The great hitter Joe Jackson took $5,000 of gamblers' money to fix the 1919 World Series in which the White Sox played Cincinnati. Though acquitted -- evidence disappeared -- eight players were banned from baseball. Over the years, crusaders defended Jackson's honor by saying he took the money but played his best. He had the Series' only home run, the most hits (12), a .375 batting average and a .563 slugging average. He had no errors.

He was the central figure in "Field of Dreams," the movie based upon W.P. Kinsella's book "Shoeless Joe." The 1989 blockbuster, filmed on a field near Dyersville, told of Shoeless Joe's second chance to play baseball on a field cut from a cornfield. But much of the same reason some 50,000 tourists flock to the movie site annually is the movie's most emotional depiction: father-son reconciliation.

Back in Florida, Babiarz pushing hard with his Shoeless Joe campaign, was shocked when he answered the telephone on July 5. It was his son...Christopher Albrecht. Babiarz was 17, his girfriend, also 17, when Albrecht was born in their northern Illinois hometown of Amboy. Neither was ready to be married. They had an agreement that she would raise the boy. He never broke the agreement. He would drive past his home trying to get a glimpse of him, but never stopping. He never saw a photograph or heard his son's voice all these years.

On July 5, Albrecht called his father for the first time. He decided he was old enough to make his own decisions. He wanted to meet his father for years. During several conversations in July, they talked about their lives.

Babiarz had played baseball in high school. So had Albrecht. Both played third base. Babiarz had been in the Air Force. Albrecht just enlisted in the Air Force and is stationed near San Antonio, Texas. Babiarz mentioned of his works campaigning for "Shoeless Joe." Albrecht told Babiarz he had wrote a paper and given a speech in high school about the Black Sox scandal.

Babiarz told Albrecht about his trip to Chicago and his visit to the movie site. They both made arrangements to be there in August. While Babiarz' 11 year-old daughter and his parents kept vigil at the driveway leading to the field, Babiarz sat on the third bleacher row from the top -- watching other fathers pitch to their sons.

He marveled at the eeriness of Joe Jackson's story, correlating odd events in baseball to the ghost of Shoeless Joe. Shoeless Joe, he concludes, damaged the game less than greedy owners during the 1994 strike. "It's time to forgive," Babiarz's campaign letters begin. Bring the game back to what it used to be. "To this," he says looking out on the field. After all, the game "reminds us of what was once good and could be again," goes the "Field of Dreams" script.

"I'm just wondering if he's going to show," Babiarz said 60 minutes past the rendezvous time of 11:00 a.m. He had no idea what his son would be wearing, or what kind of vehicle he'd arrive in. Every time a young man would walk up the path to field you would hear Babiarz' daughter and his mother, "Christopher! Christopher?"

Shortly after noon, Babiarz got his wish. He shaded his eyes to watch a young man in a navy blue Chicago Bears T-shirt wander toward the field. "Is that him? That's got to be him," he said. They met near the backstop. They shook hands, then they hugged.

But they were strangers -- as Albrecht reminded them when he asked, "Who are all these people?" Babiarz introduced Grandpa and a crying Grandma, who said, "I knew I would see you someday." Jennifer Babiarz hung back and shook hands as her father said, "This is your brother."

"I just wanted to know him," Albrecht said.

Tomorrow father and son are going to Comiskey Park in Chicago to watch the White Sox. Attending a game together, he hopes, will form a foundation for the relationship they're belatedly building.

"Did you bring your glove?" Babiarz asked. Father and son played catch at the Field of Dreams. Their eyes looked the same. So did their round shoulders and the way they stood in the outfield.

"I think baseball and life are kind of parallel to each other," Babiarz said. "And everybody I know has a family story that has to do with baseball."

Is This Heaven?: The Magic of the Field... Every year, thousands of people journey to find the magic at the Field of Dreams Movie Site. Many searching for days gone by. To some, just to have a catch with dad. While others are looking for...? A must read for those who Get It!

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