Populous kicks off rare triple play highlighting baseball’s present, past and future

This summer, Populous will execute a baseball-themed triple-play via the seasons three highest profile MLB events.

In the 1989 classic film “Field of Dreams,” James Earl Jones, portraying American novelist Terence Mann, says “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.”

As the nation emerges from the global pandemic and spectator sports once again welcome fans back to venues in earnest, the team at Populous’ celebrates America’s love of the game, providing overall operations coordination and other event services for the MLB All Star-Game in Denver (won 5-2 by the American League for the eighth straight year) on July 13; the Little League Classic on August 22 in Williamsport, PA; and, teaming up with BaAM Productions and Brightview to hit it out of the park for the long-awaited “Field of Dreams” game featuring the Yankees and White Sox on August 12 in Dyersville, Iowa. The newly designed ballpark was purpose-built for the game to be held in the cornfield where the movie was originally filmed.

Populous has designed more than 20 major league stadiums in the last three decades, including Coors Field, site of this year’s MLB All-Star Game. Populous also designed the ballpark for the Fort Bragg Game held July 3, 2016 and was honored to receive the Ballpark of the Year Award from Ballparks.com. For all three events, Populous broadcast and press operations, sponsorship, transportation, security, and ceremonies. Populous also implements comprehensive signage plans for wayfinding and room identification as well as the overall overlay plans for each event. The firm provides in-game and on-site operations staff to help organizers ensure their events run smoothly as it has for other large-scale events such as the Olympic Games, Super Bowl, and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

As part of the “Dream Team” for the Field of Dreams game, Populous provided the feasibility study, ballpark  and supporting structures design in addition to the event services.

“The pandemic and a late change-up of venue for the All-Star Game may have thrown us some curves along the way, but this year’s in-game events were a big hit, and we are looking forward to what is on deck,” said Todd Barnes, senior event architect and senior principal at Populous, which is also overseeing the staging of this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.

“’If you build it, they will come,’ as the movie says. ‘This field, this game — it’s a part of our past… It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again.’”