Field of Dreams - Plot

Plot

While walking in his cornfield, novice farmer Ray Kinsella hears a voice that whispers, "If you build it, he will come", and sees a baseball diamond. His wife, Annie, is skeptical, but she allows him to plow under his corn to build the field.

Nothing happens, and Ray soon faces financial ruin. Ray and Annie discuss replanting the corn, but their daughter, Karin, sees a man on the ballfield. Ray discovers that he is Shoeless Joe Jackson, a dead baseball player idolized by Ray's father. Thrilled to be able to play baseball again, Joe asks to bring others to play on the field. He later returns from the cornfield with the seven other players banned in the 1919 Black Sox scandal.

Ray's brother-in-law, Mark, cannot see the baseball players, and warns Ray that he will go bankrupt unless he replants his crops. While in the field, Ray hears the voice again, this time urging him to "ease his pain." After attending a PTA meeting involving a resolution to ban books by author and activist-turned recluse Terrence Mann, Ray decides the voice is referring to Mann. Ray finds a magazine interview about Mann's childhood dream of playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers and his heartbreak when the team moved to Los Angeles, and convinces Annie that he should seek out the author after they both dream about Ray and Terrence attending a baseball game.

Mann denies making the statement in the magazine, but Ray persuades him to attend a baseball game at Fenway Park. Ray hears the voice again, which urges him to "go the distance." The scoreboard shows statistics for a player named Archibald "Moonlight" Graham, who played one game for the New York Giants in 1922, but never had a turn at bat. Mann eventually admits to sharing the vision, and they travel to Chisholm, Minnesota where they learn that Graham became a doctor, but died 16 years earlier.

During a late night walk, Ray realizes that he is in 1972, the year of Graham's death; he finds Graham who confesses to him that although he regrets never getting to bat, he would have regretted not being a doctor even more. He declines Ray's invitation to fulfill his dream.

While driving back to Iowa, Ray picks up a hitchhiker who introduces himself as Archie Graham. While Archie sleeps, Ray reveals that at age 14 he refused to play catch with his father after reading one of Terrence's books. Terrence replies that he is tired of being blamed for stories like Ray's. At the farm, enough players have arrived to field two teams, and Archie finally gets to bat.

The next morning Mark implores Ray to sell the farm. Karin says that they won't need to because people will pay to watch the ball games. Terrence agrees that "people will come" to relive their childhood innocence, and Ray refuses to sell. Frustrated, Mark scuffles with Ray, accidentally knocking Karin off the top of the bleachers. Archie runs to help and, stepping off the field, becomes the old "Doc" Graham. After he saves Karin from choking, Ray realizes that Graham cannot return to the field as a young man. After reassuring Ray that his true calling was medicine, the players shake his hand and he leaves. Suddenly able to see the players, Mark urges Ray not to sell the farm.

After the game, Joe invites Terrence to enter the cornfield. Terrence accepts the offer and disappears into the cornfield, but Ray is angry at not being invited. Shoeless Joe rebukes his desire for a reward, then reminds him why he sacrificed so much, saying "If you build it, he will come", and glances toward home plate. The catcher removes his mask and Ray recognizes his father as a young man.

Ray introduces his father to Annie and Karin. As his father heads toward the cornfield, Ray asks his "Dad" to play catch. As they begin to play, hundreds of cars can be seen approaching the field, fulfilling Karin and Terrence's prophecy that people will come to watch baseball.