Lake County Fielders finally take field in Zion

When the Lake County Fielders stepped onto their home field in Zion for the first time Friday night, it wasn't quite as dramatic ghostly as Shoeless Joe Jackson's appearance in a cornfield-turned-stadium in the film "Field of Dreams."

There was no Hollywood score, and movie stars Ray Liotta and Kevin Costner were nowhere in sight.

But the moment was still magic for the roughly 6,800 fans who were in the Fielders' unnamed park for the minor league team's hometown debut.

They stood and applauded and cheered as each player's name was called, just as they did for every Fielder hit and for every good play their team made in the field.

"It's really exciting," Fielders manager Fran Riordan said before the game against the Gary SouthShore RailCats got underway. "It's good to watch the stands fill up. Hopefully we'll give them a good show."

In their first season with the independent Northern League, the Fielders had been playing their home games at Carthage College in Wisconsin. The stadium Zion and team leaders promised fans wasn't ready for the start of the season, and it still isn't finished.

In fact, the real work won't begin until after the Fielders' season ends in September.

But the field the team played on Friday night was good enough for the fans who packed into bleachers to see the new team.

Waukegan resident Brad Davick wore a Chicago Cubs home jersey and a Fielders cap to the game. A season-ticket holder, Friday's game was his first of the Fielders' season.

I'm just excited that the Fielders are playing ball in our part of the county," Davick said.

State Rep. JoAnn Osmond, one of three politicians who threw out ceremonial first pitches before the game, was thrilled to see the Fielders in action, too.

"Zion deserves this," said Osmond, an Antioch Republican who was joined by Democratic state Sen. Michael Bond of Grayslake and Zion Mayor Lane Harrison in front of the pitcher's mound for the honorary tosses. "We're going to fill the stands."

Despite a late-inning rally, the Fielders lost 11-4.