My Field of Dreams

by Michael Saffer

October 9, 2021

***

Last night I returned to the baseball field behind Fair Lawn High School for the first time since 1996 to umpire a game.

My dreams of being a ballplayer ended with high school graduation but not my love of the game. I have been umpiring for decades, but I never returned to the field where I had last played ball with the hopes and dreams still remote possibilities.

Finally, last night, I returned.

Kevin Costner was not there. He didn’t have to be.

There were no cornfields. There didn’t have to be.

As I looked over at the people sitting in lawn chairs watching the game past the third base dugout, I’m pretty sure I saw my dad and grandparents in those chairs. I know it was dark and a little hazy, but I’m pretty sure they were sitting there just like they did for all my games on that field 25 years ago.

I’m pretty sure I heard Joey Desimone behind the backstop asking me if I want to get pizza and watch Major League after the game.

For one night, last night…

this was my Field of Dreams.

#FieldofDreams