10 Questions with Al and Rita Ameskamp

Ameskamps
Al Ameskamp, Amy Madigan, Kevin Costner, Rita Ameskamp.
The Ameskamps (right, with Kevin Costner and Amy Madigan) are the owners of the Left & Center Field of Dreams portion of the field. The Ameskamps were directly involved in the filming of the movie: Al (left) as a consultant and Rita (right) as provider of baked goods.

In the spring of 1996, the Ameskamps retired to camping and fishing. So Left & Center, managed by a local investment company, was created to run the day to day operations of the gift shop.

But Al and Rita still own the property, and have the final say in how it is developed. There has been talk of adding another baseball field and making the area more of an amusement park, but as yet the Ameskamps have kept the property unchanged from the original film set and connected to the Lansing's section of the baseball field.

Al and Rita now live a few miles away in a comfortable estate ("I finally got my big house," proclaims Rita), but still tend to their land at the Field of Dreams.

Al is a strong, direct-type of man who still loves a joke. Rita is a boisterous woman who loves to laugh and will giggle as she recalls Kevin Costner flirting and threatening to plant a kiss on her, but is more proud to show you photos of her children's weddings on the wall of her hallway.

The Ameskamps postponed a weekend camping trip for a few hours to answer our questions, and couldn't have been nicer:


TEN QUESTIONS

SportsHollywood: Are you big baseball fans?

AL: No. I never was much of a baseball fan.

RITA: We were farmers!

SportsHollywood: Are you in the film?

AL: I was always next to (writer/director) Phil Robinson or right close. We were in the "curious neighbor" scene where we watch Kevin Costner dig up his land.

RITA: We're sitting in the red pick-up with the binoculars.

AL: And the last scene. We were the third car in the last scene.

RITA: Don Lansing was first and his mother was second. We were third.

SportsHollywood: Did you spend much time with Kevin Costner and the filmmakers?

AL: Yeah, we met them all. We didn't meet Burt Lancaster. He was in ill health. As far as Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan and James Earl Jones, they were the greatest.

SportsHollywood: Are you still in touch with anybody from the film?

AL: One time Tim Busfield was out. We talked a little bit, then they stick the camera in your face, then that was the end of the conversation. And I talked to Brian Frankish, the Executive Producer, about two weeks ago. We've kept in touch over the years, as friends.

SportsHollywood: What happened after the film crew left?

AL: Well, (laughter) I kinda played the boo-boo of my life. I kinda plowed my side up and thought, "well, we made a movie last year, this year we go back to planting corn."

RITA: Then we had our mailbox, and people would put little notes saying, "would you put the field back in?" But there were no nasty notes, so Al said, "I think I made a mistake. I think I should put the field back in." And I said, "I think so too!"

SportsHollywood: Have their been any marriages or special events at the field?

RITA: There have been weddings out there, people got engaged out there, people have spread their ashes out there!

SportsHollywood: Do you get along with the Lansings?

AL: There's been a little bit . . . we've had some differences. We try our best.

SportsHollywood: Do you believe the film's message that baseball brings people together?

AL: It's brought some people together. I know that a couple times there have been like a father and son who weren't getting along too well, and they go out to that field, spend a few days there, and sort of resolve their problems. There's been people out there that haven't seen each other for 25 years, and then all of a sudden, that day, they meet up again out on that field. This has happened time and again.

SportsHollywood: Are there two "Fields of Dreams" or one field?

AL: There's one Field of Dreams under two owners. The thing is, they decided to put the field west of Don Lansing's house. And in order to get the field in, the property line was too close to Don's house, they had to come over on our side of the property, so that's how we got involved.

RITA: We own third base.

AL: So we fight a little bit. There's a set of highwires out there, and that's where the fence used to be.

SportsHollywood: How ironic is it to you that the film's story came true -- that you built it and people came?

AL: Oh, they come alright. Lots of them! I tried to pull out my driveway, and had to wait 18 cars parked in my way. That's a lot of cars down there!

SportsHollywood: Are you the real Ray and Annie Kinsella?

AL: Like Kevin Costner? Kevin's a bit taller than me.

RITA: (Laughs)

Film MAIN PAGE: Filming begins on a farm in Iowa, but soon the set crosses onto the neighbor's yard, and the "Field of Dreams" is owned by two different farmers.
Factions THE WAR: "If you build it, they will come." And they did! 750,000 of them! But which side of the field do you want to be on?


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