Ray Kinsella is a novice Iowa farmer who lives with his wife, Annie, and daughter, Karin. In the opening narration, he explains how he had a troubled relationship with his father, John Kinsella, who had been a devoted baseball fan. While walking through his cornfield one evening, he hears a voice whispering, "If you build it, he will come." He continues hearing it before finally seeing a vision of a baseball diamond in his field. Annie is skeptical of that, but she allows him to plow the corn under in order to build a baseball field. As he builds it, he tells Karin the story of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. As months pass and nothing happens at it, his family faces financial ruin until, one night, Karin spots a uniformed man in it. Ray recognizes him as Shoeless Joe Jackson, a deceased baseball player idolized by John. Thrilled to be able to play baseball again, he asks to bring others to the field to play. He later returns with the seven other players banned as a result of the 1919