Greening the Diamond

Q: Dear 100 Hour Board

How do major league grounds crews get the grass looking so green on opening day before the normal blossoms of spring ~ thank you george toma.

Pat

A: Dear Baseball Aficionado,

Care and love. It is possible. Although I assume you are asking about colder weather parks and not just Turner Field or Tropicana Field. (Although Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay uses artificial grass) Of course there are fundamentals. It is only recently that ballparks are switching back to real grass en masse. There was a long trend of artificial turf because it stayed green consistently. Water management remained the biggest issue. Nowadays all 16 National League teams and all but 3 American League teams use grass. (Tampa Bay, Minnesota and Toronto don't - hmmm...maybe no sun :) )

Newer fields are a work of magic - or smart engineering. I can only quote the system at Dodger stadium to give you an idea:

"The Dodgers installed a brand new state-of-the-art grass field after the conclusion of the 1995 season. Prescription Athletic Turf (PAT), created and installed by the Cincinnati-based Motz Group, used the latest agronomic and engineering technology to manage field moisture through controlled drainage and irrigation. The 100,000 square feet of bermuda grass is grown on pure sand, beneath which a vacuum chamber is laid over a water-tight plastic barrier that forcibly extracts water during heavy rains. New moisture gauges monitor the field's water level in coordination with a microprocessor that controls drainage functions. A computer controller has the ability to reverse the scenario and subirrigate when the sand's moisture reading drops below the optimal level."

So proper water management is key. Other pieces? From an interview with Boston's Fenway Park Ground Crew, steps include: watering the field, cleaning up, moving, removing and changing the tarp (a hard job - it can create a vacuum when sitting for a while), fertilize, mow, roll patterns, spread chopped up rubber tires into the grass (protects for wear and tear), and finally repaint lines. This all helps.

But I found an article from Baseball Field Renovation that offers tips on how to get grass green (and grown) by Feb/March start. Rye, fescue and bluegrass seeds need sunny weather over 50 degrees to germinate well. Sometimes that is just luck. But tips include light straw, minimum water layup, black tarps to keep seeds warm to germinate (but remove it before it kills new grass), automatic irrigation systems and fertilizer. Another tip - seed every two weeks through January. Of course if you plant before the winter it's just maintaining the field and covering it at night.

And how do they get the checkerboard? Easy. Mow and roll it flat. The bent grass gives the patterns. But make sure you alternate rolling to keep from damaging the grass too much. Now go watch some ball!

100 HB

PS and if you didn't know George Toma - the legendary 'God of Sod'. Mostly a grass consultant for the NFL, he's an old timer the pros turn to for 'live or die' grass. Multiple Superbowls, World Series and other events are under his belt. Yes - thank you!