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A couple of years ago, I went with my fiance to watch our first Major League Baseball game at the San Francisco Giant’s home field, now called Oracle Park. As we walked through the entrance tunnel and the stadium opened up before us, I was in awe. The field, which I had only seen on TV up until then felt larger than I had imagined, and was kept in very good condition. Even with the stadium itself being right on the waterfront, the salty ocean wind blowing in from right and center field.
[img source: https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/nationals/ranking-all-30-mlb-ballparks#slide-37]
This brought back memories of my childhood playing baseball and all the maintenance that we had to do on the field to keep it in playing condition. We had to drag the basepaths, rake the grass back out of the outfield, and tamp down the loose dirt around the pitcher’s mound and batter’s box. We even had days in the off-season dedicated to completely digging up the holes and re-churning the soil. Sadly, with all the blood, sweat, and tears that we had put into the field, it never looked like the fields that the Major League players play on.
With the 2019 Major League Baseball season starting last month, I decided that it was time to dive deep into my childhood and the internet to see how Major League Grounds Crews keep their fields game-day ready throughout the season. I -leafed- through the anecdotes of professional groundskeepers and even looked through the MLB basic guide for baseball and softball field and realized that this would be enough information for a college thesis on the topic. Instead of that, let’s focus on one aspect of groundskeeping, turf management.
[img source: http://www.kingpuzzlestudios.com/mlb-grounds-crews]
Each head groundskeeper at the 30 MLB ballparks has certain unique geographic and environmental factors that they consider when managing the green playing surface of their respective field. For examples, Coors Field, the home of the Colorado Rockies, is one of the highest elevated and lowest humidity fields that baseball is played on. While Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, is located in one of the most humid.
[img source: https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/nationals/ranking-all-30-mlb-ballparks#slide-26]
Humidity and elevation will affect the amount of irrigation and aeration the field will require to perform optimally. Irrigation is essential to keeping the turf healthy and also preventing weeds or other diseases from affecting the turf. It doesn’t only affect the grass, but also is essential to maintain the infield dirt, pitcher’s mound, and home plate area as well. Typically, irrigation is kept by using automatic field watering systems. The aeration of the field is necessary to provide ventilation to the soil. This involves drilling the field to remove small pockets of turf. Typically, the aeration is done around two to three times a year.
[img source: https://www.oregonlive.com/mlb/2017/10/mlb_playoffs_live_updates_ariz_2.html]
While the ballparks all vary, there are still a few common hardy varieties of grass used to cover the infield and outfield. In the northern states, the common turf used is Bluegrass, fescues, and ryegrass. While in the south, Bermuda and Zoyzias grass are commonly used.
[img source:https://www.hawaiiscape.com/2013/03/a-review-of-turfgrasses-used-in-hawaii/]
All of this care is taken to help protect and control weeds, pests, and diseases from afflicting the turf. These things could create potentially dangerous situations; uneven turf or crabgrass can cause the ball to bounce in an unpredictable way, or even cause direct injury to players. While commercially available herbicides and insecticides can be used to help control unwanted pests and weeds, environmentally-safe methods are preferred, such as hand-weeding or removal of pests.
[img source: https://www.housemanpest.com/problematic-crabgrass-weeds-start-in-the-spring/]
The turf is an important part of baseball, helping to distinguish basepaths, provide resistance to ground balls, even cushion fielders as they make spectacular diving catches. It helped to ingrain the idyllic summers and falls that I spent playing America’s favorite pastime. I learned a lot about the attention and care that is needed to manage the grass at a professional level of MLB ballparks. I want to know what you, the reader, want to know about this game as well. I hope that your spring continues to be great to you and that you mind the grass.
[img source: https://www.milb.com/milb/news/milb-becomes-official-partner-of-play-ball/c-231217350]
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