Major League Baseball has played two games at the Field of Dreams site in Dyersville, Iowa, and the third arrives on August 13. Every one of them has come with a pair of custom throwback uniforms, which means six uniforms built for one cornfield and the most concentrated throwback program in modern baseball.
Here is the thing nobody wants to hear: most of them are fine rather than great. Only one of the six earns an A from us, and the most celebrated throwback in the whole program, the 1919 White Sox uniform everybody points to, finishes last on this list for one specific reason.
Ranked worst to first, and graded.
6. White Sox, 2021
The uniform that started the program, and the one that gets the most credit it has not quite earned. Chicago went to 1919: navy pinstripes and a large SOX monogram on the left chest. On paper it is the perfect pick, because the film is about the 1919 Black Sox, so this is the actual costume of the story being told in that cornfield.
Then you get to the cap, and there is nothing on it. No monogram, no mark, no logo of any kind. For a franchise with one of the most recognizable cap logos in the sport and a history worth wearing, leaving the hat blank throws away the easiest win available. The chest does all the work and the head does none of it, and once you notice it you cannot stop noticing it.
That is a real miss on a uniform that had every advantage going in. The concept was the best in the program. The execution left the most obvious piece empty.
5. Cubs, 2022
Chicago wore a cream jersey carrying the 1927 to 1936 logo, a bear holding a bat inside a red wishbone C, with a navy cap from the 1914 club. Every individual ingredient here is good. The bear is a great old mark, cream is the right base for a cornfield at dusk, and the research behind it is sound.
It just does not come together. The bear inside the wishbone C makes the chest busy at a distance, so the mark that should be the whole point of the uniform turns into a shape rather than a bear. On a wide broadcast shot it reads as a smudge of red on cream, and the detail that would make you lean in never resolves.
This is the one that surprised us most on a second look. It has the best individual pieces of any uniform in the program and the least satisfying result.
4. Reds, 2022
Cincinnati went white with royal blue pinstripes, a matching white cap, and "REDS" tucked inside a wishbone C on the left chest, a look the club wore from 1914 and on and off through the 1920s. This is a genuinely cool uniform and a genuinely deep cut, and it clears the bar the Cubs missed: you would never mistake it for a normal Reds game.
What keeps it from climbing higher is that it is not clean. Royal blue pinstripes on white, a white cap with more blue pinstripes, and a red wordmark inside a blue-adjacent frame gives the eye too many competing lines. Every element is defensible and the sum is a little noisy.
Cool, historically sharp, and one editing pass away from being very good.
3. Twins, 2026
Minnesota's 2026 entry is a white jersey with navy pinstripes, a navy "Twins" script with a red outline whose "s" tail curves back to underline the wordmark, and the Minnie and Paul patch on the sleeve. The cap is navy with the interlocking white T and red C.
It is a good-looking uniform and an authentic one. The Twins arrived in Minnesota in 1961, the Minnie and Paul mark lived on their uniforms from 1961 to 1986, and everything here belongs to the franchise rather than being borrowed.
The only thing holding it back is how close it sits to what they already wear. Put it next to a normal Twins home uniform and the differences are real but quiet, and a game built on looking like nothing else on the schedule rewards a bigger swing. That is a small complaint about a genuinely nice jersey, and the Minnie and Paul patch alone does more work than most of the marks below it on this list. We covered the full unveiling in our Field of Dreams 2026 uniform breakdown.
2. Yankees, 2021
The sleeper of the whole program. New York wore a gray road uniform with "NEW YORK" across the chest in a thinner, wider navy typeface than the modern version, with no white outline and no sleeve trim.
Yes, it is close to what the Yankees wear every day. That is also the point. This is a franchise that has been running essentially the same uniform for a century, so the only honest throwback available is a subtle one, and they executed the subtlety beautifully. Dropping the white outline off the wordmark makes the navy sit flatter and older on the gray, and the wider letterspacing changes the rhythm of the chest without changing the identity. It looks like a photograph from the era rather than a costume of it.
It is the cleanest uniform in the program. Nothing on it is fighting anything else, and it holds up on a wide shot better than anything below it on this list.
1. Phillies, 2026
The best uniform anyone has built for this cornfield, and the only one on this list we love without a caveat.
Philadelphia went to their 1939 to 1941 road set. The red "Phillies" script slants upward across the chest with a navy outline, red and navy striping runs the collar, sleeves, and placket, and the navy cap carries a bold red P in period lettering. Gray pants, navy socks.
Everything the rest of this list gets wrong, this one gets right. The cap is not an afterthought, unlike the White Sox. The chest mark reads instantly from distance, unlike the Cubs. It looks nothing like a normal Phillies game, unlike the Twins. And it stays clean while doing all of it, unlike the Reds.
Then there is the sleeve patch: a replica of the mark the Phillies wore in 1939 to commemorate what was then believed to be baseball's 100th anniversary. A uniform commemorating a commemoration, anchored to a dated event rather than a general sense of oldness. That is the detail that separates a throwback from a costume, and it is the reason this finishes first.
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Why There Was No Game From 2023 to 2025
The program went quiet for three years and it was not for lack of interest. There was no game in 2023 while the Dyersville site went through extensive renovations, and none in 2024 or 2025 either. MLB did stage a throwback game in 2024, but at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, a different ballpark with a different history behind it.
That gap is why the 2026 game matters more than a normal special-event date. It is the first uniform pairing in Iowa in four years, and the first on Netflix.
What Separates the Top From the Bottom
Three games in, the pattern is not about which era a team picks. Every one of these uniforms is historically sound. The difference is whether the whole thing is finished.
The Phillies and Yankees both look like photographs from their era, head to toe, with nothing left blank and nothing fighting for attention. The White Sox picked the perfect year and then left the cap empty. The Cubs found a great logo and buried it in a busy chest. The Twins did everything right and landed a shade too close to their normal uniform. The Reds got the boldness and missed the polish.
A throwback is a whole outfit. The ones that finish high here treat it that way.
Every Field of Dreams Uniform, at a Glance
1. Phillies (2026) — A- · 1939-41 road, centennial patch
2. Yankees (2021) — B+ · early-century road gray
3. Twins (2026) — B · 1961, Minnie and Paul patch
4. Reds (2022) — B- · 1914 wishbone C, blue pinstripes
5. Cubs (2022) — C · cream, 1927-36 bear logo
6. White Sox (2021) — C- · 1919 pinstripes, blank cap
The 2026 game is Thursday, August 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET, Phillies at Twins, streaming on Netflix. We will grade the on-field pairing the morning after in our MLB daily uniform tracker, and the Phillies uniform calendar tracks everything Philadelphia wears between now and then.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Field of Dreams games have there been?
Two have been played, in 2021 and 2022. The third is scheduled for August 13, 2026 between the Phillies and Twins.
Why was there no Field of Dreams game in 2023, 2024, or 2025?
There was no game in 2023 while the Dyersville site underwent extensive renovations, and none in 2024 or 2025. MLB staged a throwback game at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama in 2024, but that is a different ballpark, not the Field of Dreams site.
What uniforms did the White Sox and Yankees wear in the 2021 Field of Dreams game?
The White Sox wore a 1919-inspired uniform with navy pinstripes and a large SOX monogram on the left chest, paired with a cap carrying no logo. The Yankees wore an early-century gray road uniform with "NEW YORK" in a thinner, wider navy typeface and no white outline or sleeve trim.
What did the Cubs and Reds wear in the 2022 Field of Dreams game?
The Cubs wore a cream jersey with the 1927 to 1936 logo of a bear holding a bat inside a red wishbone C, with a navy 1914-inspired cap. The Reds wore white with royal blue pinstripes, a matching white cap, and "REDS" inside a wishbone C from their 1914 look.
What is the best Field of Dreams uniform?
The Phillies' 2026 set from their 1939 to 1941 road uniforms, which grades out at an A-. It is the only uniform in the program where the jersey, the cap, the striping, and the sleeve patch all work together, and the patch commemorates baseball's centennial as it was marked in 1939.
When is the 2026 Field of Dreams game?
Thursday, August 13, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. ET at the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, Iowa, with the Minnesota Twins hosting the Philadelphia Phillies live on Netflix.
The Bottom Line on the Field of Dreams Uniforms
Six uniforms, three games in Iowa, and one clear lesson: picking the right year is the easy part. The White Sox chose 1919, the single most perfect era any team could have picked for this ballpark, and then handed their players a blank cap. The Cubs found one of the best forgotten logos in baseball and made it hard to see. Good history is not the same as good design.
The Phillies are the only team so far to finish the job, and that is why a uniform from 1939 that nobody was clamoring for is the best thing anyone has worn in that cornfield.
Uniform images via @MLB, @whitesox, @Yankees, @Cubs, @Reds, @Phillies, and @Twins. ColorWay Sports is an independent design site and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Major League Baseball or any of its clubs.
