Iowa native Pat Hoberg will be an umpire in Thursday’s game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox at the Field of Dreams movie site.
When Major League Baseball announced in 2019 that it was bringing the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox to Iowa to play a baseball game, Des Moines native and MLB umpire Eric Cooper wanted an umpire from the state working the game. The late umpire’s wish is coming true. Urbandale native Pat Hoberg will be the home plate umpire for Thursday’s game between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox in Iowa. The game will place on a specially constructed field near the iconic diamond from the 1989 movie, “Field of Dreams.” “The closer it gets, the more excited I get,” Hoberg said in a phone interview with the Register on Monday. The 34-year-old Hoberg, who made his big-league debut as an umpire in 2014, was promoted to the full-time staff in 2017. He’s no stranger to big games. Hoberg worked his first postseason event with the 2018 American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium. He was also assigned to the 2019 National League Division Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves; the 2020 NL Wild Card Series between the Miami Marlins and Chicago Cubs; and the 2020 NLCS.
