In Field of Dreams, Lancaster’s incarnation of Graham says that his one appearance in the majors was in the last game of the season, which it was not, and that he couldn’t stand the thought of returning to the minor leagues, which he did.įollowing his appearance for the Giants in 1905, “Moonlight” returned to the New York State League and played with the Scranton Miners. ‘Moonlight’ did return to the minors in real life Kinsella’s “Shoeless Joe,” accurately stated Graham made his lone big-league appearance in 1905. The novel on which Field of Dreams was based, W.P. The Giants won the game, 11-1, and that was it for Graham’s big-league career. Graham took the field for the bottom half of the inning, but Brooklyn never hit a ball in his direction. In the top of the ninth, “Moonlight,” hitting in the leadoff spot, was on deck when pitcher Claude Elliott flew out, which resulted in the final out. Graham finally made his first appearance for the Giants on June 29 in a road game against the Brooklyn Superbas (now the Los Angeles Dodgers), replacing George Browne in right field at the conclusion of the eighth inning. The Giants purchased his contract, and he reported to the team on May 23. He’d played in the minors since 1901 and started the ’05 season with the Binghamton Bingoes of the Class B New York State League.

In fact, Graham made his lone appearance for the New York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants) in 1905. “Moonlight” Graham is first introduced in Field of Dreams when Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones are sitting in Fenway Park when Costner’s Ray Kinsella character notices his stat line on the scoreboard, which says his lone appearance in the majors took place in 1922. ‘Field of Dreams’ said ‘Moonlight’ Graham played his one game in the majors in 1922 when, in fact, it was in 1905 (L-R) Archibald ‘Moonlight’ Graham Burt Lancaster as Archibald ‘Moonlight’ Graham in ‘Field of Dreams’ | Marlin Levison/Star Tribune via Getty Images Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images I think this is where I’m supposed to tell you that there are spoilers ahead, but if you haven’t seen Field of Dreams by now, that’s on you. And as I’m one of those jerks that enjoys pointing those things out, I thought I’d share them with you here today. But there’s also plenty the filmmakers got wrong. And Field of Dreams does get a lot of his story right. Now, while everyone knows that the main baseball player in the film, former Chicago White Sox star “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, was a real person, some may not know that “Moonlight” Graham was as well.

Even those featuring young Archie, played by Frank Whaley, are captivating. Perhaps it’s because I’m a sucker for Burt Lancaster, who is brilliant as the elder version of “Moonlight,” but the scenes featuring Graham, both young and old, are some of the best Field of Dreams has to offer in my eyes. And, overall, I’d have to say my favorite character is Archibald “Moonlight” Graham. Personally, despite the many, many problems I’ve discovered within the film in countless rewatches over the last three-plus decades, I put myself in the “love it” category. Whether you love it or hate it (believe it or not, there are people on both sides), Field of Dreams is easily one of the most famous baseball movies of all time.

Field of dreams