?
FIELD OF DREAMS
Written by
Phil Alden Robinson
March 9, 1988
FINAL DRAFT SCREENPLAY
1
FADE IN
MONTAGE OF PHOTOS
RAY (V.O.)
My father’s name was John Kinsella.
A faded, sepia shot of a dirty little kid on a farm.
RAY (V.O.)
It’s an Irish name. He was born in
North Dakota, in 1896...
Young man in doughboy uniform.
RAY (V.O.)
...and never saw a big city until he
came back from France in 1918.
Chicago. Tenement. Comiskey Park. Ballgames.
RAY (V.O.)
He settled in Chicago, where he quickly
learned to live and die with the White
Sox. Died a little when they lost the
1919 World Series...
Newspaper headlines. Photo of Shoeless Joe Jackson.
RAY (V.O.)
...died a lot the following summer when
eight members of the team were accused
of throwing that Series.
Dad (a catcher) playing ball. At work. Weeding.
RAY (V.O.)
He played in the minors for a year or
two, but nothing ever came of it. Moved
to Brooklyn in ’35, married Mom in ’38,
and was already an old man working at
the Naval Yards when I was born in 1949.
Ray as an infant. With his father. In front of Ebbets Field
in miniature Dodger uniform, etc.
RAY (V.O.)
My name’s Ray Kinsella. Mom died when
I was three, and I suppose Dad did the
best he could. Instead of Mother Goose,
I was put to bed at night to stories of
(MORE)
CONTINUED
2
1 CONTINUED
RAY (CONT'D)
Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig...and the great
Shoeless Joe Jackson. Dad was a Yankees
fan then, so of course I rooted for
Brooklyn. But in '58 the Dodgers moved
away, so we had to find other things to
fight about. We did. And when it came
time to go to college, I picked the
farthest one from home I could find.
Berkeley in the 1960s: hippies, protesters, etc.
RAY (V.0.)
This, of course, drove him right up the
wail, which I suppose was the point.
Officially my major was English, but
really it was the Sixties.
Ray looking foolish in long hair and tie-dye.
RAY (V.O.)
I marched, I smoked some grass, I tried
to like sitar music... and I met Annie.
Annie: blue jeans, T-shirt, freckles. Their courtship.
RAY (V.0.)
The only thing we had in common was that
she came from Iowa and I had once heard
of Iowa. We moved in together. After
graduation, we moved to the Midwest, and
stayed with her family as long as we
could.
Unsmiling American Gothic types.
RAY (V.O.)
Almost a full afternoon.
The apartment, Ray at different jobs, the wedding.
RAY (V.0.)
We rented an apartment and I took a job
selling insurance. I also drove a cab
and worked in a pizza parlor. Dad died
in June of 1 74. Annie and I got married
that fail.
Baby pictures.
RAY (V.O.)
A few years later Karin was born. She
smelled weird, but we loved her anyway.
Then Annie got the crazy idea that she
could talk me into buying a farm.
CONTINUED
3
1 CONTINUED (2)
1
Ray, Annie, and four-year-old Karin by the "SOLD" sign of
their farm. Ray in a cornfield.
RAY (V.0.)
I'm thirty-eight years old and I'm about
to become a farmer. I love my family,
I love baseball, and I miss New York.
Moving in on Ray's face.
RAY (V.0.)
But until I heard The Voice...I'd never
done a crazy thing in my whole life.
DISSOLVE TO
2 THE CORNFIELD - DUSK
2
It is dusk on a spring evening. The sky is a robin's-egg
blue, and the wind is soft as a day-old chick. Ray
Kinsella is working in the cornfield when a voice -- like
that of a public address announcer -- speaks to him.
THE VOICE
'If you build it, he will come.'
Ray looks up and around, but sees nothing that could be the
source of this sound. All around him are empty fields.
He stands quietly for a few moments, then goes back to
work.
THE VOICE
'If you build it, he will come.'
Ray jerks his head in all directions to see where this
voice is coming from, but again, he sees nothing unusual
-- just the furrowed fields and a few hundred feet away,
the massive old farmhouse with a sagging veranda on three
sides. On the north veranda is a wooden porch swing where
Annie and Karin sit, sipping lemonade and dreaming.
RAY
(CALLS)
Annie, what was that?
ANNIE
(CALLS BACK)
What was what?
RAY
That voice.
ANNIE
What voice?
CONTINUED
4
2 CONTINUED
2
RAY
Just now. Like an announcement.
Annie confers briefly with Karin, then calls back to Ray.
ANNIE
We didn't hear anything.
RAY
Oh.
Ray thinks for a second, then shakes it off, trying to
dislodge that thought from his mind, and gets back to work.
THE VOICE
'If you build it, he will come.'
Again, he bolts upright and looks around. Again, he sees
nothing. This is beginning to bug him. He calls:
RAY
Okay, you must've heard that.
3 ON THE PORCH
3
Annie and Karin lock at each other and exchange a shrug.
Annie extends her arms palms upward, and calls to Ray.
ANNIE
Sorry. Come on. Dinner.
Annie leads Karin inside.
4 -IN THE FIELD
4
Ray looks all around him with an "Okay, fellas, what's the
joke?" look on his face. But there is no one there. He
puts down his tools and walks toward the house.
5 INT. KITCHEN
Ray enters, looks at his wife skeptically and joins his
wife and daughter setting the table.
RAY
Was there like a sound truck on the
highway, or something?
ANNIE
Nape.
CONTINUED
5
5 CONTINUED
5
RAY
Kids with a radio?
ANNIE
Nope. You really hearing voices?
RAY
Just one.
ANNIE
Ah. God?
RAY
More like a. . .ballpark announcer.
Annie shoots him an "Are you kidding?" look. Ray responds
with a shrug. They sit down to eat.
ANNIE
What'd it say?
RAY
'If you build. it, he will come.'
ANNIE
If you build what, who will come?
RAY
(SHRUGS)
He didn't say.
ANNIE
Ooh, I hate it when that happens.
RAY
Me too.
CUT TO
6 RAY AND ANNIE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
6
They are snuggled together, asleep. All is quiet. Then:
THE VOICE
'If you build it, he will come.'
Ray's eyes pop open. He looks at Annie, who does not stir.
Without moving, he looks around the room. There is no one
there. Very quietly, he crosses to the window and looks
out. He whispers out toward the cornfield:
RAY
Build what? For who?
CONTINUED
6
6 CONTINUED 6
Behind him, Annie stirs.
ANNIE
Ray?
RAY
It's okay, honey, I'm just-talking to
the cornfield.
He sighs and goes back to bed. Annie cuddles up to him.
Her eyes are closed, but Ray's eyes remain open. He is
puzzled and concerned.
CUT TO
7 TELEVISION SCREEN
A scene from the 1950 movie Harvey, in which James Stewart
insists he is conversing with an invisible rabbit.
8 RAY AND ANNIE'S KITCHEN MORNING
L
ittle Karin is watching Harvey while she eats her
breakfast. Ray enters, looking like he had very little
sleep, and promptly turns the TV set off.
KARIN
Why'd you do that? It was funny.
RAY
Trust me, Karin, it's not funny. The
man is sick. He's very sick.
Annie enters, putting on her coat.
ANNIE
Karin, if you're finished, get your coat
and school bag. Let's go.
Karin bolts from the table.
RAY
Uh honey, I'll take her today. I'v-e got
some errands in town.
ANNIE
Far out.
She takes off her coat and kisses Ray as he takes-the car
keys and heads outside. Annie sits at the kitchen table.
CONTINUED
7
CONTINUED
8
ANNIE
What if the voice calls while you're
gone?
RAY
Take a message.
ANNIE
Right.
He exits. She grins, turns on the TV and watches Harvey.
CUT TO
9 EXT. IOWA CITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - DAY 9
Ray's car pulls up, Karin runs out and Ray drives off.
CUT TO
10 INT. DOCTOR'S OFFICE - DAY 10
Ray is plugged into some weird-looking contraption, having
his hearing examined. Then the Doctor shines a penlight
into his eyes, shrugs, and starts putting his gear away.
DOCTOR
Well, I can't find anything wrong. I
could recommend a shrink, but hey,
people hear things all the time. I
heard a voice once. I was still living
with my parents, 'then. They worked in
the circus, so I was raised in the
circus, and I was training to be a
clown. This one day, I'm putting on my
little red nose and I hear a voice,
tells me to go to medical school. Here
I am.
Ray is not sure if he should ignore this or run.
CUT TO
11 FARM SUPPLY STORE - DAY 11
Farmers are loading up with seed, fertilizer, and other
farmer stuff. This is the kind of place where people also
linger to exchange gossip, swap lies, and pass the time.
Ray is off to one side, chewing the fat with an old-timer.
CONTINUED
8
11 CONTINUED 11
RAY
In all those years, did you ever...
(SEARCHES)
I've heard that sometimes farmers out
in the field...hear things. Voices.
OLD-TIMER
You hearing voices?
RAY
(QUICKLY)
No. It's just that I heard some farmers
do, and... I, of course, don't, so I was
wondering if I was doing something
wrong, or something. Did you ever hear
voices out there?
CASHIER
(calls from her
CASH REGISTER)
Who's hearing voices?
OLD-TIMER
Ray is. Out in the fields.
Now, everyone in the store turns to look at Ray.
RAY
No! No, I'm not. Really.
But the people still stare. Ray addresses them.
RAY
Noises! That darn tractor, it's...
(forces a nervous
LAUGH)
Well, I'll just get some 3-in-1 oil,
that should...
(TO THE
OLD-TIMER)
Nice talking to you.
CUT TO
12 RAY'S FARM - DAY 12
Ray is out in the fields again, hard at work. A breeze
picks up. He stops fora moment, cocks an ear and looks
around. All he sees are the empty fields. Insects make
the only sounds. He goes back to work. Then:
THE VOICE
'If you build it, he will come.'
CONTINUED
9
12 CONTINUED 12
He throws his tools down angrily and looks all around, but
there is no apparent source of the voice. Ray is pissed.
RAY
All right, who are you, and what the
hell do you want from me?!?
All he hears is a faraway echo.
THE VOICE
'If you build it, he will come.'
This is serious. Ray shakes his head and repeats the words
to himself.
RAY
If you build it...
As he thinks about these words,,some unexplained impulse
causes Ray to turn his head deliberately toward a portion
of the cornfield between him and the house.
FLASH CUT
1
13 A BASEBALL FIELD L3
For the briefest of moments, the dreamlike image of a
baseball field at night, illuminated by floodlights, flares
in over the lawn. Standing on the edge of the field, is
the figure of a man with his back to us. Before we can see
anything else, the image disappears.
14 RAY 14
Ray's eyes widen.
RAY
. he will come'.
FLASH CUT
i5 THE MAN AND THE FIELD 1 5
The dream image flares in again, this time closer to the
man. He stands in the middle distance, silhouetted by the
lights, and we see he is wearing a uniform of some kind.
He starts to turn slowly towards us, but before we can see
his face, the image disappears.
10
16 CLOSE ON RAY
16
Ray's mouth opens. He half-laughs, as if to say "This
can't be." But whatever is in his mind won't go away.
RAY
.he will come.
FLASH CUT
17 THE MAN
17
Now we see him in head-and-shoulders. He has the muscular
neck of an athlete. As he slowly turns we start to see a
bit of his weathered face before the image flares out.
18 RAY
18
Wheels are turning inside his head. He is trying to figure
all this out. In the distance, a bell is ringing. He
looks O.S.
19 EXT. HOUSE - DUSK
19
Annie is on the veranda ringing the dinner bell hanging by
the front door.
ANNIE
Yo, Ray! Food!
20 HER POINT OF VIEW - THE FIELDS 20
We see Ray emerge slowly from the fields, the twilit sky
changing colors behind him.
21 THE VERANDA
21
Annie leans against a post, lazily watching Ray approach.
She likes how he moves, and how he looks.
ANNIE
Hiya, cutie.
Ray climbs up the steps, accepts her kiss, and instead of
following her into the house, pulls her down with him onto
the swing. He takes-her hand and looks into her eyes.
RAY
Annie...
CONTINUED
11
21 CONTINUED
21
ANNIE
(PLAYING ALONG)
Ray...
RAY
You're not going to believe this...
ANNIE
You heard the voice again.
RAY
Wait, this gets better, I just saw a
vision.
ANNIE
Get out of here!
RAY
I swear to God. An actual vision.
ANNIE
We're going to have to burn you at the
stake if this keeps up.
RAY
I know.
CUT TO
22 INT. HOUSE - NIGHT
22
THE
family is eating dinner. Ray seems lostin thought.
ANNIE
Hey, you don't suppose this could be
like an acid flashback, do you?
RAY
I never took acid.
ANNIE
Maybe you will someday, and it's a flash
forward.
RAY
Annie, there's more.
ANNIE
You're subscribing to the Enquirer.
RAY
I think I know what 'If you build it,
he will come' means.
CONTINUED
12
22 CONTINUED
22
ANNIE
Oooh, why do I not think this is a good
thing?
RAY
I think it means if I build a baseball
field out there, Shoeless Joe Jackson
will get to come back and play ball
again.
ANNIE
You're kidding.
RAY
Uh uh.
She whistles. This is serious.
RAY
Yeah.
CUT TO
23 INT. KARIN'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
23
Ray and Annie are putting little Karin to bed.
ANNIE
Boy, I thought my family was crazy, but
this...this is the craziest thing I've
ever heard.
RAY
I know. It's totally nuts.
ANNIE
I mean, Shoeless Joe, he's...
RAY
(NODS)
Died in '51.
ANNIE
And he's the one they suspended, right?
-AY
Right.
ANNIE
He still dead?
RAY
Far as I know.
CUT TO
13
24 INT.'BATHROOM - NIGHT
24
Ray and Annie in their pajamas, brushing their teeth,
getting ready for bed.
ANNIE
You know what amazes me? No one could
ever get you to believe in astrology,
or ESP, or reincarnation, or heaven, or
any of that stuff. But this...I think
this shows real personal growth, Ray.
RAY
Thank you.
Annie smiles, but sees that Ray is troubled. She hugs him.
ANNIE
Oh, sweetie. I hope you know that even
though I make jokes, I'm going to visit
you every month wherever they put you.
He offers her a weak smile and exits.
CUT TO
25 INT. RAY AND'ANNIE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
It is dark. For a few seconds it is quiet. Then:
RAY
Did you know Babe Ruth copied his swing?
ANNIE
If I did, I'd forgotten it.
Ray sits up in the dark.
RAY
I always felt cheated I never got to see
him play. He was supposed to be so
graceful, and agile. So to actually get
to see him play again...to let him play
again, to right an old wrong...
He shakes his head in wonder just to think of it. Annie
turns on the light.
ANNIE
Wait a minute, Bosco. Are you actually
thinking of doing this?
CONTINUED
14
25 CONTINUED
25
RAY
No.
(THEN)
I mean, I can't think of one good reason
why I should,-but...
(takes a breath)
I'm thirty-eight years old, I have a
wife, a child, and a mortgage, and I'm
scared to death I'm turning into my
father.
ANNIE
What's your father got to do with this?
Ray tries to picture his father in his mind. He speaks
softly, but the words obviously have a great deal of
meaning for him.
RAY
I never forgave him for getting old.
By the time he'was as old as I am now,
he was ancient. He must have had
dreams, but he never did anything about
them. For all I know, he may have even
heard voices, too, but he sure didn't
listen to them. The man never did one
spontaneous thing in all the years I
knew him. Annie, I'm scared that that's
what growing up means. I'm afraid of
that happening to me. And something
tells me this may be my last chance to
do something about it.
(looks at her)
I want to build that field. Do you
think I'm crazy?
She looks at him with great understanding.
ANNIE
Yes.
He smiles wanly. She touches his face lovingly.
ANNIE
I also think that if you feel you really
have to do this... then you should do it.
They hold each other's gaze, and Ray cannot remember when
he has loved her so much. He takes her in his arms.
Outside their window, the field of corn lies waiting.
CUT TO
15
26 THE CORNFIELD - DAY
26
Stalks of corn wave slowly in the breeze. A bee buzzes
near one. The light is yellow. Suddenly, the stalks bend
violently to the ground as Ray's tractor plows them under.
27 ON THE TRACTOR 27
Ray drives, Karin rides shotgun, holding the large detailed
diagram Ray has drawn of the ballpark's dimensions.
RAY
Ty Cobb called him the greatest left
fielder of all time. His glove was
called 'the place where triples go to
die.'
28 HIGH ANGLE 28
The tractor turns to plow under more corn, and we can see
the size of the area Ray has staked off with marker sticks.
KARIN (V.0.)
Could he hit?
RAY (V.O.)
Lifetime 356 average. Third highest
in history.
Karin whistles.
29 ANOTHER ANGLE 29
By the side of the road, an old man and woman stand and
watch these neighbors-plow under their. corn. They look at
each other as if to say "Could it be Communists?"
KARIN (V.0.)
Why'd they called him Shoeless Joe?
30 SEEDING THE FIELD - DAY 30
It is days later, an area the size of a baseball field has
been plowed under, and Ray is seeding it.
RAY (V.O.)
When he was still in the minors, he
bought a new pair of spikes and they
hurt his feet. About the sixth inning
he took them off and played the outfield
in just his socks. The other players
kidded him, called him Shoeless Joe, and
the name stuck.
16
31 WATERING THE GRASS - NIGHT- 31
We can see roughly where the grass has been planted, and
where the dirt will be smoothed out for the base paths.
Ray stands stock-still in the moonlight, water hose in
hand, patiently misting the baby grass, little Karin at his
side.
RAY (V.0.)
Then in 1919, his team, the Chicago
White Sox, threw the World Series.
KARIN (V.0.)
What's 'threw'?
RAY (V.0.)
They lost it on purpose. Gamblers paid
them to.
32 SIDE OF THE ROAD
32
Now, dozens of families stand to watch silent and
dumb-eyed, at what has obviously become a daily spectacle
among the townspeople. Some snap photos.
RAY (V.0.)
Except Shoeless Joe.
33 SMOOTHING OUT THE FIELD - DAY
Ray smooths out the base paths with a large roller, as
Annie and Karin follow behind with rakes. On either side
of the base paths, the infield and outfield grass is
growing.
RAY (V.0.)
Nobody could prove anything one way or
another, but he was the one guy who
probably wasn't in on it.
34 INT. HARDWARE STORE - DAY
34
Ray, Annie and Karin wait as the cashier totals up their
load of lumber and hardware.
RAY
I mean if he was supposed to be throwing
it, how do you explain the fact he hit
375 for the series and didn't commit
one error? Huh?
KARIN
I can't.
CONTINUED
17
34 CONTINUED 34,
RAY
Twelve hits, including the series' only
home run. And they said he was trying
to lose!
KARIN
It's ridiculous.
CASHIER
That's 855 dollars, sixty-four cents.
From O.S., we hear oooh. Ray turns and notices for the
first time that a crowd of spectators -- employees and
customers -- has been watching him and whispering among
themselves. They look at him as if he had two heads.
Ray turns his attention back to writing a check for his
purchases. He deadpans to Annie:
RAY
We'd better notify Mars to send us more
money.
ANNIE
(EQUALLY DEADPAN)
Remlak won't like that.
RAY
That's his problem. And tell him to
make it in Earth dollars this time.
Ray hands over the check to the open-mouthed cashier.
RAY
Thank you. Have a nice day.
Ray and Annie turn and leave with Karin. The farmers
watch, obviously trying hard to figure this one out.
CUT TO
35 BUILDING THE OUTFIELD WALL - DAY 35
Ray hammers the braces that will support the outfield wall.
Karin hands him nails from a bag she wears around her neck.
RAY (V.O.)
There's a famous story about when he
came out of the courtroom, a kid ran up
to him, tugged his sleeve and said 'Say
it ain't so, Joe.' And Jackson looked
down t him and said 'I'm afraid it is,
kid.'
CONTINUED
18
35 CONTINUED 35
KARIN
Then what happened?
36 BUILDING THE BLEACHERS 36
Annie helps Ray lift a board to what will be the top row.
RAY
The Commissioner of Baseball suspended
eight of the players -- including the
great Shoeless Joe Jackson -- for life.
KARIN
What's suspend?
RAY
They never let him play the game again.
They continue to work in silence.
CUT TO
37 INT. SPORTING GOODS STORE I 7
Ray writes a check for his purchases: bats, balls, bases
pitcher's rubber, home plate, etc. He appears slightly
annoyed that once again, he is being stared at by all the
uniformed employees of the store. He turns to catch the
Store Owner staring at him the most intently.
RAY
What. What!
STORE OWNER
You're the fella that plowed under your
corn and built a baseball diamond,
right?
RAY
Yeah. What about it?
STORE OWNER
(shakes his hand)
Greatest damn thing I ever heard.
The other employees beam their agreement.
RAY
At these prices, I'm not surprised.
CONTINUED
19
37 CONTINUED
He wheels his shopping cart of sporting goods out through
a gauntlet of approving salesmen. They smile and pat him
on the back. Ray cannot decide if they're crazier than he
is.
RAY
Thank you...thank you...
CUT TO
38 THE LIGHT STANDARD - NIGHT 38
Atop the aluminum-painted poles, an array of store-bought
floodlights switch on, flaring against the blue-black sky.
In this sharp white light the grass glows parrot green,
cool as mint, soft as a cashmere blanket. Annie and Karin
watch as Ray puts down the clean white bases, which pick
up the light like little moons on a cold, clear night.
RAY
My father said he saw him years later
playing under a made-up name in some
tenth-rate league in Carolina. He'd put
on fifty pounds, and the spring was gone
from his step, but he could still hit.
Dad used to say no one could hit like
Shoeless Joe.
Ray is smiling wistfully.
ANNIE
That's the first time I've ever seen you
smile as you mentioned your father.
Ray considers that.
KARIN
How come?
ANNIE
Come on, you. Bed time.
Annie hoists Karin on her shoulders with a grunt, and the
three climb their way down the bleachers. Ray's hand
steadies Annie as she takes one of the steps.
RAY
Careful...
Moonl ight butters the Iowa night. They walk along the side
of the field, and Ray stops. He looks at the field.
CONTINUED
20
38 CONTINUED 38
RAY
I have just created something totally
illogical.
ANNIE
That's what I like about it.
RAY
Am I completely nuts?
ANNIE
Not completely.
She looks out over the baseball field.
ANNIE
It's a good baseball field, Ray.
RAY
It is kinda pretty, isn't it?
Annie smiles at him and carries Karin inside. Ray steps
onto the porch and flicks the switch shutting off the
floodlights over the field.
CUT TO
39 RAY AND ANNIE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 39
Annie opens her eyes and sees Ray not beside her in bed,
but in th window seat, looking out at the empty field.
Barely awake, she gets out of bed, shuffles to his side and
curls up against him.
ANNIE
Any sign?
RAY
Something's going to happen out there.
I can feel it.
Annie lowers her head against his chest and goes back to
sleep. Outside, the trees are fully leafed.
DISSOLVE TO
40 RAY'S BASEBALL FIELD - OCTOBER 40
The trees are almost bare now, and there's a Halloween
pumpkin in the front window of the house. The cornstalks
CONTINUED
21
40 CONTINUED
40
,rustle like crumpling paper in the Indian-summer breeze
which blows fallen leaves across the empty baseball field
while Ray sits in the stands... waiting.
DISSOLVE TO
41 THE BASEBALL FIELD - LATE DECEMBER 41
it is covered with snow.
42 INT. RAY AND ANNIE'S HOUSE 42
Ray looks forlornly out the living room window towards his
snow-covered baseball field, the merrily blinking lights
of the Christmas tree behind him belying his true mood.
DISSOLVE TO
43 SPRINGTIME - DAY
A baby robin tries to pull a worm out of the around.
Inside the house, Annie is doing spring cleaning. She
looks out the window to see:
44 THE BASEBALL FIELD
Ray mowing the outfield grass. He stops, looks around,
listens, hears nothing, and continues mowing.
45 ANNIE
45
just watches him.
CUT TO
46 TV SCREEN 46
We see the first exhibition game of spring training from
Florida, as the announcer talks about a "southpaw" pitcher.
47 INT. RAY AND ANNIE'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT 47
Little Karin watches the TV, while Annie and Ray sit at the
living room table, financial ledgers spread out before them
as they struggle with their accounts.
KARIN
Daddy, what's a southpaw?
CONTINUED
22
47 CONTINUED
47
RAY
A left-handed pitcher.
(TO ANNIE)
How bad is it?
ANNIE
Well, given how much less acreage we
have for corn, I'd say we'll probably
.almost break even.
RAY
Jesus.
ANNIE
We've spent all our savings on that
field.
KARIN (O.S.)
Daddy..
RAY
Just a minute, Karin.
(TO ANNIE)
So what are you saying? We can't keep
the field?
ANNIE
(SADLY)
It makes it real hard to keep the farm,
Ray.
Ray closes his eyes.
KARIN (O.S.)
Daddy...
RAY
(a little testy)
In a minute, Karin.
KARIN (O.S.)
There's a man out there on your lawn.
Ray opens his eyes and turns to see Karin kneeling on the
kitchen counter, looking out the window. Ray and Annie
exchange a quick glance, and Ray walks to the window.
48 EXT. THE WINDOW
48
seen from outside, as Ray's head appears and looks out.
He sees something out there and just looks at it.
23
49 RAY'S POINT OF VIEW
49
There is a Man standing on the edge ofthebaseballfield.
Hi es wearing a baseball uniform.
Anold-fashionedone.
50 INT HOUSE
50
Ray turns to Annie. She looks out and nods thoughtfully.
Annie stays very calm in emergencies.
ANNIE
We'll put up some coffee. You go ahead.
Ray takes a breath and steps out onto the veranda. The
night sky seems close enough to touch.
51 EXT. HOUSE
51
On the porch wall, Ray finds the switch, holds his breath,
flicks it and the floodlights sputter to life.
52 THE MAN
52
steps onto the field. On his uniform is a large "S" with
an "O" in the top crook, an "X" in the bottom, and an
American flag with forty-eight stars on his left sleeve.
53 RAY
53
walks through the swirling ground mist toward the field.
54 RAY'S POINT OF VIEW
54
Moving closer to the field we see the Man standing out in
left field. Feet spread wide, body bent forward from the
waist, hands on hips, he waits.
55 RAY
55
Ray's mouth is dry. He reaches home plate and picks up one
of the bats lying beside the pail of hard balls. The back
of his neck tingles. Then, he picks up one of the balls.
56 IN THE OUTFIELD
56
The Man spreads his feet, pounds his small, old-style
glove, and waits to field the ball.
24
57 AT HOME PLATE 57
Ray tosses the ball a few feet into the air and swings at
it. And misses. His face reddens, he clears his throat,
and tries again. This time he connects.
58 THE FIELD 58
He has hit a grounder that would be easily fielded by a
shortstop had there been one, but it bounces through and
falls into left field. The Man runs in for it, scoops it
up cleanly and throws it back to the plate.
Ray is thrilled. He hits another ground ball, and this
too, is fielded cleanly. Then another, which the Man
deftly short-hops. Ray hollers out to him.
RAY
How's the field play?
THE MAN
It's good. The ball bounces true.
Ray smiles with pride. He tosses up another ball, gives
it his best swing, and is thrilled to see he has actually
lofted one into the air. But into center field. The Man
sprints across the outfield, and makes a lovely catch in
short center. Instead of throwing the ball in, the Man
runs it in, loping toward home plate. Ray's heart thumps.
RAY
Hi.
The Man nods at him, takes the bat, and tests it to feel
its weight.
RAY
Ray Kinsella.
THE MAN
Joe Jackson.
Ray is thrilled to hear the words spoken. It is Shoeless
Joe Jackson after all, who stands not five feet away from
him, trying out all the bats now. Ray isn't quite sure if
he should talk, or ask questions, or just stand there.
Finally, he can't help himself.
RAY
I bet its good to be playing again,
huh?
SHOELESS JOE
It was like having part of me amputated.
CONTINUED
25
58 CONTINUED
Joe looks over at Ray, now, his dark eyes evincing the pain
his steady voice tries to conceal.
SHOELESS JOE
I've heard that old man wake up and
scratch itchy legs that've been dust for
fifty years. That was me. I'd wake up
in the night with the smell of the
ballpark in my nose and the cool of the
grass on my feet. The thrill of the
grass...
He has found the bat he likes.
SHOELESS JOE
Can you pitch?
RAY
(WITH FALSE
MODESTY)
Yeah, I'm not bad.
Joe hands Ray the bucket of balls. Ray can barely contain
his excitement as he races to the mound. He stands on the
rubber and faces Joe at the plate.
RAY
Don't we need a catcher?
SHOELESS JOE
Not if you can get it near the plate,
we don't.
Ray smiles, takes a breath and starts his windup, during
which he says aloud to himself:
RAY
I am pitching to Shoeless Joe Jackson.
He makes a pitch. It's not a very good one, and Joe has
to step across the plate to make contact, but his swing is
graceful, compact and effortlessly powerful. He drives the
ball against the fence.
Ray watches it with wonder and when he turns back, Jackson
is gesturing with the bat for him to make the next pitch.
Ray makes the standard pitcher's gesture for a curve ball.
RAY
See if you can hit my curve.
°He goes into an elaborate windup, throws it, it does not
curve much, and Jackson whistles it right by Ray's ear.
CONTINUED
26
58 CONTINUED (2) 58
RAY
Yes, he can hit the curve.
SHOELESS JOE
Stick with fast balls, kid.
RAY
You bet.
Ray makes another pitch, and Jackson hits a line drive down
the third base line. Then a smoker down the first base
line. Ray is mightily impressed.
RAY
Wow.
SHOELESS JOE
Damn, this feels good. Put it right
here, huh?
Joe holds the bat out low over the plate and Ray pitches
it reasonably close to that spot. Jackson hits it out of
the park, and beams. Ray brightens up with remembrance.
RAY
Right, you were a low ball hitter.
SHOELESS JOE
Oh man, I did love this game. You know,
I'd have played for food money. it was
the game, the sounds, the smells. You
ever held a glove or a ball to your
face?
Ray smiles as he walks in from the mound.
RAY
Yeah.
SHOELESS JOE
And it was riding the trains from town
to town. And the hotels with brass
spittoons in the lobbies and brass beds
in the rooms. And it was the crowd
getting to their feet when the ball was
hit deep. Shoot, I'd have played for
free.
The sound of a screen door turns their. attention to the
house. Annie and Karin are coming out to them.
RAY
My family.
Jackson nods and then points to the floodlights.
CONTINUED
27
58 CONTINUED (3)
58
SHOELESS JOE
What's with the lights?
RAY
"All the stadiums have them now except
Wrigley Field.
SHOELESS JOE
Makes it harder to see the ball.
RAY
The owners found that more people could
attend night games.
SHOELESS JOE
(SHAKES HEAD)
Owners...
By now, Annie and Karin have joined them.
RAY
Mr. Jackson: my wife Annie, my daughter
Karin.
SHOELESS JOE
Joe. Ma'm...
(SHAKES ANNIE'S
hand and winks
AT KARIN)
Hi.
KARIN
Are you a ghost?
Ray and Annie are instantly embarrassed, and try to cover
with forced, nervous laughter.
RAY
Karin...
(to Shoeless Joe)
She's just kidding.
SHOELESS JOE
It's okay.
(TO KARIN)
What do you think?
KARIN-
You look real to me.
SHOELESS JOE
Then I guess I'm real.
ANNIE
Would you like to come inside'?
CONTINUED
28
58 CONTINUED (4) 58
SHOELESS JOE
Uh, thanks, but...I don't think I can.
Ray and Annie look at Joe for a moment, not quite
understanding the ground rules here. Joe senses their
discomfort and changes the subject.
SHOELESS JOE
Hey, can I come back again?
RAY
Yeah. I built this for you.
SHOELESS JOE
There are others, you know. There were
eight of us. It'd sure mean a lot to
them.
RAY
Oh man, anytime. They're all welcome
here.
Joe looks out over the field in eager anticipation of the
good times to come.
SHOELESS JOE
Thank you, Ray. I appreciate it. See
you later, huh?
RAY
Yeah. See you later.
KARIN
Say it ain't so, Joe!
Joe laughs and walks to the outfield. Annie puts her arm
around Ray and snuggles her head against his chest.
Nearby, brook water splashes softly in the darkness, a frog
shrills, and fireflies dazzle the night.
Joe is in the outfield grass now, walking toward a door cut
into the fence.
ANNIE
Where's he going?
RAY
(SMILING)
Through that door in the fence.
ANNIE
Since when is there a door in the fence?
CONTINUED
29
58 CONTINUED
RAY
(SMILING EVEN
MORE BROADLY)
I don't know. I didn't put one there.
Joe reaches the door, opens it, and turns back to Ray, his
voice carrying effortlessly through the night air.
SHOELESS JOE
Hey! Is this heaven?
RAY
No. It's Iowa.
Shoeless Joe Jackson nods and fades away as he walks
through the door in the fence. Ray and Annie looks at each
other in absolute wonder.
RAY
We're keeping this field.
ANNIE
You bet your ass we are.
CUT TO
59 INT. RAY AND ANNIE'S LIVING ROOM - DAY 9
MARK
You're going to lose your farm, pal.
It is Sunday afternoon, and Annie's family is visiting.
her mother, pink-faced and white-dentured, sits ramrod
straight in an antique rocking chair. Also present are her
brother, Mark, and his wife Dee.
RAY
Come on, it's so big. How can you lose
something so big?
ANNIE
You misplaced the house once.
RAY
Yeah, but it turned up two days later,
didn't it?
MARK
Ray, this stupid baseball field is going
to bankrupt you. Everybody knows it.
All I'm saying is if you wait till you
default on your loan, you lose
everything. Sell now, my partners'll
(MORE)
CONTINUED
30
59 CONTINUED
59
MARK (CONT'D)
give you a more than a fair price and
you walk away with a nest egg.
RAY
Thanks, Mark, but no.
MARK
What are you holding on to this place
for? You've never even liked Iowa. You
don't like farming, you don't know the
first thing about it ---
RAY
Hey; I know a lot more about farming
than you think.
MARK
How could you plow under your major
crop?
RAY
(TO ANNIE)
What's a crop?
Karin enters breathlessly.
KARIN
Daddy, the baseball game is on.
Ray beams. Karin returns the smile and reaches her arms
out to be picked up. She scissors her legs around her
father at belt level, hugging his neck.
RAY
Excuse us.
He exits, carrying Karin. Mark shakes his head.
MARK
I don't believe this guy. I'm trying
to bail him out and he goes off to watch
television.
Annie stifles a laugh.
MARK
He used to be so normal.
MOTHER
Does he beat you?
ANNIE
What???
CONTINUED
31
59 CONTINUED (2)
59
MARK
He's drinking, right?
ANNIE
He doesn't drink, and he doesn't beat
me, okay? Now I'll grant you, he has
gotten me to worship Satan with him, but
just a little.
Her mother gasps.
ANNIE
Kidding... I'm kidding!
Her family has no sense of humor about this whatsoever.
ANNIE
I think we need more cheese.
She goes into the kitchen, and when she has rounded the
corner, she raises her eyes to heaven and mutters:
ANNIE
Families.
60 THE FIELD 6 0
Karin and Ray sit on the bleachers, eating peanuts while
Shoeless Joe and his seven teammates practice. (Three,
including Shoeless Joe, are in the outfield, two more in
the infield, one pitches, one catches, and one bats.)
The men are all in their twenties or thirties, but show the
sheer enjoyment of returning after an absence of sixty-five
years to the game they love.
Ray directs Karin's attention to the left fielder.
RAY
Watch Joe. Watch his feet as the
pitcher gets the sign and starts to
pitch. A good left fielder knows what
pitch is coming, and he can tell from
the.angle of the bat where the ball's
going to be hit.
At the sharp crack of the bat Shoeless Joe whirls, takes
five loping strides toward the fence, turns again', reaches
up, and the ball smacks into his glove.
Karin cheers. One of the players good-naturedly boos.
HAPPY FELSCH
Showoff!
CONTINUED
32
60 CONTINUED
60
BUCK WEAVER
Aw, stick it in your ear, Felsch.
EDDIE CICOTTE
Yeah, if you'd run like that against
Detroit I'da won twenty games that year.
HAPPY FELSCH
Oh for Pete's sake, that was sixty-five
years ago! Give it up, will ya...
SWEDE RISBERG
Hey., you guys wanna play ball, or what?
HAPPY FELSCH
.you muscle-bound jerk.
EDDIE CICOTTE
Oh yeah? At least I got muscles.
HAPPY FELSCH
No. At most you got muscles.
BUCK WEAVER
Come on, asshole, pitch!
The good-natured banter stops short, and the other players
glare at Weaver who looks sheepishly toward the little girl
and her father in the bleachers.
BUCK WEAVER
Sorry, kid.
KARIN
It's okay!
PLAYERS
All right,'Karin!
The players resume their practicing and ribbing.
61 EXT. HOUSE
61
Annie emerges with-her Mother, Mark and Dee, walking toward
the bleachers where Karin and Ray are still watching the
spirited practice.
ANNIE
Ray? Mom's leaving.
RAY
Oh. Well, it was...you know, thanks for
coming.
CONTINUED
33
61 CONTINUED
61
MARK
Think about what I said. I just want
to help.
RAY
I know.
Mark just stands there for a moment, the only sounds coming
from the players on the, field.
MARK
I thought you two were going to watch
some game.
RAY
Oh, I guess it's not really a game.
It's more like a practice.
Mark looks at his wife and Mother with concern. Ray
doesn't understand this reaction.
RAY
See, there's only eight of them, so they
can't play a real game...
MARK
Eight of what?
Ray points to the noisy players on the field.
RAY
Them.
Now, Mother and Dee look as if they're about to go into
mourning. Mark kneels next to Karin.
MARK
Karin honey... what are you watching?
KARIN
The baseball men.
MARK
Do you see any baseball men right now?
KARIN
(SLIGHTLY
ANNOYED)
Of course I do.
Mark stands up and shoots Ray an accusing look. Annie's
Mother starts to walk away.
CONTINUED
34
61 CONTINUED (2) 61
MOTHER
I don't think it's very polite to try
to make other people feel stupid.
Annie questions Mark and Dee as they pass her on the way
to catch up with Mother.
ANNIE
You don't see it?
DEE
That's not funny, Annie.
Her family leaves in a huff.
ANNIE
They couldn't see it.
RAY
Interesting.
He and Annie sit beside Karin and watch the players. Each
slowly starts to smile.
CUT TO
62 ON THE FIELD - LATER 62
The practice is over, the players are perspired and
exhilarated. Ray is over at first base talking with Swede
Risberg, the shortstop.
SWEDE RISBERG
Here, look at this. Sixty-five years
since I worn this uniform, still fits
me like a glove.
RAY
You must keep in pretty good shape.
SWEDE RISBERG
(NODS)
I died in '75. So I ain't had a
cigarette in, what, thirteen years. You
don't smoke, do you?
RAY
No.
SHOELESS JOE
(APPROACHING)
Felt good out there today, huh, guys?
CONTINUED
35
62 CONTINUED 62
BUCK WEAVER
Fuckin' A!
PLAYERS
Weaver!
Buck realizes that once again he has cursed in front of
Karin.
WEAVER
Oh shit. I mean, sorry. I'm sorry.
Annie calls from the house.
ANNIE
Ray! Dinner!
SOME OF THE PLAYERS
(FALSETTO)
Ra--ay! Dinner!
They all laugh. Ray clearly loves being part of this
locker room-style comradery. Karin runs to the house.
SHOELESS JOE
Come on, fellas. Let's hit the
showers.
(TO RAY)
See you later, Ray.
RAY
Right. See you guys.
The players call their "good-byes" to Ray and head for the
door in the outfield fence. Ray watches them fade out as
they go through the door. Then he takes a moment to look
around him.
The baseball diamond set in the cornfield is quite
beautiful. Ray takes a satisfied breath, and walks back
toward his house. He is the very picture of contentment.
Then he hears The Voice.
THE VOICE
'Ease his pain.'
Ray stops short.
RAY
What?
No response.
CONTINUED
36
62 CONTINUED (2)
62
RAY
I'm sorry. I didn't understand.
THE VOICE
'Ease his pain.'
Ray stops short.
RAY
What?
No response.
RAY
I'm sorry. I didn't understand.
THE VOICE
'Ease his pain.'
RAY
Whose pain? What pain?
No response.
RAY
Why me?
But there is no response.
63 INT. HOUSE
63
Ray enters as Annie and Karin are putting dinner on the
table. Ray plops- into his chair at the head of the table.
ANNIE
Come on, wash up. We've got a PTA
meeting after dinner. They're talking
about banning books again. Really
subversive books like, Wizard of Oz,
Diary of Anne Frank ---
She notices Ray is strangely silent.
ANNIE
What happened to you?
PAY
The Voice is back.
ANNIE
Oh Lord, you don't have to build a
football field now, do you?
CONTINUED
37
63 CONTINUED"
63
RAY
(shakes head no)
He said...'Ease his pain.'
ANNIE
Ease whose pain?
RAY
I asked him. He wouldn't tell me.
ANNIE
Shoeless Joe's?
RAY
I don't think so.
ANNIE
One of the other players?
RAY
I don't think so.
ANNIE
This is a very non-specific voice you've
got out there, Ray, and he's really
starting to piss me off.
Ray nods as Annie serves the meal in silence.
CUT TO
64
EXT. IOWA CITY PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING - NIGHT 64
Parents stream in past the "PTA Meeting Tonite" sign. Ray
and Annie stand by the doorway, talking with Miss Corser,
Karin's teacher. (Ray is too distracted by his own
thoughts to pay this much attention.)
MISS CORSER
Karin has such a wonderful imagination.
Lately, she's been making up these
charming little stories about ghosts who
play baseball in a cornfield... wonderful
imagination.
ANNIE
(WITH A
MYSTERIOUS
SMILE)
Yes. She gets that from Ray.
Miss Corser smiles approvingly. Ray realizes both women
are looking at him, now, and he emerges from his thoughts.
CONTINUED
38
64 CONTINUED
64
RAY
Hmm?
Annie leads Ray inside.
65 INT. SCHOOL LIBRARY - NIGHT
65
Ray and Annie -- along with a hundred or so other grownups
-- are sitting in chairs too small for their grownup
backsides. Ray is still lost in his own thoughts, doodling
"Ease his pain" over and over again, while an Irate Mother
has the floor, holding up a novel.
IRATE MOTHER
.and I say smut and filth like this has
no place in our schools!
A large portion of the audience applauds. Annie whispers
snarlingly to Ray:
ANNIE
Fascist. I'd like to ease her pain.
Ray is still lost in thought.
PRINCIPAL
Mrs. Perkins, the book you are waving
about is hardly smut. It is considered
by many critics as the classic novel
about growing up in the 1960s.
ANNIE
(whispers to Ray)
I read it four times. Funniest book I
ever read.
IRATE MOTHER
It's pornography!
PRINCIPAL
The Supreme Court said its not. And
its author, Mr. Mann ---
ANGRY FATHER
-- is sick!
PRINCIPAL
Terence Mann is a Pulitzer prize-winner,
and was widely regarded as the finest
satirist of his time.
IRATE MOTHER
Well I think he's a pervert, and quite
probably a Communist, too!
CONTINUED
39
65 CONTINUED 65
The crowd murmurs its assent.
ANNIE
(TO RAY)
What planet are these people from?
Ray looks as if he is starting to realize something.
ANOTHER PARENT
(READING FROM
NOTES)
The se-called novels of Terence Mann
endorse promiscuity, godlessness, the
mongrelization of races, and disrespect
to high-ranking officers of the United
States Army. And that's why right-
thinking school boards all across the
country have been banning this guy's
shit since 1969.
RAY
(TO HIMSELF)
Terence Mann...
IRATE MOTHER
You know why he stopped writing books?
Because he masturbates!
ANNIE
(TO RAY)
I can't take this anymore.
RAY
(VERY INTERESTED)
,Terence Mann...
Annie stands and smiles disarmingly.
ANNIE
(VERY REASONABLY)
Excuse me, madam, but you're speaking
of something about which you don't know
squat. Terence Mann was a warm and
gentle voice of.reason during a time of
great madness. He coined the phrase
'Make Love, Not War.' When others were
chanting 'Burn, baby, burn,' he was
writing about love, and peace, and
understanding. He helped define an era.
And a generation. And he helped us
laugh at ourselves. I cherished every
one of his books, and I dearly wish he'd
write more. And if you had experienced
even a little bit of the Sixties, you
might feel the same way, too.
CONTINUED
40
65 CONTINUED (2)
IRATE MOTHER
I experienced the sixties.
ANNIE
No. I think you had two Fifties, and
moved right on to the Seventies.
IRATE MOTHER
Oh yeah? Well your husband plowed under
his corn and built a baseball field!
The crowd "oohs" and "aahs."
ANNIE
Now there's an intelligent response.
IRATE MOTHER
The weirdo.
Ray is so excited at his revelation that he really wants
to leave immediately. He tugs Annie's sleeve.
RAY
Annie...
But Annie mistakes her husband's intentions. She thinks
he is cautioning her not to get embroiled in trouble.
ANNIE
(TO RAY)
It's okay, I'll be cool.
(aloud, to the
PARENT)
At least he's not a book burner, you
Nazi cow!
Now the crowd erupts.
IRATE PARENT
You're both a bunch of weirdos!
Annie pulls herself up to her full 5'4" and thrusts an
angry finger at. the woman.
ANNIE
All right Beulah, you wanna step
outside?!? Huh?
The other woman takes a half-step backward. No one has
ever seen sweet Annie like this.
ANNIE
I got a better idea. Let's put it to
a vote. Come on! Who's for Eva Braun
(MORE)
CONTINUED
41
65 CONTINUED (3)
ANNIE (CONT'D)
here? Who wants to burn books? Who
wants to piss on the Constitution of the
United Sates? Anybody?
The majority who had sided with the book-banner wants to
vote for censorship, but under these terms just can't raise
their arms. Little Annie is on a roll, now.
ANNIE
All right. Now: who's for The Bill of
Rights? Come on...who thinks freedom's
a pretty good thing? Let's see those
hands.
Some people start raising their hands.
ANNIE
Who thinks we have to stand up to the
kind of censorship they have in Russia?
Reluctantly, just about everyone raises their hands. Annie
is thrilled.
ANNIE
There you go. All right, America! I'm
proud of you. I mean it. You're
beautiful!
RAY
(RISING)
Annie, we gotta go.
ANNIE
(to the crowd)
We gotta go.
Ray pulls her from the room. Each is proud as hell, each
for a different reason.
66 EXT. SCHOOL - NIGHT
66
as they burst out, bubbling over with their enthusiasm.
ANNIE
Oh Ray, was that great, or what? it was
like the Sixties again.
RAY
I figured it out.
ANNIE
(RELIVING IT)
'Step outside, you Nazi cow.' Ha-ha!
CONTINUED
42
66 - - CONTINUED
66
RAY
I know whose pain I'm supposed to ease.
ANNIE
(STOPPING SHORT)
What?
RAY
I know whose pain I'm supposed to ease.
ANNIE
Ray, I just halted the spread of
neo-facism in America, and you're
talking about ---
RAY
Terence Mann.
ANNIE
What about him?
RAY
That's whose pain.
ANNIE
How do you know that?
RAY
I don't know. I just know. I was right
about building the field, wasn't I?
ANNIE
What's his pain?
RAY
I don't know.
ANNIE
Then how are you supposed to ease it?
RAY
I don't know.
None of this questioning has dampened Ray's pride and
excitement. Annie shakes her head.
ANNIE
Ray...
RAY
Annie.
CONTINUED
43
66 CONTINUED (2)
66
ANNIE
(tries to put
THIS GENTLY)
He's my favorite writer too,
but...what's Terence Mann got to do with
baseball?
Ray's smile freezes. Then disappears. He hasn't a clue.
CUT TO
67 INT. UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARY - DAY 67
A montage of Ray at the library: checking indices, reading
old magazines, finding newspaper interviews on microfilm,
s couring old anthologies, and taking copious notes.
Some of the articles include: "Where is Terence Mann Now
That We Really Need Him?". ."20 Rumors About America's
Greatest Living Ex-Writer" ... and , "Terence Mann: Still
Ignoring Us After All These Years ". The photographs show
Mann to be a large black man with gentle eyes.
RAY (V.O.)
Annie, it's incredible.
68 EXT. LIBRARY
6 8
Ray and Annie run down the steps to the street for their
car, Ray's words racing as fast as his feet.
RAY
By the early Seventies, the guy decides
people have become either too extremist
or too apathetic to listen to him. So
he stops writing books. He starts
writing poetry. About whales and stuff.
Then, he starts fooling around with a
home computer, and gets hooked. Know
what he does now?
Annie shakes her head no.
RAY
He writes software for interactive
children's videos. They teach kids how
to resolve conflicts peacefully. What
an amazing guy..
ANNIE
Right. So what's it got to do with
baseball?
CONTINUED
44
68 CONTINUED
68
RAY
In the April 1962 issue of Jet Magazine,
there's a story of his called 'This Is
Not A Pipe.'
Annie laughs at that. Ray is so excited, he laughs too.
RAY
It's not his best work, but the hero of
the story, a character that Mann created
twenty-six years ago, is named John
Kinsella. My father.
She stops short.
ANNIE
-Wow.
He gives her a "See? What'd I tell you?" look.
ANNIE
What can I say... Big wow, but..what's
it got to do with baseball?
They are standing by their car.
RAY
You drive.
69 INT. CAR
69
Annie drives as Ray excitedly consults his notes.
RAY
Okay. The last interview-he ever gave
was in 1973. Guess what it's about.
ANNIE
Mmm. Some kind of team sport?
RAY
Annie, he was a baseball fanatic!
Listen to this:
He finds a page and reads from it:
RAY
'As a child, my earliest recurring dream
was to play at Ebbets Field with Jackie
Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Of
course, it never happened, and the
Dodgers left Brooklyn, and they torn
down Ebbets Field. But even now, I
still dream that dream.'
CONTINUED
45
69 CONTINUED
69
ANNIE
That's sad...
70 EXT. RAY AND ANNIE'S HOUSE - DAY 70
They have arrived home and are walking into the house. He
is still spouting things to her his research has uncovered.
RAY
The man wrote the best books of his
generation, he was a pioneer in the
civil rights and anti-war movements, he
made the cover of Newsweek, he knew
everybody, he did everyting...he helped
shape his time. He hung out with the
Beatles! But in the end, it wasn't
enough. What he missed ...was'baseball.
Annie takes a look at Ray's handful of Xeroxes.
ANNIE
Oh my God!
RAY
What.
ANNIE
(SPOOKILY)
As a small boy, he had a bat named
'Rosebud.'
Ray disapprovingly grabs the Xeroxes back.from her.
ANNIE
Sorry.
RAY
(CONTINUES
READING)
He hasn't been to a live baseball game
since 1958.
ANNIE
So to ease his pain, you have to take
him to a ball game?
RAY
Yes.
71 INT. HOUSE 71
as they enter and put away their things.
CONTINUED
46
71 CONTINUED 71
ANNIE
Ray, this is nuttier than building the
field.
RAY
No it's not. It's pretty weird, I grant
you, but building the field was weirder.
Five, ten percent weirder.
ANNIE
I'm sorry, pal, but I have to nip this
one in the bud. We are having moderate
to heavy financial difficulties here.
You cannot take off for Boston while
you're going broke in Iowa.
RAY
Annie, this is really new territory for
both of us, I know, but we're dealing
with primal forces of nature, here.
When primal forces of nature tell you
to do something, the prudent thing is
not to quibble over details and ---
ANNIE
(starting to get
PISSED)
But why do you have to go? Why can't
the voice send someone else? What's
wrong with Shirley MacLaine, she too
busy? What does this have to do with
you???
Ray hears her anger and sits her down.
RAY
That's what I need to find out.
ANNIE
Ray, we're behind on the mortgage. That
field ate up our savings. We could lose
the farm.
RAY
I won't even stay in motels. I'll sleep
in the car, and I'll beg for food.
ANNIE
No. This is too much.- I understand
your need to prove to the world you're
not turning into your father, but you've
done it! You believed in the magic, and
it came true. Isn't that enough?
CONTINUED
47
71 CONTINUED (2) 71
RAY
Annie, it's more than that. I know this-
is nuts, but there's another reason I'm
supposed to do it. I feel it. I feel
it as strongly as I've ever felt
anything in my life. There's a reason.
ANNIE
What. Just tell me what it is.
RAY
I think something's going to happen at
the game. I don't know what,
but...there's something at Fenway Park
in Boston, and I have to be there with
Terence Mann to find it.
Something he just said changes Annie's mood.
ANNIE
Fenway Park... Is that the one with the
big green wall in left field?
RAY
Yeah.
ANNIE
I dreamt last night you were at Fenway.
RAY
Uh, was I sitting on the first base
side?
ANNIE
Yes...
RAY
About the fifth row?
ANNIE
(nods,
OPEN-MOUTHED)
You were keeping score and eating
RAY
-- a hot dog. I had the same dream.
ANNIE
I'll help you pack.
CUT TO
48
72 INT. BEDROOM 72-
Ray is throwing clothes into a suitcase as fast as he can.
Annie reads from a road map she has marked for him.
ANNIE
.you take that to 93, and then it gets
all squiggly, and after that you're on
your own. How are you going to find
him, anyway? He won't exactly be in the
phone book, you know.
RAY
The article says he has a storefront on
Harvard Street next to some place that
sells Kosher food. Shouldn't be too
hard to find. I don't need a tie, do
I?
ANNIE
No, dear. Not for a kidnapping.
73 EXT. HOUSE 73
Ray has packed the car and is getting ready to leave.
RAY
You'll be okay, right?
ANNIE
I'll try to sell the combine. We sure
don't need it anymore.
Karin runs up, grabs Ray behind each ear and hugs and
kisses him.
RAY
So long Tiger.
He get into the car and looks up at Annie.
RAY
I'll call you every night. If the team
shows up while I'm gone, just tell
them...
(shakes his head)
On second thought, stay away from them.
Those guys haven't been near a woman
since 1922.
ANNIE
Ray, they're not going to make a pass
at me. They're'ghosts.
RAY
They're jocks. Keep away from them.
CONTINUED
49
7 3 CONTINUED 73
She laughs, kisses him, and watches him drive off.
CUT TO
74 ON THE ROAD 74
Ray's brave little Datsun chugs along the interstate
between eighteen-wheelers, busses, gasoline tankers,
auto-transport trucks, and other monsters.
75 TRAVELING MONTAGE 75
Driving...gas stations...boring roadside restaurants...
getting lost...looking at the map...signs that announce the
"Entering" and "Leaving" of various states...days turning
to nights and back again... .Finally, the green hills of
Massachusetts.
CUT TO
76 BOSTON - DAY 76
He emerges from a tunnel and enters traffic, the likes of
which he has not seen in a very long time. On one side of
the expressway there are sweaty factories, and on the
other, old wood-frame apartment buildings with advertising
for long-forgotten products painted on the sides. Lunatic
drivers abound. We are not in Iowa anymore.
77 INT.-RAY'S CAR 77
He rehearses as he drives.
RAY
Hi, I'm Ray Kinsella. I'm really a big
fan of...
(DIFFERENT)
How do you, Mr. Mann, I have to take you
to a baseball game.
(SHAKES HEAD)
All right, put your hands up and get in
the trunk!
(FACETIOUSLY)
Good.
78 HARVARD STREET - BROOKLINE - DAY 78
Ray drives slowly, looking for a store that sells Kosher
food. But in this old newish neighborhood, there are
dozens: butcher shops, delis, bakeries, groceries.
50
79- INT. KOSHER BUTCHER SHOP 79
Ray is asking the spritely Jewish Butcher for directions.
RAY
He lives right around here. Do you know
him? I'm a friend of his.
The Butcher just stares back, with suspicion.
RAY
He's sort of a tall, black man.
BUTCHER
If you was much of a friend, he'd of
give you the directions himself.
Ray nods. He knows this is useless.
RAY
That's a good point. Thank you.
Ray exits.
CUT TO
80 ON THE STREET 80
Ray has stopped an Ancient Jewish Woman on the street. She
looks from Ray's Iowa license plate to Ray's face.
ANCIENT WOMAN
I don't know where he lives.
But by her raised eyebrows and the tone of her voice, it
is clear that if she did know -- which she probably does
-- she certainly wouldn't tell him.
CUT TO
81 GAS STATION 81
Ray has pulled his car to the edge of the gas station --
he is not buying gas -- and slips a five dollar bill to the
ruddy-faced, teenaged Irish Pump Jockey.
PUMP JOCKEY
Two blocks down. Right hand side.
First store that don't have a chicken
in the window, is his.
CUT TO
51
82 EXT. HARVARD STREET - DAY
82
In between a deli and a Kosher butcher shop, Ray finds a
storefront with blacked-out windows. He enters an open
hallway in which he sees the door to the storefront, as
well as stairs to the apartments above it.
There are half-a-dozen mail boxes on the wall. Ray checks
the names. He smiles.
83 INSERT- MAILBOXES
83
All but one have immigrant names. The first one reads:
#1: TIE-DYED SOFTWARE.
84 RAY
84
Ray turns to the storefront door. Instead of a buzzer
there is a long wire with a weight on its end hanging from
a hole at the top of the door. Next to the wire is a
handwritten note taped to the door, which reads: "You
better have a goddamn good reason for ringing this bell."
Ray laughs. This guy is great. He pulls on the wire. On
the other side of the door, a bell rings.
Ray has to struggle to control his nervousness. He takes
a breath. He hears footsteps inside, approaching the door.
He cannot help but smile with delight at the thought of
meeting one of his cultural heroes.
The door opens. Terence Mann is menacingly huge. He
glares at Ray and roars:
MANN
Who the fuck are you???-
Ray is momentarily taken aback, but he figures maybe the
guy is joking, so he just smiles and plunges ahead.
RAY
Sir, my name is Ray Kinsella, and it's
a great pleasure 'Co finally ---
The door slams in his face. It takes Ray a few seconds to
realize the interview is over.
He rings the bell again. The door opens. Mann°s large
frame fills it.
MANN
We got a learning disability here?
CONTINUED
52
84 CONTINUED
84
RAY
(TALKS FAST)
Mr. Mann, I've come 1500 miles to see
you at the risk of losing my home and
alienating my wife. If I could just
have a minute. Please.
MANN
Look. I can't tell you the secret of
life, and I don't have any answers for
you. I don't give interviews, I am no
longer a public figure, I just want to
be left alone. So fuck off.
RAY
Just one minute. I'm begging you.
Mann looks him over. Then he sighs.
MANN
One minute.
Mann turns and enters the storefront. Ray follows.
85 INT. MANN'S STOREFRONT
It is hardly fashionable, but it's roomy and comfortable.
There are tables stacked high with mailing envelopes and
a postage scale. A few workbenches have software and
spread sheets strewn across them. In the back are a couple
of personal computers.
On a side wall there are book jackets and newspaper photos
in cheap frames: pictures of Mann with Martin Luther
King...with Bob Dylan...with Timothy Leary...rann being
arrested at some demonstration.. .Mann at Woodstock...
Mann's gruff voice pulls Ray's attention away from these
relics.
MANN
Your minute ain't getting bigger.
RAY
Okay. I understand your desire for
privacy, and i wouldn't dream of
intruding if this weren't extremely
important.
MANN
Oh God. I don't do causes anymore.
CONTINUED
53
85 -CONTINUED
85
RAY
This isn't a cause. I don't need money,
or an endorsement.
MANN
Refreshing.
RAY
You once wrote: 'There comes a time
when all the cosmic tumblers have
clicked into place, and the universe
opens itself up for a few seconds, to
show you what is possible.'
MANN
Oh my God.
RAY
What.
MANN
You're from the Sixties!
RAY
Well, actually ---
MANN
Out! Out!
RAY
Just wait a second ---
Mann picks up an old-fashioned bug sprayer -- the kind with
a long arm that pumps in and out -- and starts spraying it
at Ray as if he were an unwanted insect.
MANN
Back to the Sixties! Back!
He is backing Ray out the door.
RAY
If you'd just ---
MANN
There's no place for you here in the
future! Get back while you still can!
He gets Ray just past the door and slams it shut.
Ray slams it open. He's pissed.
RAY
You've changed, you know that?
CONTINUED
54
85 CONTINUED (2) 85
Mann stops fuming and considers that. He sighs, sadly.
MANN
Yes. I suppose I have. How's this?
(smiles and makes
the peace sign)
'Peace, love, dope.'
(ROARS)
Now get the fuck out of here!!!
And he slams the door shut again. Ray is flabbergasted.
He is thinking furiously. Then he notices that in slamming
the door, the latch has not locked in place. He thinks,
makes up his mind, and quietly opens the door.
Mann has returned to work, his back to the door.
Ray enters the loft, his left hand in his jacket pocket.
When he is halfway across the loft, he clears his throat.
Mann spins around.
MANN
Now you've pissed me off.
RAY
Okay, hold it right there.
He juts his pocketed hand forward, as if he had a gun in
his jacket.
RAY
I was hoping I wouldn't have to do it
this way...
MANN
What the fuck is that?
RAY
It's a gun. What'd you think it is?
MANN
It's your finger.
RAY
No it's not. It's a gun.
MANN
Yeah? Let me see it.
RAY
Get out of here, I'm not going to show
you my gun.
Mann sighs, and stands.
CONTINUED
55
85 CONTINUED (3)
85
RAY
Now look. I'm not going to hurt you,
I just need you to go with me for a
little while, then -- what are you
doing?
Mann has found a crowbar among his tools, and is advancing
toward Ray.
MANN
I'm going to beat you with a crowbar
till you go away.
Understandably, this makes Ray nervous.
RAY
Whoa! Wait! You can't do that.
MANN
(STILL ADVANCING)
What, are there rules? There's no
rules.
Mann is almost to him, now, the crowbar raised above his
head.
RAY
You're a pacifist!
Mann stops. He thinks. He lowers the crowbar.
MANN
Shit.
Ray breathes a sigh of relief.
RAY
Thank you.
MANN
All right, are you kidnapping me?
What's the deal here?
RAY
I'm sorry. I was hoping I could-just
convince you to come with me.
MANN
Then you are kidnapping me.
RAY
I have to take you to a baseball game.
MANN
You what?
CONTINUED
56
- 85 CONTINUED (4) 85
RAY
Tonight's game. Red.Sox, Twins.
MANN
Why?
RAY
Something will happen there. I don't
know what, but we'll find out when it
does.
Mann now has no idea what to make of all this, so he just
looks Ray over for a few seconds.
RAY
My name is Ray Kinsella. You used my
father's name for a character in one of
your stories. John Kinsella.
MANN
You're seeing a team of psychiatrists,
aren't you?
RAY
(LAUGHS)
I don't blame you for thinking that, but
no, I'm not. I swear to God I'm the
least crazy person I've ever known.
MANN
Then why are you kidnapping me to a
baseball game?
RAY
I read an interview you gave a long time
ago about how you always dreamed of
playing at Ebbets Field, and how sad you
felt when they tore it down.
MANN
(shakes head no)
I never said that.
RAY
You didn't?
MANN
I don't even remember thinking it.
Now Ray is ndt sure what to do.
RAY
This whole. thing is so weird.
CONTINUED
57
85 CONTINUED (5)
85
MANN
Then why go through with it?
RAY
It's a long story...and I'll tell you
on the way. Please.
MANN
I'm not going to get rid of you, am I?
RAY
If you just come to this game with me,
I'll never bother you again. Not even
a Christmas card.
Mann picks up a hat,
.plops it on his head and heads out the
door.
CUT TO
86 CITY STREETS
86
Mann sits tensely beside Ray, who drives with his right
hand, while his left hand remains in his pocket,
substituting for a gun.
MANN
You do this often?
RAY
No. It's my first time. So be gentle.
Ray laughs nervously, and is embarrassed to see Mann not
sharing the humor.
RAY
You used to have a sense of humor.
MANN
Things used to be funny.
Ray pulls up at an intersection. He has to choose between
left and right. Behind him, cars are honking. Ray doesn't
have a clue which way to go. He sighs.
RAY
I'm sorry. This is really humiliating.
Which way is-Eenway?
Mann shakes his head, then tilts it to the left.
RAY
Thank you.
CONTINUED
58
86 CONTINUED
86
Ray makes the turn, and heads off down the street.
MANN
You're really inept at this, aren't you?
Ray grins sheepishly and nods. Mann laughs.
MANN
I mean you're like a total bumbler.
Ray chuckles his reluctant acceptance of the truth.
MANN
'Bozo the Kidnapper.
RAY
(no longer so
AMUSED)
Okay, okay...
After a few moments, Ray decidesto break the ice.
RAY
Can I ask you a question? Something
I've always wanted to know.
Mann nods. He's been asked this question a million times.
MANN
No, I never slept with her.
RAY
You never slept with who?
MANN
Whoever you were going to ask me about.
If I'd been with one-tenth the famous
women they said I was with, I'd be in
formaldehyde by now.
RAY
(INTERESTED)
You slept with a lot of famous women?
MANN
(SOURLY)
What's your question?
RAY
How'd you get a name like Terence?
Mann cannot believe that's the question.
MANN
Rastus was taken.
CONTINUED
59
86 CONTINUED (2)
86
Ray knows now to shut up. He returns his attention to his
driving, glances up to his rearview mirror, and sees
something that causes his eyes to widen in horror.
87 REAR-VIEW MIRROR
87
A Boston police car on his tail, red lights flashing.
RAY (O.S.)
Oh no.
88 INT. RAY'S CAR 88
Mann looks behind him, sees the police car, and turns back
to Ray. Ray wears a look of resignation as he pulls the
car over to the side of the road, and shuts off the
ignition. Mann just looks at him, and starts to chuckle.
MANN
Nice going, Boze.
RAY
Okay. I don't really have a gun. So
don't say anything to this guy, okay?
I swear to God there's a reason we're
supposed to be at this game.
Mann gives him a "Give me a break" look.
Ray sees the Policeman is getting out of his cruiser and
walking towards them. Ray is desperate.
RAY
If I get arrested, the press'll be all
over you, you'll have to appear in open
court, you'll be the lead story on
Entertainment Tonight, and your
picture'll be on the front page of every
tabloid in America.
The Policeman knocks on Ray's window. He is young,
fresh-scrubbed and earnest. Ray holds up one hand to him.
RAY
Just a second.
(-CO MANN)
'Terence-Mann Kidnapped... Also seen in
UFO with Elvis.'
Mann's eyes narrow. The cop knocks again, more
insistently. Ray rolls down-the window."
CONTINUED'
60
88 CONTINUED
88
RAY
Sorry.
POLICEMAN
License and registration.
Nervously, Ray complies. Mann turns his face toward the
passenger side window. Ray's mouth dries up. He has no
idea what Mann will do.
The Policeman scrutinizes the license, turns it over to
look for convictions, and checks Ray's face against the
felonlike photo. Then he looks at Mann.
POLICEMAN
And what's your name,-sir?
Mann keeps his face averted.
MANN
Terry.
POLICEMAN
Where is it that you and Raymond are
going, Terry?
RAY
Fenway Park! We're going to the ball
game.
MANN
(turns to cop)
Actually, Officer, I'm being kidnapped.
Discreetly, under his breath, Ray sings the "Entertainment
Tonight" theme song.
RAY
'Entertainment Tonight,
doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo...
Mann winces. The officer looks at him questioningly.
MANN,
What I mean by that is, I don't care
much for baseball, but Raymond insisted.
POLICEMAN
Yeah, I hate baseball.
(hands Ray back
HIS ID)
Your right taillight is out, Raymond.
I want you to get it fixed at the first
opportunity.
CONTINUED
61
88 CONTINUED (2)
88
RAY
Yes. I will. Thank you.
The Policeman walks away, and Ray heaves a sigh of relief.
RAY
'Terry?'
MANN
'Raymond?'
RAY
Ray. My...hostages call me Ray. Can
I call you Terry?
Sourly, Mann nods. Ray smiles and drives off.
RAY
And thank you.
MANN
I didn't do it just because I don't want
the publicity.
RAY
Then what else?
MANN
I envy you your craziness, Ray. It's
been years since I did something
completely crazy.
RAY
Well, you want to hear something really
crazy?
MANN
Do I have a choice?
RAY
Nope. I live on a farm in Iowa. One
day, out in the cornfield, I heard a
voice...
89 EXT. CAR
89
It glides through city traffic.
90 EXT. FENWAY PARK - DAY
90
Ray slides the Datsun into a parking place, and he and Mann
walk the short sleazy block to Fenway, and old-fashioned
center-city ballpark.
CONTINUED
62
90 CONTINUED 90
MANN
(SHAKING HIS
HEAD)
But can't you accept the probability
that it's all just a hallucination?
RAY
Annie and Karin see it, too.
They have reached the ticket window.
RAY
Two, field level, first base side.
The elderly Ticket Seller pulls out two tickets.
TICKET SELLER
Section seventeen. Twelve dollars.
Ray takes out his wallet and turns to Mann..
RAY
It's on me.
MANN
You're damn right it is.
Ray pays the man and receives the tickets.
TICKET SELLER
Game don't start for a while, but you
can go in, watch batting practice.
RAY
Great.
They enter the stadium.
91 INT. STADIUM 91
They walk through the indoor portion of the grandstand
toward their section.
RAY
So what do you do with yourself these
days?
MANN
I live. I work. I've learned to cook.
I take walks. I watch sunsets.
RAY
Don't you miss being... involved?
CONTINUED
63
91 CONTINUED 91
MANN
(SNORTS)
I was the East Coast distributor of
'involved.'. I ate it, drank it, and
breathed it. Then they killed Martin.
They killed Bobby. And then they
elected Tricky Dick. Twice. And now,
people like you think I must be
miserable that I'm not involved anymore.
Well, I've got news for you: I spent all
my misery years ago. I have no more
pain for any of you. I gave at the
office.
They approach the refreshment stand.
RAY
So...what do you want?
. MANN
I want them to stop looking to me for
answers. Begging me to speak again,
write again, be a leader. I want them
to start thinking for themselves. And
I want my privacy!
Ray looks slightly embarrassed.
RAY
No, I meant what do you want from...
Ray points to the hot dog vendor, as they have reached the
front of the line.
MANN
Oh.
(LAUGHS AT
HIMSELF)
A dog and a beer.
RAY
(to the vendor)
Two.
(TO MANN)
Okay, I agree, you should be entitled
to as much privacy as you wane. But why
stop writing?
MANN
I haven't published a word in seventeen
years and I still have to endure
assholes like you all the time. What
do you think it'd be like if I suddenly
came out with a new book?
CONTINUED
64
91 CONTINUED (2)
91
Ray nods. Mann is making sense.
MANN
They'd bleed me dry.
92 SECTION SEVENTEEN
92
Ray and Mann emerge into the sunlight and walk down the
aisle toward the field.
RAY
God, this place is so beautiful.
The grass is so green you can almost smell it. Looking
around the old ballpark, they see only about twenty or
thirty die-hard fans in the stands for batting practice;
a half-dozen players are grouped around the batting cage
as one player hits to several others in the field. A few
sportswriters and other civilians stand near the dugouts.
Ray and Mann stop at the first row, right behind the Red
Sox on-deck circle, lean on the railing and talk.
RAY
It could be 1912 out there, for all this
place has changed. Babe Ruth stood on
that very mound as a pitcher long before
anyone knew he could hit home runs.
Same mound.
MANN
Why are we here, Ray?
RAY
Something.. about the game.
CUT TO
93 THE GAME - NIGHT
93
The game is in progress. Ray and Mann are in their fifth
row seats. They do not speak.
At one point, Ray becomes suddenly and strangely aware that
something is about to happen. He looks at Mann who is just
watching the game. Then he looks at the scoreboard.
94 THE SCOREBOARD 94
Fenway Park has a sophisticated scoreboard that flashes
pictures of the batter and pitcher, and can show instant
replays of some of the action.
CONTINUED
65
94 CONTINUED
94
Right now, the display is replaced by an oddly glowing
message. The sounds of the stadium, the game, and the
crowd fade out.
There is only the message:
ARCHIBALD "MOONLIGHT" GRAHAM
Chisholm, Minn.
New York Giants
LIFETIME STATISTICS:
1 Game, 0 At Bats
The message does not just glow, it pulsates. It looks
almost otherworldly, phosphorescent; clearly unlike
anything ever seen before on a ballpark scoreboard.
95 RAY AND MANN
95
Ray looks around him. The sounds of the game return, and
from the unconcerned faces of the people near him, he
realizes that no one else can see the message. He opens
his program and starts writing it down. Mann notices this,
but cannot see what Ray is writing.
Then Ray hears The Voice.
THE VOICE
'Go the distance.'
RAY
Oh my God.
MANN
What's the matter?
RAY
Nothing.
MANN
You okay?
Ray sighs.
RAY
Yeah.
;THEN)
Whenever you wanttogo,wecan go.
CONTINUED
66
95 CONTINUED
95
MANN
What???
RAY
If you want to go, we can go.
Mann looks at Ray curiously, trying to read this new
attitude.
MANN
Then let's go.
Mann rises and heads up the aisle. Ray looks down at the
program -- at the handwritten legend of Moonlight Graham,
who played one game fifty-seven years ago, but did not get
to bat -- and follows Mann out of the ballpark.
CUT TO
96 THE RIDE BACK TO BOSTON 96
It is nighttime, and Mann drives. Ray slumps, dozing,
troubled. Mann looks curiously at Ray, but says nothing.
They ride in silence.
CUT TO
97 MANN'S STREET - NIGHT
97
The street is blue with moonlight as they park in front of
the storefront.
MANN
Where are you goingfrom here?
RAY
Home.
MANN
What is it you're not telling me?
RAY
(shakes head no)
I've taken up too much of your time.
Mann gets out of the car.
MANN
I wish I had your passion, Ray. However
misdirected it may be, it's still a
passion. I used to feel that way about
things, but...
CONTINUED
67
97 CONTINUED
97
Ray slides into the driver's seat.
MANN
You got another message, didn't you?
RAY
You'll think I'm crazy.
MANN
I already think you're crazy. What did
it say?
After a little thought, Ray smiles sadly.
RAY
It said 'The man's done enough. Leave
him alone.'
Ray puts the car in gear, makes a wide turn, and starts to
head back up the street. But he stops short when Mann's
form looks out of the darkness into the glare of the
headlights..
Ray does not know why Mann is blocking his path. Or why
he appears tense, almost frightened.
MANN
'Moonlight' Graham.
Ray's jaw drops.
RAY
You saw it.
MANN
Saw what?
RAY
New York Giants, 1922. He played one
game, never got to bat.
Mann looks spectrial in the high-contrast glare on the
headlights.
MANN.
What did I see, Ray?
RAY
Chisholm, Minnesota. We were the only
ones who saw it. Did you hear the
voice, too?
Mann glances at Ray, then looks away.
CONTINUED
68
97 CONTINUED (2) 97
RAY
It's all right to admit it. That's what
told me to find you.
No response.
RAY
Did you hear it too?
MANN
'Go the distance.'
RAY
Do you know what it means?
MANN
Yes.
RAY
What.
MANN
It means...we're going to Minnesota to
find Moonlight Graham.
RAY
(THRILLED)
We?
MANN
Yeah.
RAY
What do we do when we find him?
MANN
We'll know that when we find him.
Ray opens the passenger door of the Datsun and Mann jumps
in. Ray releases the brake and peels out, burning rubber.
The two men look happy as kids with bats over shoulders,
gloves dangling, on their way to a sandlot.
CUT TO
98 ON THE ROAD
98
Once on 1-90, they begin the long haul across the Great
Lakes states. Ray drives, Mann dozes in the reclined
passenger seat.
RAY (V.O.)
Annie, I'm really sorry, but I'm going
to be a few days longer.
CONTINUED
69
98 CONTINUED
98
ANNIE (V.0.)
(PHONE; FILTERED)
Oh, Ray...Is everything all right?
RAY (V.0.)
Everything's great, and'I'll tell you
all about it when I get back, but I'm
going to Minnesota now.
99 MORE ON THE ROAD 99
Now Mann drives, and Ray tries to sleep, his stockinged
feet propped up on the dash, occasionally sliding with a
thud against the steering column.
ANNIE (V.O.)
(PHONE; FILTERED)
I don't believe this. What's in
Minnesota?
RAY (V. 0.)
An old ballplayer. I'll explain when
I get home. How are things with you?
100 GAS STATION
100
Ray is using the pay phone on the wall of the office, while
the car is being gassed.
ANNIE (V.0.)
(PHONE; FILTERED)
Uh, fine.
RAY
Hey, guess what? Terence Mann is with
me. We're going to Minnesota together.
ANNIE (V.0.)
(PHONE; FILTERED)
Are you kidding me? Oh, Ray, that's
unbelievable!
RAY
I know. I gotta go. Hug Karin for me.
I love you.
ANNIE (V.O.)
(PHONE; FILTERED)
I love you too. You guys behave
yourselves. Hurry home.
CONTINUED
70
100 CONTINUED
100
Ray smiles and hangs up.
CUT TO
101 ANNIE'S KITCHEN
101
She hangs up, and loses her smile as she turns back to the
kitchen table, where her brother Mark sits with two men in
business suits.
MARK
Why didn't you tell him?
ANNIE
For the same reason I've never pissed
on your birthday cake.
MARK
Annie, you don't have a choice in the
matter.
Annie looks vertroubldye.
CUT TO
102 ON THE ROAD - MINNESOTA
-02 1
They are north of Duluth,andthelandscape hasgrown
harsher, the trees shorterandmore gnarled, thegrass
tougher and wirier.
After Virginia, Minnesota, all the land is scarred. Above
the town the mines sit like sand-colored bunkers in the
cliffs,- stern and silent.
Near Chisholm, the land is getting ever weirder. It looks
like a pasture rooted and rerooted by giant hogs. It has
been split and gutted; greenery has grown back, but at
weird and unnatural angles.
But as they swing into town; the highway divides and they
cross a beautiful and tranquil lake, so smooth and shiny
it might be a scene painted on a glass plate. A sign reads
WELCOME TO CHISHOLM.
103 CHISHOLM, MINNESOTA
103
Ray and Mann have parked on the main street next to a
corner phone booth. Ray is flipping through the thin phone
book attached to the booth by a chain.
CONTINUED
71
103 CONTINUED
103
RAY
Half a dozen Grahams...no Archibald, no
Moonlight.
MANN
Follow me.
CUT TO
104 EXT. CHISHOLM FREE PRESS
104
The local newspaper is located in a small storefront that
was probably once a confectioners or a dry-goods store.
105 INT. CHISHOLM FREE PRESS
105
Ray and Mann are talking with the paper's publisher, Veda
Ponikvar, a handsome woman in her sixties, with a sweet,
innocent smile, and eyeglasses hanging from a fine chain
around her neck.
MANN
We're trying to find an ex-baseball
player named Archibald Graham.
VEDA
You mean 'Doc' Graham.
RAY
No, I think his nickname was
'Moonlight.'
VEDA
Yes, that's Doctor Graham.
MANN
Doctor Graham.
This is interesting news to Ray and Mann.
VEDA
His baseball career never amounted to
much, so he went back to school. His
father was a doctor.
MANN
Do you know where we can find him?
RAY
It's nothing bad. We're not from the
IRS, or anything ---
CONTINUED
72
105 CONTINUED 105
VEDA
Doc Graham is dead. He died in 1972.
Ray and Mann look at each other, unsure of what this means
to their quest.
CUT TO
106 NEWSPAPER BACK ROOM 106
Ray and Mann sit at a table in the newspaper's back room,
the "morgue" file on Doc Graham -- a collection of
clippings, pictures, and the obituary -- strewn before
them.
Right now, their attention is on Veda, who has put her
glasses on, and is reading from an editorial.
VEDA
.'And there were times when children
could not afford eyeglasses or milk, or
clothing. Yet no child was ever denied
these essentials, because in the
background, there was always Doctor
Graham. Without any fanfare or
publicity, the glasses or the milk or
the ticket to the ball game found their
way into the child's pocket.'
MANN
You wrote that.
VEDA
The day he died.
MANN
You're a good writer.
The compliment is just right, and she smiles warmly.
VEDA
Excuse me.
She exits. Mann spreads out the clippings and shakes his
head.
MANN
Something's missing.
Ray is looking at a photo of Doc Graham as a man in his
late sixties.
CONTINUED
MANN
Half the towns in North America has a
Doc Graham. What makes this one so
special we have to come halfway across
the country to find him fifteen years
after he died? There's got to be more.
Veda enters with a piece of paper from a yellow legal pad.
VEDA
You might want to talk to some of these
people. They knew Doc pretty well.
Mann takes the list and looks it over.
CUT TO
107 INTERVIEW 07
Two old Codgers on a park bench.
FIRST CODGER
Oh, that man had an arm on him. One day
over at the ballpark, he said 'Lemme see
that ball', and one of the boys threw
him the ball, and he walked over behind
home plate, reared back, and fired that
ball over the left field fence.
SECOND CODGER
And he was at least fifty years old when
he did it.
FIRST CODGER
It was still rising when it disappeared.
108 INTERVIEW
A woman, an older Nurse.
NURSE
i went with him to make a housecall at
one of the camps. .mining camps. The
husband was sick, and they had no stove,
so they had no heat.
(MORE)
CONTINUED
74
108 CONTINUED
NURSE (CONT'D)
When we got back to Chisholm, Doc went
to the hardware store and bought a stove
for them and paid to have it delivered.
And I know that wasn't the only time he
did something like that.
109 COUNTRY KITCHEN RESTAURANT - DAY 109
Several tables have been pushed together, and Mann sits
surrounded by townspeople, mostly men past retirement age.
BALDING MAN
He didn't smoke or drink, .but he used
to chew up paper and spit it out
wherever he went. If you were around
Doc very long, you learned to duck.
MOUSTACHED MAN
He'd even chew up his prescription
slips, so sometimes we'd have to dig
into our pockets for a piece of paper
so Doc could write us prescriptions.
WHITE-HAIRED MAN
He always wore a black overcoat, even
in the summer, and it was always
flapping open, even in the winter and
it was fifty below. And he had white
hair, like me, and he always carried an
umbrella.
SMOKER
'Cept he was always, I mean always,
losing them. Stores 'round town would
just lean his umbrella somewhere near
the door, and if anybody asked, they'd
just say 'Oh, that's Doc's umbrella'.
MANN
What was the umbrella for?
WHITE-HAIRED MAN
Oh, I think it got to be a habit,
something to hang onto. But if you'd
ask him, he'd say it was to beat away
all his lady admirers.
This, as much as the other remembrances, brings warm
chuckles to the old men.
MANN
Tell me about his wife.
CONTINUED
75
109 CONTINUED
BALDING MAN
Alicia. She moved to South Carolina
after he passed. She passed a few years
later. She always wore blue. I bet you
didn't know that.
MANN
(SMILES)
No. I didn't.
110 MOTEL OFFICE - NIGHT
110
The woman Manager of the motel is having a'cup of coffee
with Ray.
MOTEL MANAGER
You know, everybody's talking about you
two. Our neighbors came over last night
and we just told Doc'Graham stories
until after midnight. I even wrote some
of them down.
She takes out a piece of paper.
RAY
That's very nice of you.
MOTEL MANAGER
Well, it's funny. It's like all these
memories we have of Doc had gone to
sleep and sunk way down inside us. But
once you started asking about him, and
started us talking about him, why they
swum back up to the surface again.
Ray smiles.
CUT TO
111 MOTEL ROOM
111
Ray and Mann are sitting in their beds, comparing their
notes.
MANN
No screwing, no drinking, no opium, no
illegitimate children. No-midnight
abortions, no shady finances.
Ray puts down his notes and picks up the Chicago Tribune.
RAY
You sound disappointed.
CONTINUED
76
111 CONTINUED
111
MANN
Shoeless Joe had a problem. That's why
he needed you. This guy doesn't need
us.
Suddenly, Ray straightens with a start.
RAY
Oh, My God.
Ray hurries over to Mann, offering the opened newspaper,
and points out an article to Mann. It is headlined:
TERENCE MANN MISSING.
MANN
Damn.
(READS)
'His son, who lives in New York City,
notified police after receiving no
answer to repeated telephone calls...'
Shit. I'd better call him.
He pulls the phone onto the bed and dials
MANN
What the hell do I tell him.
RAY
You want me to...?
He motions outside with his head.
MANN
Thanks.
Ray exits.
CUT TO
112 EXT. CHISHOLM RESIDENTIAL STREET - NIGHT 112
Ray walks by the old movie theatre, which sits at the edge
of a residential street. The Godfather is playing. He
nods at an elderly man who passes him on the street. He
passes a darkened house and notices there is a sign of some
kind in its unlit front window. He takes another two or
three steps before he has, to stop to take a better look at
the sign.
77
113 THE SIGN
113
It takes a second to make out the image in the dark, but
it is a head shot of Richard Nixon. Above, it says "Four
More Years". Below, it reads "Re-Elect The President".
114 RAY
1.14
is puzzled. He turns and looks at the theatre marquee.
115 THE THEATRE MARQUEE
115
Under the letters that spell out "The Godfather", are
smaller letters that read "Nominated for 10 Academy
Awards".
116 RAY
116
frowns. He says the word to himself.
RAY
Nominated?
Ray now looks at the car parked nearest to him.
117 THE CAR
: . 17
It is an old Mustang. The annual tag on the license plate
reads: 1972.
118 ?? RAY
118
LOOKS-AROUND
119 HIS POINT OF VIEW
119
All the cars on the street are pre-1972. And still walking
down the block away from him, is the elderly man Ray passed
moments earlier.
The man is about sixty-five years old, stooped a little,
but the body is still lithe, an athlete's body. He is
wearing a dark overcoat...
120 CLOSER POINT OF VIEW
120
.and he carries an umbrella.
78
121 RAY 121
The little hairs on the back of Ray's neck stand up. His
mouth is dry, and for a moment, he cannot speak. Then, he
calls to the man.
RAY
Doctor Graham?
Slowly, the man stops and turns back to face Ray. Ray
starts to trot to him.
ELDERLY MAN
Who's that?
RAY
My name is Ray Kinsella. I'm from Iowa.
Are you Moonlight Graham?
The old man narrows his bright eyes to see Ray more
clearly.
DOC GRAHAM
No one's called me 'Moonlight' Graham
for fifty years.
RAY
Well, I've come...
(SMILES TO
HIMSELF)
. a very long way to see you.
DOC GRAHAM
Funny. I couldn't sleep tonight.
Usually, I sleep like a baby. So I told
Alicia I was going to take a walk.
RAY
Mind if i join you? I'd like to talk
to you.
Doc nods and they start to walk.
DOC GRAHAM
Let's go to the high school. We can sit
in my office. What do. you want to talk
about?
RAY
Well, first of all, how'd you get to be
called 'Moonlight'?
DOC GRAHAM
'Cause of a night like this, long ago.
I'd just gotten to the minors, and I
went out to the ballpark.
(MORE)
CONTINUED
79
121 CONTINUED
DOC GRAHAM (Cont'd}
There's nothing as peaceful as a
ballpark at night. Like a church.
RAY
Yeah, I know what you mean.
DOC GRAHAM
Anyway, I fell asleep. Next morning,
they found me in the on-deck circle, all
curled up like a baby. Someone called
me 'Moonlight,' and it stuck.
122 EXT. HIGH SCHOOL 122
Doc fumbles out a key, and lets them in.
RAY
When you got to the majors, you played
only one inning of one game. What
happened in that inning?
123 INT. HIGH SCHOOL 123
They enter the hallway of the old school, the smell of
varnish and chalk almost palpable.
DOC GRAHAM
It was the last day of the season.
Bottom of the eighth, and we were way
ahead. I'd been up with the club for
most of a month, but hadn't seen any
action. Just then old John McGraw
points a bony finger at me and says
'Right field.' Well sir, I jumped up
like I was sitting on a spring, grabbed
my glove, and ran out onto the field.
They reach a varnished door with an opaque glass inset, and
enter. Doc Graham's office.
124 INT.,DOC GRAHAM'S OFFICE 124
Doc seats himself behind a cluttered desk, and motions Ray
to the black-leather sofa a few feet away.
RAY
Did you get to make a play?
Doc takes a sheet of paper off his desk, expertly rips an
inch or so off the corner with his teeth, and begins
chewing.
CONTINUED
80
124 CONTINUED 124
DOC GRAHAM
Nope. They never hit the ball out of
the infield.
Ray chuckles, but then flinches as Doc shoots his little
spitball towards him.
DOC GRAHAM
Heads up.
It hits the back of the sofa a few feet from Ray, and hangs
there, like a white fly.
RAY
I was warned about you.
DOC GRAHAM
Anyway, one inning later the game was
over, and so was I.
RAY
And what was that like?
DOC GRAHAM
It was like coming this close to your
dreams, and then watching them brush
past you like a stranger in a crowd.
Ray nods, and a look of understanding begins to appear on
his face. He looks out the window, focused on faraway.
DOC GRAHAM
Except, at the time, you don't think
much of it. Hardly anybody recognizes
the most significant moment of their
life when they're happening. Back then
I just figured there'd be plenty more
days. I didn't know that would be the
only one.
Doc Graham notices that Ray is looking very serious.
DOC GRAHAM
Now, let me ask you a question, Ray
Kinsella. What makes that half-inning
so interesting that you come all the way
from Iowa to ask me about it sixty-five
years later?
Ray chooses his words carefully.
CONTINUED
81
124 CONTINUED (2) 124
RAY
I didn't really know till just now. But
I think it's to ask you if you could do
anything you wanted to...if you could
have a wish...
DOC GRAHAM
Ahh...
Doc nods. his understanding. He smiles wryly, takes a new
piece of paper, and bites off a little section.
DOC GRAHAM
And are you the kind of man who could
grant me that wish?
RAY
I don't know. I'm just asking...
Doc leans his left elbow on the desk and rubs his forehead
thoughtfully with a palm, as if it were an eraser that
could erase the years and take him back to 1929 and the
Polo Grounds in New York.
DOC GRAHAM
I never got to bat in the major leagues.
I'd have liked the chance -- just once
-- to stare down a big league pitcher.
Stare him down and then just as he goes
into the windup -- wink! Make him
wonder if I know something he doesn't.
That's what I wish for. The chance to
squint my eyes when the sky is so blue
it hurts to look at it, and to feel the
'tingle that runs up your arms when you
connect dead-on. The chance to run the
bases, stretch a double to a triple, and
flop race-first into third, wrapping my
arm around the bag. That's my wish, Ray
Kinsella... that's my wish.
Ray begins to smile. Graham is staring intently at him.
DOC GRAHAM
Is there enough magic floating around
in the night out there for you to make
that wish come true?
RAY
What would you do if I said 'Yes'?
DOC GRAHAM
I think I might actually believe you.
CONTINUED
82
124 CONTINUED (3)
RAY
There is a place where things like that
happen. And if you want to go there,
I can take you.
Doc's eyes start to glisten, and he offers an embarrassed
smile as he wipes away a tear.
DOC GRAHAM
If it means leaving Chisholm...
He shakes his head.no. Ray is surprised.
RAY
I understand, but I think you're
supposed to come with us.
DOC GRAHAM
This is my most special place in the
world, Ray. Once a place touches you
like this, the wind never blows so cold
again. You feel for it like it was your
child. I can't leave here.
Ray cannot believe the man won't leave Chisholm for his
dream.
RAY
But your wish...
DOC GRAHAM
It'll stay one. I was born here, lived
here, and I'll die here. That's okay.
I'll have no regrets.
RAY
But sixty-five years ago -- for five
minutes -- you came this close.
(holds up two
FINGERS)
It would kill some men to get that close
to their dream and never touch it.
They'd consider it a tragedy.
DOC GRAHAM
Son...if I'd only gotten to be a doctor
for five minutes. .now that would have
been a tragedy.
Those words fill up the room, and Ray sinks back against
the couch.
CONTINUED
83
124 CONTINUED (4)
124
DOC GRAHAM
Well, I'd better get home before Alicia
starts to thinking I've got a
girlfriend.
And Doc Graham smiles at him.
RAY (V.0.)
And he smiled.
CUT TO
125 INT. MOTEL ROOM - NIGHT 125
It is later that same night, and Ray has been recounting
his experience with Doc Graham to Mann, who appears quietly
troubled.
RAY
And then I figured maybe we're not
supposed to take him with us. So now
I don't know why the hell we were
supposed to come here.
MANN
Maybe it was to find out if one inning
can change the world.
RAY
Did it?
MANN
It did for these people. If he'd gotten
a hit, he might've stayed there.
(THEN)
Your wife called before. She wants you
to call her tonight.
CUT TO
126 INT.RAY AND ANNIE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 126
Annie is asleep. The phone rings, and the speed with which
she picks it up suggests that her anxiety to get this phone
call prevented her from sleeping very deeply.
CONTINUED
84
126 CONTINUED 126
ANNIE
Ray.
(PAUSE)
I asked the bank if we could miss a
payment or two, and they told me they'd
just sold the note on the farm to Mark
and his partners. So they own the
paper now, and he says if we don't sell
to them, they'll foreclose. Ray, we
don't have the money.
127 INT. MOTEL ROOM - NIGHT 127
Ray holds the phone, pained.
RAY
Okay, look. They can't foreclose for
thirty days, or something like that.
I've got to take Terry back to Boston
first, so it'll be ---
MANN
No.
Ray looks over at Mann.
MANN
I'm going to Iowa with you.
RAY
We're coming home.-
CUT TO
128 ON THE ROAD - MORNING 128
Ray drives with purpose and speed. Mann looks relaxed.
MANN
Hell, I couldn't quit now. I've got
see this ballpark.
RAY
Not everybody can see it. You might
not.
MANN
I'll give it a try.
As they turn onto the highway near the lake, a Teenager
with a dufflebag appears on the side of the road, his arm
raised in. a hitchhiker's stance. Ray pulls the car over
to the side of the road.
CONTINUED
85
---128 - - - CONTINUED
128
RAY
I need all the karma I can get right
now.
The car stops, and the Teenager runs for it. He tosses his
dufflebag in the backseat and squeezes in after it.
TEENAGER
Thanks. You're the first car by. I
didn't expect to get a lift so soon.
Ray starts the car back onto the highway.
RAY
How far are you going?
TEENAGER
How far are you going?
RAY
Iowa.
TEENAGER
Well, if it's okay with you, I'll ride
along for a while. I play baseball.
Ray and Mann exchange brief smiles.
TEENAGER
I'm looking for a place to play, and I
heard that all through the Midwest,
towns have teams, and in some places
they'll find you a day job so you can
play ball nights and weekends.
RAY
This is your lucky day, kid. We're
going someplace kind of like that.
TEENAGER
All right!
RAY
I'm Ray Kinsella, this is Terry Mann.
TEENAGER
Hi. I'm Archie Graham.
Mann and Ray just look at each other.
And the little Datsun heads off down the highway.
CUT TO
86
129 INT. CAR - NIGHT
Archie sleeps in the backseat.
MANN
I'm dying to ask him if he has a
nickname.
RAY
Don't. He didn't get it till he was in
the minors.
MANN
Maybe we can give it to him.
RAY
Funny, the way he described towns,
finding you a job so you can play on
their team...they haven't done that for
years. My Dad did that for a while.
But that was in the Twenties.
MANN
What happened to your father?
RAY
He never made it as ball player, so he
tried to get his son to make it for him.
By the time I was ten, playing baseball
got to be like eating vegetables or
taking out the garbage, so when I was
fourteen, I started to refuse. Can you
believe that? An American boy refusing
to have a catch with his father.
MANN
Why at fourteen?
RAY
That's when I read The Boat Rocker, by
Terence Mann.
MANN
Oh God.
RAY
I never played catch with him again.
MANN
(SERIOUSLY)
See, that's the kind of crap people are
always trying to lay on me. It's not
my fault you wouldn't play catch with
your father!
CONTINUED
87
129 CONTINUED
129
RAY
I know. Anyway, when I was seventeen,
we had a big fight, I packed my things,
said something awful, and left. After
a while I wanted to come home, but I
didn't know how. I made it back for the
funeral.
MANN
What was the awful thing you said?
RAY
I said I could never respect a man whose
hero was a criminal.
MANN
Who was his hero?
RAY
Shoeless Joe Jackson.
Mann considers this all very carefully.
MANN
You knew he wasn't a criminal.
Ray nods.
MANN
Then why'd you say it?
RAY
I was seventeen.
Mann nods with growing understanding.
MANN
So this is your penance.
RAY
I know. I can't bring my father
back..
MANN
.so the least you can do is bring back
his hero.
Ray nods.
MANN
Well now we know what everybody's
purpose here is...except mine.
Ray looks at him. He hadn't thought of that. After a few
moments Ray points to something in the distance.
88
130 POINT OF VIEW
130
Something down the road, in the midst of all this flat
farmland, is glowing in the night.
It is an illuminated baseball diamond in a cornfield.
131 RAY AND ANNIE'S FARM - NIGHT
Ray turns the Datsun into the long driveway and, with a
rumble, crosses the metal cattle guard that keeps livestock
from escaping to the roadway.
He eases the car to a stop in front of the house, and as
the three men unfold themselves from the car, Karin bolts
from the back door of the house, a blur of white blouse and
pink pedal pushers. She flings herself into Ray's arms,
and hugs his neck in unrestrained joy.
KARIN
Daddy!
Then Annie appears too. They kiss while Mann and Archie
wait to be introduced. Finally, Mann clears his throat.
RAY
( (BEAMING)
Karin, Annie... This is Terence Mann
MANN
Terry.
KARIN
Hiya Terry.
Annie steps forward, wining some curls from her eyes with
ahand that has recently been immersed in flour'. She
smiles, wipes the hand on the thigh of her jeans, and
shakes his hand.
ANNIE
Welcome.
MANN
Thank you.
RAY
And this young fellow is Moon -- uh,
Archie Graham.
Karin and Annie shake his hand.
RAY
He's come to practice with the team.
CONTINUED
89
131 CONTINUED
131
ANNIE
He'll be able to do more than just
practice.
RAY
What does that mean?
ANNIE
Come on.
They walk towards the field.
ANNIE
Let's enjoy this place while we still
have it.
132 EXT. BASEBALL FIELD - NIGHT
132
Ray and Annie walk silently with their arms around each
other as they lead Mann, Archie and Karin to the bleachers.
Mann's eyes widen as several of the players shout greetings
to Ray.
SHOELESS JOE
Hi, Ray, welcome back.
RAY
Thanks, Joe. Good to see you.
MANN
Oh my Lord.
RAY
What.
MANN
That's Shoeless Joe Jackson!
RAY
Well of course it is.
MANN
I've seen pictures. Those are the White
Sox!
RAY
You mean you still didn't believe me?
MANN
I thought I did, but... Oh my Lord.
They have reached the foul line where Shoeless Joe waits
for them.
CONTINUED
90
132 CONTINUED
1321
RAY
Terry, I'd like you to meet Joe Jackson.
Joe, this is Terry Mann.
Mann and Jackson shake hands.
MANN
It's a pleasure to meet you.
SHOELESS JOE
Pleasure's mine.
(TO RAY)
Ray, I hope you don't mind, but we got
tired of just having practices, so we
brought another team out with us so we
could have some real games.
He points to the visitors' bench, and, indeed, there are
a dozen or so more old-time baseball players in old-time
baseball uniforms.
RAY
I don't mind. Where'd they come from?
SHOELESS JOE
(CHUCKLES)
Where'd we come from. Man, you wouldn't
believe how many guys wanted to play
here. We had to beat 'em off with a
stick.
ARCHIE
(FROM THE
BLEACHERS)
Hey, that's Mel Ott. And Carl Hubbell.
Those are the New York Giants!
SHOELESS JOE
With a couple of Cardinals and A's
thrown in for good measure. Ty Cobb
wanted to play, but none of us could
stand the sonofabitch when we were
alive, so we told him to stuff it.
(TO ARCHIE)
Hey, are you Graham?
ARCHIE
Yes sir.
Ray and Mann are astonished that Shoeless Joe knows who
Archie is.
CONTINUED
91
132 CONTINUED (2)
132
SHOELESS JOE
What the hell you doing on the
sidelines? You came here to play ball,
didn't you?
ARCHIE
Yes sir.
SHOELESS JOE
Go warm up!
ARCHIE
(THRILLED)
Yes sir!
Archie quickly scampers down the bleachers, onto the field,
shakes Joe's hand, and runs to the dugout.
MANN
Unbelievable.
RAY
It's more than that. It's perfect.
CUT TO
133 THE GAME
133
The White Sox are in the field, the Giants at bat. A Giant
hitter bunts, and the runner on second takes third despite
a close throw.
Mann, Ray, Karin and Annie are in the stands, Mann keeping
score.
MANN
Does he get a hit for that?
RAY
Karin?
KARIN
Um, no. The batter was trying to
sacrifice.
RAY
So how do you score it?
KARIN
Fielder's choice?
RAY
Very good.
CONTINUED
92
133 CONTINUED
133
Mann is impressed. He lifts Karin up from her seat on the
row below them, and places her next to him to help him.
MANN
You better sit here.
Karin beams. Ray taps Mann and points to the plate.
RAY
Look.
Archie Graham -- now wearing a Giant's uniform -- drops one
of the two bats he has been swinging in the on-deck circle,
and advances on the plate, slashing the air with a
brand-new bat the color of vanilla ice cream. He plants
himself in the batter's b.ox, then cocks the bat, the top
end of it trembling as if he were stirring something, and
waits for the pitch.'
The pitcher looks in for his signs. Archie stares back.
As the pitcher goes into his windup, Archie winks at him.
There is a moment of confusion and then anger on the
pitcher's face, and when the ball speeds to the plate it
is aimed right at Archie's head. He dives out of the way
and hits the dirt hard. The Catcher chuckles through his
mask.
CATCHER
Good thing for you that wasn't his
fastball.
Archie digs in again at the plate, but backs up just a
little. Now his look to the pitcher is one of
determination.
ARCHIE
Come on, let's see your fastball.
The pitcher smiles, winds up and throws. Very fast. And
right at Archie's chin. Again, he has to dive out of the
way. This time, however, he gets right up and immediately
appeals to the Umpire.
ARCHIE °
Hey, ump, how about a warning?
UMPIRE
Sure. Watch out-you don't get killed.
Both benches laugh at that. Archie holds up his hands to
call time, and steps out of the batter's box. The on-deck
batter, Mel Ott, comes over.
CONTINUED
93
133 CONTINUED (2)
133
OTT
Okay, kid, first two were high and
tight, where do you think the next one's
going to be?
ARCHIE
Either-low and away, or in my ear.
OTT
He don't want to load the bases. Look
for low and away.
Archie nods and starts to walk back to the plate.
OTT
But watch out for 'in your ear.'
Archie takes his place in the batter's box again. He still
looks determined, but a little less cocky. The next pitch
is a curve that looks as if it's heading right for him.
But he holds his ground, and when the ball breaks down and
away, he steps in, snaps the bat forward, and hits it.
The ball sails in a high arc to right center. The center
fielder backs up a couple of steps, lopes a few strides to
his left, and makes the catch.
Archie is out, but the runner on third tags up and scores.
As Archie curls across the diamond from the first baseline
to the Giants' bench, he hears cheering.
In the stands, Ray, Annie, Karin and Mann are giving him
a standing ovation. In return, he touches the brim of his
cap, a ballplayer's cool response to adulation.
MANN
(LAUGHS)
•Look at that. Mr. Cool.
But when Archie gets to the bench, he can't contain himself
anymore. He leaps up and lets out a cheer of pure joy.
DISSOLVE TO
134 THE FIELD - LATER 134
The game has ended, and players are rough-housing and
joking as they slowly make their way to the door in the
outfield fence. Ray and Mann are talking to some of the
players over the fence.
MANN
Where do you go when you walk through
that door? What do you do?
CONTINUED
94
134 CONTINUED
CHICK GANDIL
We sleep.
HAPPY FELSCH
And wait.
SHOELESS JOE
We dream.
RAY
You can't leave the field any other way,
can you?
SHOELESS JOE
Not if we want to come back.
RAY
I'd love to go with you sometime.
The silence that follows is long and ominous.
RAY
I'd like to see what's out there.
There is still no response.
RAY
I'll take that as a no for now.
He spots Archie jogging off the field.
RAY
Hey, slugger, congratulations!
Archie jogs over.
ARCHIE
Thanks. I can't stop shaking I'm so
happy. 'Course, I would've liked a base
hit...
KARIN
But you got a RBI!
ARCHIE
I sure did, didn't I?
SHOELESS JOE
(YELLS BACK)
A rookie's luck!
They all laugh at that.
RAY
Well come on, this calls for a drink.
CONTINUED
95
134 CONTINUED (2)
134
Archie hesitates.
ARCHIE
I can't. I'm...
He motions with his head toward the other players
disappearing through the outfield door. Ray nods
understandingly.
RAY
Good game, Archie.
ARCHIE
Thanks.
MANN
Good night, kid.
Ray, Karin, Annie and Mann watch Archie jog towards the
rest of the players. When he reaches the fence, he turns
back to them.
ARCHIE
Mr. Kinsella?
Ray turns toward him. Archie looks as if he knows more
than he's saying.
ARCHIE
Thank you for bringing me here. I
couldn't have wished for anything more.
Ray recognizes there may be more behind those words than
just a teenager's pleasure. But he decides not to ask any
questions.
RAY
I know. You're welcome.
Archie runs through the door in the fence and vanishes.
CUT TO
135 INT. KITCHEN - MORNING
135
Mann and Karin eat their country breakfasts at one and of
the table, while at the other end, Annie and Ray sit in
front of the bank books, ledgers, and the sheaf of bills
puffed up around the paper spike.
ANNIE
Once we fell behind in the payments, the
full amount of the mortgage became due.
CONTINUED
96
135 CONTINUED
135
RAY
And they own the paper, so they have the
legal right to foreclose.
ANNIE
Unless we sell.
RAY
Either way we lose the farm. Maybe we
can make it a condition of the sale that
they keep the field up.
ANNIE
Forget it. They're buying up single
farms all around us, make it one big
farm. First thing they'll do is plow
under your field.
Ray just sits there, letting that sink in.
CUT TO
136 EXT. FARM - DAY
1.36
Ray and Mann walking.
MANN
I don't have a lot of money, Ray, but
maybe I could pitch in a little.
RAY
Fine. You can put in twenty bucks for
groceries.
MANN
That's not what I meant. Maybe the
reason you were supposed to find me was
so I could help you with this.
RAY
More likely it's that you're supposed
to start writing again. About this.
MANN
Don't change the subject.
RAY
You promise to publish and I'll let you
chip in from your royalties.
Mann's expression suddenly turns to one of indignation.
CONTINUED
97
136 CONTINUED
136
MANN
One thing has nothing to do with the
other.
RAY
I'm not sure I agree with that.
MANN
You're not only stubborn, you're stupid.
RAY
That I won't argue with.
Annie emerges from the house and calls to Ray.
ANNIE
Honey, that was Mark. He's coming
tonight. He needs a decision tonight.
CUT TO
137 THE GAME
137
Again, it's J,oe Jackson's Chicago White Sox against the New
York Giants, now featuring rookie Archie Graham.
In the stands, Mann keeps score, Karin munches on a hot
dog, and Annie and Ray snuggle together to watch the game.
ANNIE
Everything is so perfect here.
RAY
Whatever I have to do to save this
place, I'll do.
ANNIE
I know.
Suddenly, Ray snaps his head to the side, as one does to
pick up a-distant sound.
RAY
He's here.
They look and see Mark's car heading up the gravel lane.
He parks the car at the edge of the field, and the game
stops as he walks right across it, completely mindless of
the players. Since he doesn't see any of them, a few
actually have to move out of his way. He approaches the
bottom of the bleachers.
RAY
You're interrupting the game, . Mark.
CONTINUED
98
137 CONTINUED
137
Mark shakes his head sadly at the thought that these
otherwise sensible relations have lost their minds.
MARK
Ray, it's time'to put away our little
fantasies and come down to earth.
RAY
It's not a fantasy, Mark. They're real.
Mark obviously do.esn't see anyone on the field.
MARK
(EMPHATICALLY)
Who's real?
RAY
Shoeless Joe Jackson. The White Sox.
The Giants.
(TO MANN)
He can't see any of it.
MARK
And who's that? Babe Ruth?
Ray smiles, savoring the moment.
RAY
As a matter of fact, it's Terence Mann.
MARK
Ah, how do you? I'm Michael Jackson.
(TO RAY)
Ray, we have to settle this thing right
now.
RAY
I'm not selling you my home.
MARK
You have no money, you've got a stack
of bills to choke a pig, and come fall,
you've got no crop to sell. But I have
a deal to offer you that will allow you
to stay on this land.
This has Ray's attention. Mark climbs the bleachers to
stand closer to him.
KARIN
Daddy, we don't have to sell the farm.
But no one pays her any attention. All eyes are on Mark.
CONTINUED
99
137 CONTINUED (2)
137
MARK
Let us buy you out, and we'll leave the
house. You can live in it rent free as
long as you want.
RAY
What about the baseball field?
MARK
Do you realize what this land is worth?
RAY
Over $2200 an acre.
MARK
Then you must realize we cannot keep a
useless baseball diamond in the middle
of rich farmland.
RAY
No deal, Mark. We're staying.
KARIN
We don't have to go.
MARK
(EXPLODES)
You're virtually bankrupt, and I'm
offering you a way to keep your home
because I love my sister! I've got
partners who don't give a damn about
you, and they're ready to foreclose
right now!
KARIN
Daddy, we don't have to sell the farm.
MARK
Karin, please!
RAY
Wait.
They all turn to Karin.
KARIN
People will come.
RAY
What people, sweetheart?
CONTINUED
100
137 CONTINUED (3)
137
KARIN
From all over. They'll just decide to
take a vacation, see, and they'll come
to Iowa City, and they'll think it's
really boring, so they'll take a drive.
And they'll drive down our road, and
they'll see the lights and they'll think
it's really pretty.
Ray, Annie, and Mann listen with wonder, to this vision.
KARIN
So, the people in the cars? They'll
drive up and they'll want to pay us,
like buying a ticket.
Mark looks at them all as if they're crazy.
MARK
You're not listening to this seriously,
are you?
ANNIE
Yes.
MARK
Why would anybody pay money to come
here?
Karin looks at her Uncle mark as if he were a simpleton.
KARIN
To watch the game. And it'll be just
like when they were little kids a long
time ago, and it was summertime, and
they'll watch the game and .remember what
it was like.
Ray and Annie couldn't be prouder of their daughter than
they are right now.
MARK
What the hell is she talking about?
ANNIE
She's talking about people seeing their
memories... touching their past.
RAY
(NODS)
People will come.
CONTINUED
101
137 CONTINUED (4)
137
ANNIE
It'll be like one of those tiny, French
restaurants that have no sign. You find
it by instinct. They'll be drawn.
MARK
Okay, this is all fascinating, but the
fact remains that you don't have the
money to bring the mortgage up to date,
so you still have to sell. I'm sorry,
but you have no choice.
He produces a document and hands it to Ray with a pen. Ray
looks at it. He doesn't know what to do.
MANN
Ray...
Ray looks at Mann.
138 MANN
- 1.38
speaks now as he has not spoken for many years: as Terence
Mann, master of words, spellbinder.
MANN
People will come, Ray. They'll come to
Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom.
They'll turn up your driveway, not
knowing for sure why they're doing it,
and arrive at your door, innocent as
children, longing for the past. 'Of
course we won't mind if you look
around,' you'll say. 'It's only twenty
dollars per person.' And they'll pass
over the money without even looking at
it. For it is money they have, and
peace they lack.
139 MARK
139
pushes the papers. forward.
MARK
Just sign the papers, Ray.
140 MANN
140
is not one to give up.
CONTINUED
102
140 CONTINUED
140
MANN
They'll walk out to the bleachers and
sit in shirtsleeves in the perfect
evening, or they'll find they have
reserved seats somewhere in the
grandstand or along one of the baselines
-- wherever they sat when they were
children and cheered their heroes.
They'll watch the game, and it will be
as if they'd dipped themselves in magic
waters. The memories will be so thick
they'll have to brush them away from
their faces.
141 MASTER
141
Spellbound, Ray has put the papers down. Mark picks them
up again. He is battling Mann for Ray's attention.
MARK
Listen to me. Tomorrow morning, when
the bank opens, they will foreclose.
MANN
People will come, Ray.
MARK
You're broke, Ray. Sell now or lose
everything.
MANN
The one constant through all the years,
Ray, has been baseball. America has
rolled by like an`army of steamrollers.
It's been erased like a blackboard,
rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball
has marked the time. This field, this °
game... it's a piece of our past. It
reminds us of all that once was good.
And that could be again. People will
come. People will most definitely come.
Mann has moved everyone (but Mark) with the beauty of his
words, and the passion in his.voice. Behind him, the
assembled ballplayers respectfully applaud.
BUCK WEAVER
(TEARY-EYED)
That was beautiful...
The other players nod, also teary-eyed.
CONTINUED
103
141 CONTINUED 141
BUCK WEAVER
(SINCERELY)
.fuckin' beautiful.
The players on either side of him jab his ribs with their
elbows, but Mann, Ray and Annie laugh with pleasure.
MARK
Ray. You will lose everything and you
will be evicted.
Ray looks at the paper with dread. He looks at Shoeless
Joe and the players. He looks at his family. Then he
turns back to Mark. It's decision time.
RAY
I'm not signing.
Mark shakes his head sadly. Annie hugs Ray. The players
breathe a great sigh of relief. Mann smiles.
MANN
Ray...
Ray looks up at Mann, who, with a gentle tilt of the head,
directs Ray's attention to the house. Ray looks behind him
toward the house.
142 RAY'S POINT OF VIEW - CARS 142
have parked in front of the house. More are coming quietly
down the driveway. Dozens of cars. Cars with out-of-state
license plates.
Some people,have gotten out of their cars and wait
patiently. One or two families sit on their hoods, or have
set up picnic dinners on their station wagons' tailgates.
143 THE BLEACHERS 143
Ray, Annie, Karin and Mann are deeply happy -- but not
terribly surprised -- to see these people.
RAY
(SING-SONG)
They're he-re.
Mark looks at the house and then back at Ray.
NARK
Who's here?
CONTINUED
104
143 CONTINUED
143
RAY
(with an edge)
You don't see those cars? All those
people?
MARK
Don't do this, you son of a bitch!
There's no cars, no people...
KARIN
Uncle Mark, I can see them.
ANNIE
We all can.
MARK
You're crazy. You're all bat-shit
crazy!
RAY
Watch your language, Mark.
MARK
You build a baseball field in the middle
of nowhere, you sit around here and
stare at nothing ---
KARIN
It's not nothing.
Mark grabs Karin's arm and pulls her to her feet as if she
were "Exhibit A."
MARK
And you've turned your daughter into a
goddamn moron!
RAY
Get your hands off her.
Ray rises threateningly, and Mark turns toward him. In so
doing, he twists little Karin off balance.
MARK
I'm trying to help you, goddamnit!
In that split second, they hear a strangled gasp, and see
Karin falling forward from the top row of the bleachers.
RA Y
Karin!!
105
144 KARIN
144
Her hot dog flies off, the bun and wiener separating in
midair. One small sandal bounces end over end and lands
at the foot of the bleacher. It takes forever for her body
to come down with a sickening thud on the hard green boards
of one of the bottom rows.
145 THE OTHERS
145
rush down to where she lies, face up. Ray is first, but
he does not know what to do. Annie and Mann hover. Mark
is horror-stricken, but no one knows what to do.
MARK
Oh my God, I'm sorry...Annie...I didn't
mean to...
Karin is unconscious, and seems to be fighting for breath.
Ray and Annie's eyes meet in anguish.
ANNIE
Should we move her?
RAY
Get the car.
146 ANNIE
146
springs for the house. The tourists by their cars watch
quietly.
ANNIE
Is there a doctor? A nurse? Any of
you?
They sadly shake their heads no. Annie races inside.
147 BACK AT THE BLEACHERS
147
Most of the White Sox players stand by the left field
fence, staring silently.
MANN
How long?
RA Y
Its a twenty-minute drive.
Mann winces. He knows that could be fatal. Ray kneels by
Karin. Her nose and one side of her face have been scraped
by the fall. Blood starts to trickle from her nose, across
her cheek and down her neck. She is becoming bluer and her
cough is faint, as though she is in another room.
CONTINUED
106
147 CONTINUED
147
Mark takes off his $300 pale-green velvet corduroy jacket
and is wordlessly holding it out to Ray. Ray takes the
jacket and covers Karin gently.
Karin is getting paler, bluer, and her breathing more
strained and distant.
RAY
Karin...
Then, without reason, Ray slowly turns toward the field.
The White Sox stand near him by the fence, the Giants stay
around their bench. All except one: young Archie Graham.
148 ARCHIE GRAHAM
148
has noticed the'commotion in the bleachers, and he starts
to lope across the field.
149 BLEACHERS
149
Annie has pulled the car over and honks. Ray holds up his
hand to her to wait. His eyes are on young Archie Graham.
150 YOUNG ARCHIE GRAHAM
3.50
As Graham gets closer, his features begin to change, and
his step slows. He reaches the end of the fence -- around
which no player can pass
-- and when he emerges from the
shadows on the bleachers side, he is no longer young
Moonlight Graham, the ballplayer of long ago...but Doc
Graham, the old man from Chisholm, Minnesota. His baseball
glove has turned into a black doctor's bag.
151 THE BLEACHERS
151
as Doc Graham approaches.
DOC GRAHAM
What have we got here?
RAY
She fell.
Doc kneels beside her and instantly knows what is wrong.
DOC GRAHAM
This child's choking to death.
CONTINUED
107
151 CONTINUED
151
He picks her up with one hand under her shoulders and the
other under her knees, seats himself on the bleachers, and
turns her face down. Supporting her chest with one hand,
he delivers a series of sharp blows between her shoulder
blades with the heel of his other hand.
Annie honks again. Ray waves her to him. Mark cannot
believe what he is seeing.
Suddenly, Karin's diaphragm expands as she sucks in air.
Doc reaches around and pries her mouth open, releasing a
sizable piece of hog dog and bun.
As he turns her over, we can see the blueness disappearing
from her face as she continues to breathe deeply. Doc
peels back each eyelid in turn, stares at the pupil for a
few seconds, and lets the eye close.
DCC GRAHAM
She's okay. I don't think the fall
really hurt her, just the dog in her
throat. She'll be coming around in a
minute or two.
RAY
(SIGHS DEEPLY)
Thank you, Doc.
Doc looks deeply into Ray's eyes.
DOC GRAHAM
No, son. Thank you.
It just now sinking for Ray what-Doc Graham has sacrificed
to save the child. Ray looks to the field, and then back
at the Doctor.
RAY
'Oh, my God, you can't go back.
DOC GRAHAM
It's okay...
(NODS KNOWINGLY)
It's okay.
152 MARK AND ANNIE
152
Mark is slack-jawed. He has seen something magical happen
and cannot explain it.
MARK
I saw...A11 of a sudden this kid runs
off the field and turns.into...
CONTINUED
108
152 CONTINUED
152
He looks questioningly at Annie. She smiles reassuringly.
ANNIE
There's hope for you yet, Mark.
153 RAY AND DOC GRAHAM
153
Doc Graham stands, and picks up his black bag.
DOC GRAHAM
Well, I best be getting back home before
Alicia starts to thinking I've got a
girlfriend.
He walks around the edge of the fence, and heads for the
outfield door. The players respectfully make way for him.
HAPPY FELSCH
Good work, Doc.
EDDIE CICOTTE
Way to go, Doc.
DOC GRAHAM
Thanks, boys. Win one for me, someday,
will you?
He passes them.
SHOELESS JOE
Hev rookie!
Doc Graham turns.
SHOELESS JOE
You were good.
Only now do Doc Graham's eyes shine with tears. He smiles,
and disappears through the door.
154 ON THE SIDE
154
Karin is coming to, Ray and Annie by her side. Some of the
players start to gather up their equipment. Shoeless Joe
calls to Ray.
SHOELESS JOE
We're gonna call it a night. We'll see
you tomorrow.
RAY
Okay.
CONTINUED
109
154 CONTINUED
154
MANN
Good night.
Joe starts to trot off the field, then he stops and turns
back to the bleachers.
SHOELESS JOE
Hey! You wanna come with us?
Ray's jaw drops.
RAY
You mean it?
SHOELESS JOE
Not you.
(points to Mann)
Him.
RAY
Him?
MANN
Come with you?
SHOELESS JOE
Out there.
MANN
What is out there?
SHOELESS JOE
Come find out.
RAY
Wait a second. Why him?
Shoeless Joe and the other players wait for Mann to join
them, ignoring Ray's question.
RAY
I built this field! You wouldn't be
here if it weren't for me.
MANN
Ray, for God's sake, I'm unattached.
You've got a family.
This takes Ray down a peg or two.
RAY
But I want to know what's out there! I
want to see it!
CONTINUED
110
154 CONTINUED (2)
MANN
There's a reason they chose me, just as
there was a reason they chose you to
find me.
RAY
Oh yeah? Why?
MANN
Because, you big jerk, I gave that
interview.
RAY
What interview?
MANN
The one about Ebbets Field. The one
that charged you up and sent you all the
way to Boston to find me.
RAY
Then you lied to me.
MANN
You were kidnapping me at the time, you
asshole! Think of it, Ray: maybe
there's an Ebbets Field still floating
around out there somewhere. And maybe
I'll get to sit in the stands, and watch
a twenty-year-old kid with a smooth face
and kinky hair try out for the 1948
Dodgers.
RAY
(to Shoeless Joe)
So I do all the work, and all I get is
to see everybody else's dreams come
true. Is that it?
SHOELESS JOE
What are you saying, Ray?
RAY
I'm saying I'm happy for you, and I'm
happy for him, but after all
this what's in it L for me?
SHOELESS JOE
Is that why you did this? For-you?
MANN
There's something out there for me, Ray.
And what a story it'll make: a man
being able to touch the perfect dream.
CONTINUED
111
154 CONTINUED (3)
154
RAY
Then you'll write about it?
MANN
You bet I will.
Annie walks Karin over. Ray bends down to Karin's face.
RAY
How you feeling, honey?
KARIN
Stupid.
Ray laughs and hugs her. He looks up at Annie.
RAY
Terry's been invited to go-with the
players.
ANNIE
You mean 'out'?
RAY
(NODS)
Out.
ANNIE
(HUMS TWILIGHT
ZONE THEME)
Doo-doo-doo-doo. Be careful.
She smiles brightly and gives Mann a kiss on the cheek.
Mann shakes Ray's hand.
RAY--
I want a full description.
MANN
-You take care of this family, Ray.
Mann joins several of the White Sox as they leave the
field.
155 MARK
155
is absolutely dumbfounded as'he sees the players fade out
upon walking through the outfield gate. He turns to Annie.
MARK
He just... Where'd he...?
CONTINUED
112
15.5 CONTINUED
155
ANNIE
You go inside and lie down. I'll
explain later.
Mark walks off toward the people in their cars outside the house.
MARK
Where'd all these people come from...?
156 BACK AT THE FIELD
2.56
Only a few players are left on the field.
RAY
We're keeping this field.
ANNIE
You bet your ass we are.
Ray realizes Shoeless Joe is staring at him, with a
shit-eating grin on his face.
RAY
What..
Shoeless Joe just keeps smiling.
RAY
What're you grinning at, you ghost?
SHOELESS JOE
'If you build it...
He nods toward where the catcher is taking off his gear at home plate.
SHOELESS JOE
' .he will come.'
Ray looks at the Catcher. The hairs on the back of his
neck begin to stand up.
RAY
Oh, my God.
ANNIE
What is it?
RAY
Its my father.
113
157 THE YOUNG CATCHER
has taken off his mask. He is in his early twenties. He
is in the same pose as the photo we saw in the prologue.
158 RAY AND SHOELESS JOE
Ray blanches and turns to Shoeless Joe, his voice a
strangled whisper.
RAY
Say it ain't so,- Joe.
SHOELESS JOE
I'm afraid it is, kid.
The Catcher is now walking toward Ray.
RAY
(FINALLY
UNDERSTANDING)
'Ease his pain...'
SHOELESS JOE
(smiles and nods)
'Go the distance.'
When he says those words, Shoeless Joe sounds just like The
Voice.
RAY
It was you.
159 SHOELESS JOE
159
SHOELESS JOE
No, Ray. It was you.
Shoeless joe winks and walks away, disappearing through the
door in the outfield fence.
160 RAY AND ANNIE
160
The Catcher is halfway across the field. Ray turns to
Annie. He cannot even swallow.
RAY
My God, I only saw him later, when he
was worn down by life. Look at him.
The young Catcher has reached the outfield grass. Ray
walks down to the edge of the outfield.
CONTINUED
114
160 CONTINUED
160
RAY
He has his whole life in front of him,
and I'm not even a glint in his eye.
What do I say to him?
ANNIE
Introduce him to his granddaughter.
Ray cannot believe how wonderful Annie is. The Catcher has
reached the edge of the field, and now stands before Ray
and Annie.
CATCHER
Hi, I just wanted to thank you folks for
putting up the field and letting us play
here. I'm John Kinsella.
They shake his hand.
RAY
I'm Ray. My wife Annie. And this is
my daughter, Karin.
(TO KARIN)
Karin, this is...
He almost says "My father."
RAY
KARIN
JOHN
Ray and Annie are beaming. Annie takes Karin's hand.
ANNIE
We're going to let you two talk. I have
to go look after our guests. Someone's
gotta start collecting admission if
we're going to keep this place.
(to the Catcher)
Very nice meeting you.
JOHN
M' am.
161 ANNIE
161
hoists Karin up and totes her toward the tourists waiting
in front of the house.
115
162 RAY AND JOHN
162
watch them for a while, then start to,stroll across the
field.
RAY
You catch a good game.
JOHN
Thank you. It's so beautiful here. Its
like-well for me, it's like a dream
come true.
Ray cannot speak. He nods.
JOHN
Can I ask you something?
Again, Ray nods.
JOHN
Is this heaven?
Ray smiles and shakes his head no.
RAY
It's Iowa.
JOHN
Iowa. I could've sworn this was heaven.
163 RAY
16 3
stops and looks intently at John. He asks this question
as if he were asking the secret of life. Maybe he is.
RAY
Is there a heaven?
164 JOHN
164
takes time to answer that. He looks up at the night sky
and searches it.
JOHN
Oh, yeah...
Then he looks square into Ray's eyes.
JOHN
Heaven's where dreams come true.
116
165 RAY
165
looks toward the house and sees his wife and daughter on
the veranda, a moon bright as butter silvering the night
above them. He smiles. He finally understands. He turns
back to John and nods.
RAY
Then maybe this is heaven.
166 JOHN
166
smiles wisely in return.
JOHN
Well...good night, Ray.
RAY
Good night.
167 MASTER
167
John starts to walk off toward the door in the outfield
fence.
RAY
Hey!
John turns back. Ray is holding a ball.
RAY
You wanna have a catch?
John closes his eyes for a second, and when he opens them;
there is the hint of moisture. Does he know Ray is his
son?
JOHN
I'd like that.
Ray tosses him the ball, picks up a glove lying there, and
puts it on.
They throw the ball back and forth.
And as we pull up higher and higher we see a father and son
bathed by white floodlights and car headlights... on the
silent, satiny green of a baseball diamond at the edge of
a cornfield.
FADE OUT
THE END
|
