Democrat candidate for president and self-avowed socialist, Senator Bernie Sanders, held a rally and played a game of softball at Iowa’s famed “Field of Dreams” on Tuesday.

The game was played between Sanders’ campaign staffers and some local members of the Leaders Believers Achievers Foundation, a nonprofit that caters to the needs of kids, Yahoo reported.

In news footage of the event, Sanders is seen pitching, hitting and running the bases.

Senator Bernie Sanders plays baseball at Iowa's "Field of Dreams." pic.twitter.com/566f4lkPK6 — The Hill (@thehill) August 20, 2019

Despite the fun day at the “Field of Dreams” park — the site of the filming of the 1980s sports movie of the same name — the event almost did not occur.

Late last week the softball game was sold as a game between Sanders’ staffers and the news media. But some media outlets began having cold feet over the idea.

CNN and ABC soon pulled out and barred their employees from participating for fear of looking as if they were supporting the Sanders campaign for president, Politico reported.

Specifically, the media outlets were concerned about appearing in the game after the Sanders campaign sent out a fundraising email:

Sanders campaign originally scheduled game at the Field of Dreams vs the media, but after they sent out a fundraising email about the game, many outlets dropped out. So Team Sanders will now face a team anchored by a group of teenagers who are part of a local leadership program. — Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) August 19, 2019

The cancellations sent the Sanders campaign scrambling at the last minute to save the event.

Sanders has recently joined other Democrat candidates in complaining about the press. Just last week, for instance, Sanders said the Washington Post was giving him negative coverage because of the candidate’s criticism of Amazon and the paper’s owner, Jeff Bezos.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.