Sports Hollywood - Field of Dreams

10 Questions with Left-Center Manager Keith Rahe

The massive corn maze in left field.
Keith Rahe was born in Iowa and, outside of a stint in a far-off college, has lived in the Dyersville area all of his life. He runs Left & Center Field of Dreams, caring for the outfield and the corn surrounding it. The corn is no longer used for agriculture. It contains a massive nine acre Corn Maze that guests can wander through.

Keith also manages the Ghost Players, a baseball team masquerading as the Black Sox players in Field of Dreams (several of them were actually in the film). The team has traveled all over the world, entertaining military troops and baseball fans everywhere.

In the course of his job, Keith has met many giants in the sports and entertainment industry: Hall of Famers like Stan Musial and Ted Williams, and entertainers like Bob Costas, who he has worked with several times.

Keith was anxious to get to an Iowa football game, but he took a few minutes to meet us at his office in downtown Dyersville.

TEN QUESTIONS

Fergie
Ferguson Jenkins pitches at the field.
SportsHollywood: Are you a big baseball fan?

KEITH: I've loved baseball ever since I was a kid. One of my first memories is of Wrigley Field. Then with the Field and the Ghost Players I've gotten to meet many of my old heroes, like Ferguson Jenkins.

SportsHollywood: Are you in the film?

KEITH: I was in the final scene -- one of the cars. A lot of my players were in it extensively.

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

KEITH: Not really. Timothy Busfield came out here once to film a TV special. And Kevin Costner's half-sister came once.

SportsHollywood: Do you stage any special events at the field?

KEITH: There's been a lot of those. People have spread their ashes over the diamond. You see something like that every day.

SportsHollywood: Tell us about the Ghost Players.

KEITH: I started the Ghost Players to entertain the people out at the field. But now they travel around the world to entertain at military bases, and at major league and minor league ballparks.

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

KEITH: Life really has imitated art. It brings out the good in people.

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

KEITH: Two souvenir stands, one Field of Dreams. Al and Rita own left and center field. It's a seven-day-a-week job, and Al's had problems with cancer. So friends created a company and I manage it for them.

SportsHollywood: Can you explain the controversy between to two souvenir stands?

KEITH: When you have neighbors, you aren't alays going to see eye-to-eye. If you have two people that own anything, they aren't always going to get along.

SportsHollywood: Are you the real Ray Kinsella?

KEITH: (Laughs) Sometimes I do. The Field of Dreams has really taken over my life -- especially with the maze and the Ghost Players.

	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.
	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?