Back to the Tampa Bay Rays Newsfeed

Thirty years later, ‘Field of Dreams’ dad is still answering ‘Wanna have a catch?’

Meet Dwier Brown, whose six minutes of screen time with Kevin Costner became the role of a lifetime.

CLEARWATER — He auditioned for Risky Business. Guy named Tom Cruise got the part. He later tried out for Thelma & Louise. Dude named Brad Pitt aced him out.

Thirty years ago, an actor from the Ohio farmlands named Dwier Brown was living and dying in L.A, getting small parts in movies, TV and stage work, where his specialty was: dead guy. He had been shot to death six times, lynched, knifed. In the TV drama The Thorn Birds, he had been run over by a wild boar.