Aviators’ grounds-crew supervisor to tend to Field of Dreams

History will be made Thursday when Major League Baseball stages its first regular-season game in the state of Iowa near the site where Kevin Costner “had a catch” with his father in the beloved baseball classic Field of Dreams — and the Aviators will be represented.

Isaiah Lienau, who supervises the grounds crew at Las Vegas Ballpark, will be part of the 10-member crew that will tend to the playing surface in Dyersville, Iowa, where the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox will battle in the inaugural “Field of Dreams Game” at 4 p.m. PDT Thursday.

Lienau, who has been overseeing the field at Las Vegas Ballpark since May 2020, works for BrightView Landscape’s Sports Turf Division, which MLB hired to build the temporary 8,000-seat facility adjacent to where Field of Dreams was shot.

Through his role with BrightView, Lienau actually was involved in the initial construction of the ballpark, which (like the 1989 movie) will be surrounded by more than 150 acres of cornfields. It was Murray Cook — president of BrightView’s Sports Turf Division and MLB’s official field and stadium consultant — who selected Lienau to be part of the Field of Dreams grounds crew.

Lineau arrived in Iowa on Monday to begin final prep work on the field. His game-day responsibilities will include maintaining the infield dirt prior to and during the Yankees-White Sox contest, as well as managing the 25-member tarp crew in case of rain.

“I grew up in Iowa, only about an hour away from where the game will be played, so it’s going to be a bit of a homecoming,” said Lienau, who arrived in Iowa on Monday. “To have been involved with the field from the early days of construction and now get the chance to go back and be part of this historic game is really special.”