ballplayers join Joe on this field of dreams— but only Ray, Mann and Ray’s immediate family could actually see them playing.

Meanwhile, Ray lost so much money from killing his crop, and his brother-in-law, his financial adviser, feared Ray would lose the farm.

In the pivotal scene, the brother-in-law (Mark) arrived to the field to confront Ray, who was watching a ballgame of former stars with his family and Mann.

“You don’t have the money (for the mortgage), so you’re going to have to sell,” Mark said. “I’m sorry Ray, we got no choice.”

And that’s when Jones, age 57 during filming, began to speak in a voice that CNN’s obituary described as “that booming basso profundo, conveying instant dignity.” Jones’ Mann was sitting on the bleachers, thumbing through the old Baseball Encyclopedia. And he said:

“Ray. People will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway, not knowing for sure why they're doing it, and arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. 'Of course we won't mind if you look around,' you'll say. 'It's only $20 per person.' And they'll pass over the money without even thinking about it.

"For it is money they have and peace they lack.”

“Ray,” Mark said. “Just sign the papers.”

“And they'll walk out to the bleachers," Mann said, "and sit in their shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. Or they'll find they have reserved seats somewhere or along one of the baselines— where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. They'll watch the game, and it will be as if they'd dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces.”

“Ray,” Mark said, “When the bank opens, they will foreclose.”

“People will come, Ray,” Mann said again.

“You're broke, Ray,” Mark continued. “You sell now or you lose everything.”

“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball,” Mann said, hitting his stride. “America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good— and it could be again. Oh, people will come. People will most definitely come.”

The scene continued, dramatically, but Mann’s words resonated. I first heard the speech as a 9-year-old at the old Shady Oak move theater in St. Louis. I watched the VHS again in the summer of 1995, at 15, when my dad and I drove to Iowa and visited the actual field.

To feel baseball.

And in 2016, the legendary broadcasting voice Vin Scully recited the speech for Major League Baseball on a video that lives forever on YouTube, too.

But it’s James Earl Jones’ version that remains relevant today. The great actor’s words captured why we’re all connected to this game.

Baseball, it’s an escape. It’s therapy. It’s beauty. It’s family.

It’s America.