Hannibal’s Connection to ‘Field of Dreams’

Hannibal Cavemen manager Jay Hemond took on a unique summer job in 1988, working on the movie 'Field of Dreams.'

“I was playing at USC and one of my coaches was going to have the job of training the actors how to play, but he had gotten hired by the Baltimore Orioles.” Hemond says that set things in motion for him to get hired as a baseball trainer.

Hemond says they had three weeks of practices with the actors. Ray Liotta put in a lot of time to be ready to represent Shoeless Joe Jackson. Catching baseballs with the gloves of nearly 100 years ago presented a challenge for the actors and extras.

Pitches thrown from out of the shot in the movie were thrown by Hemond. He also appears as an extra. In the sequence where Karin Kinsella falls to the ground, you see Hemond draw a walk. He’s at second when Terrence Mann’s “..people will come..” speech starts.

This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of the film's release.

KHMO’s Bill Shuler visited with Jay Hemond about his experiences with 'Field of Dreams'