Tim Barto: A doff of the hat to James Earl Jones as he heads off to the cornfield

By TIM BARTO

Certain movie scenes become indelible memories. For many of us baseball diehards, it is James Earl Jones giving his sermon in “Field of Dreams”, a film in which Jones played Terrence Mann, a successful but reclusive author who gives into Kevin Costner’s character’s relentless pleas to join him in watching a ballgame at Fenway Park.

Mann’s character was based on J.D. Salinger, author of Catcher in the Rye, but Salinger wouldn’t allow his name to be used in the film, so the scriptwriters created Mann and made a wonderful choice to have James Earl Jones play him. This was not the first baseball movie in which Jones appeared, as he was in “The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings”, and he played the scary old neighbor turned sentimental baseball friend to a group of boys in the highly successful film, “The Sandlot”. 

Jones’ baritone voice resonated with fans and filmmakers alike. He may be most famous for providing the voice behind Darth Vader’s mask, but it was in a cornfield-turned-baseball-diamond that is a favorite for many of us, so much so that this author actually has a shirt with Jones’ script on it.  

Listen to a clip of James Earl Jones’ at this Wikipedia link.

In the not-quite-denouement scene, Costner’s character (Ray) is being pressured by his brother-in-law to sign over his farm, much of which was plowed under to create a magical ballfield where Shoeless Joe Jackson, along with a group of deceased big league ballplayers and – spoiler alert – Ray’s father, could come back and play baseball again. 

Yes, it sounds ridiculous, but it works . . . at least for those of us who remember the game our fathers taught us and that we studied by reading box scores in the sports section of daily newspapers.

Ray is anguished. He put his heart and soul into that field, much to his wife’s initial chagrin as well as the mockery of the local townsfolk. Ray loves sitting with his daughter, watching the oldtimers play on his field, but the lost crop revenue is driving him into bankruptcy. 

It is at this moment that Ray’s daughter tells her dad that he doesn’t have to sell the farm because people will show up there and pay money to watch “the baseball men” as she calls them.

Jones (Mann) follows up on the idea and delivers the speech – one that speaks of dreams and heroes, America and the romance of baseball. The result is goose bumps, misty eyes, lumps in the throat, and a longing for those days of ten cent packs of bubble gum cards and bedroom walls adorned with pennants and posters. 

James Earl Jones was an accomplished actor and a gentleman, but some of us will always remember him as Terrence Mann, who gave an impassioned plea for his newfound friend not to sell his nonsensical baseball field so he can help keep alive passion, tradition, and Americana. 

Tim Barto is a regular contributor to Must Read Alaska and vice president of Alaska Family Council. A lifelong baseball fan, he will pop some popcorn tonight and watch James Earl Jones in “Field of Dreams” . . . and try not to cry.