Court Clears Way For Baseball Complex at Field of Dreams Movie Site

Players from the movie Field of Dreams comes out of the cornfield to play baseball.

                                                                                                                            AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

By ESPN

The Iowa Supreme Court seems to agree with Kevin Costner that there's no better place to play baseball than on fields cut out of the corn.

The court on Friday cleared the way for a 24-field baseball complex at the "Field of Dreams" movie site in Dyersville, upholding a lower court's decision that the City Council properly rezoned the property from agricultural to commercial.

The ruling came on an appeal by some Dyersville residents who sought to block the development of the All-Star Ballpark Heaven youth baseball and softball complex, fearing the complex would cause disruptions to surrounding farm operations and traffic, among other things.

The complex is to be centered on the site where "Field of Dreams," starring Costner, was shot. The movie was released in 1989 and has been embraced by people across the country, who connected with its story of a farmer who carved a baseball field out of his corn crop. Thousands of people make the drive to the small town about 140 miles northeast of Des Moines to run the bases at the baseball diamond and walk out to the cornfields that border the outfield.

An attorney for the residents who opposed the decision, Susan Hess, had argued for the courts to overturn the rezoning, saying members of the City Council weren't impartial and acted in a quasi-judicial manner rather than legislative in approving the rezoning.

The Iowa Supreme Court relied on its rulings in previous cases to side with the City Council, saying the council's rezoning decision did not weigh the legal rights of one party versus the other.

"The council weighed all of the information, reports, and comments available to it in order to determine whether rezoning was in the best interest of the city as a whole," Justice Bruce Zager wrote.

An attorney for the city, Doug Henry, said the Iowa Supreme Court ruling settles the matter and clears any hurdles to the building of the baseball complex.

Angels Acquire Espinosa From Nationals

The Los Angeles Angels acquired middle infielder Danny Espinosa from the Washington Nationals for two minor league pitchers Saturday night.

The Angels sent right-handers Austin Adams and Kyle McGowin to the Nationals for Espinosa, who presumably lost his starting job when Washington obtained outfielder Adam Eaton from the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday -- a move that means NL Rookie of the Year runner-up Trea Turner will go from from center field back to his natural position at shortstop.

The 29-year-old Espinosa hit .209 with a career-high 24 home runs and 72 RBIs as Washington's starting shortstop last season, helping the team win the NL East. In seven major league seasons, all with the Nationals, the switch-hitter has batted .226 with 92 homers and 285 RBIs.

Los Angeles has a two-time Gold Glove winner at shortstop in Andrelton Simmons, though his career OPS is just .671. Espinosa, however, could fill a void at second base for the Angels, as he would provide an upgrade with some much-needed power from the left side of the plate.

Espinosa was previously Washington's second baseman, but he moved to shortstop after the club signed Daniel Murphy last offseason. Espinosa is considered a better fielder than hitter and has struggled in the postseason, batting .091 in three playoff series. In the 2016 playoffs, Espinosa struck out eight times in 18 plate appearances.