Keith says, "Spring is the hardestseason for maintenance; fall is the eas-iest. Our clay in the boxes and moundis just 4-inches deep. When it dries outand the boxes dry out, the players keepdigging deeper. In the fall, the stadi-um blocks the sun so the late afternoonshadows cover both the mound andplate. All the skinned surfaces, moundand home plate area retain the pre-game moisture levels throughout nightgame play."

Webb and Keith have an excellentrelationship with the players. Theyboth love baseball and may even go outand take a few ground balls. It makescommunication flow more easily.

Webb says, "We're working withplayers who are making, or will soonbe making, enormous sums of money.It's extremely important that we doeverything possible to keep them offthe disabled list. Safety always is ourfirst priority. The infield dirt must befirm enough to allow a hard plant of afoot when a quick change of direction isneeded, yet have enough give in it toprevent sprained ankles, twistedknees or broken legs. The edges of the

~field must be perfect to prevent badhops and the bases must be at theright height to prevent caught fingersduring slides."

Keith says, "We trust our coachesand players. We listen to what ourplayers say about field conditions andhow the field plays for them. Then it'sup to us to use our skills and profes-sionalism to do the things it takes tocreate and maintain that high level ofplayability. We understand it's the jobof the groundskeeper to hand the twoteams a playing surface at game timethat will allow the players to decidethe winner."

Webb says, "Once we reach ourgoals of safety and playability, we canwork on aesthetics. Having a productthat is a joy to look at is usually moreimportant to the fans than the play-ers. In Ottawa, a lot of people comeout just to see what the pattern is thatweek. There's nothing better thangoing to a beautiful ballpark on asunny afternoon and catching somerays and maybe even a foul ball." •

Bob Tracinski is the business communi-cations manager for the John DeereWorldwide Commercial & ConsumerEquipment Division headquartered inRaleigh, N.C. He serves as public rela-tions co-chair for the national SportsTurf Managers Association.

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Players go through pregame warm-ups at Jetform Park, Ottawa.

Because of the park's cold climate, snow removal is a major part of spring fieldtransportation. April snow storms have caused the cancellation of opening day.

Concerts and other events can create a serious strain on the field and interruptnormal maintenance routines. This concert drew 10,000 people to the stadium,

with hundreds of guests standing on the turf and skinned areas.

March 2000 11

col1t!,nedfrom p~ge6

One school board came up with asimple solution to ensure their fieldswere safe and relatively liability-free:They locked the gates. Is the chem-istry lab open all hours for any tax-payer to come in and mix formulasafter the school day? Is the libraryopen all hours for any taxpayer toenter and destroy all the books? Ofcourse not. Does the taxpayer havefree across to all public property? Ofcourse not. Then should the athleticfields be open for taxpayers to walktheir dogs, hit golf balls or spin theirdirt bikes daily?

Granted, not every small com-munity can follow this procedure,but keep in mind lawsuits involv-ing small communities occur justas frequently as in large metrocommunities.

As a taxpayer in our example com-muni ty, you or your communitygroup can use any school/recreationfacility inside or out if you followthese simple procedural guidelines:

A. You find out if the specific area

Heavy traffic on this baseball field has led to serious drainage problems.

is scheduled by a school team (firstpriority).

B. You fill out a request form withyour group's insurance J.D. number(city's protection).

C. You pay for a custodian orgroundskeeper to oversee your usewhile on the property (safety valvefor assistance and security).

This is a positive approach tohandling a serious problem-facilityabuse without repair compensation.

This school board has hadtremendous success in communicat-ing their message to the taxpayers;we want our physical educationclasses, athletes and communitygroups to use the school board facil-

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ities in a safe and hazard free manner, no different fromthe civic center, courthouse or city park. A liabilitywaiver/user fee replenishes the budget for equipmentand facility improvement for the neighborhood and leas-ing group.

I have tried to encourage school board maintenancesupervisors in our GMS facility seminars to initiate aprogram of locking their gates to protect against exces-sive outside usage. Their replies are always the same:The principal, mayor or director won't back them and thegates must be left open after school as well as weekends.Can you imagine if the principal left the school doorsunlocked all weekend? Can you imagine what wouldhappen if the mayor left city hall open all weekend? Idon't think I have the time to explain what would happenin that scenario.

Floyd Perry was a high school and college coach inOrlando, Fla., and now travels around the country coordi-nating workshops and seminars on grounds maintenanceand facility improvement. He has authored three text-books-A pictorial Guide to Quality Groundskeeping I,Covering All the Bases, Book II, There Ain't No Rules andBook III, Maintain it Easy, Keep it Safe. Floyd has alsoproduced two videos, The ABC's of Grounds Maintenance;Volume 1, Softball and Volume II, Baseball. For moreinformation call 800-227-9381.

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March 2000 13

by Trevor Vance

The skinned area of theinfield is the most importantpart of the baseball field.Sixty-six percent of thedefense and 100 percent of

the offense is played there. It's wherethe game is won and lost. Safety is thetop priority. After that, you could haveturf rivaling the greens ofAugusta, butif your infield isn't good, you won'tmake it as a baseball groundskeeper.The infield dirt is where you gain theplayers' respect and they gain confi-dence in your field. They want to playon the same field from the first to the8lst game. Your goal is to provide the

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consistent surface that allows that.There are several "right" methods of

maintaining an infield. Those meth-ods must be based on your labor power,time, budget and the number ofinfields you maintain.

At Kauffman Stadium in KansasCity, Mo., home of the RoyalsBaseball Club, we do all our work byhand. Though some people call usdinosaurs for doing it that way, weknow we're providing a consistentfield day in and day out. By the timewe have pulled the spike board andthe mat drag by hand, we will havewalked every square foot of theinfield and know where any loosespots or hard spots are.

The BasicsThe first element of infield mainte-nance is understanding what thematerial consists of in proportions ofsilt, clay and sand. I recommend hav-ing your infield material analyzed bya soils laboratory to obtain the specif-ic information. The percentages ofmaterial content impact traction. Toomuch sand produces a very "loose"infield and players get no footing; too

much clay produces a "hard" field.Knowing what you're working withwill tell you what kind of water itneeds; how it will react to heat, rain,humidity, etc.; and what equipmentmight be needed for maintenance,such as rollers, etc.

You determine the percentages youwant and are comfortable workingwith and make the necessary adjust-ments to obtain that percentage.Oriole Park at Camden Yards has 60percent sand. Kauffman Stadium'sinfield mix is approximately 40 per-cent sand, 30 percent silt and 30 per-cent clay. While our infield could getsloppy if it rained, we have theresources to tarp it. For high schoolsor parks and recreation departmentswith multiple fields and limitedresources, the mixture should havemore sand than silt and clay. Find areliable supplier to provide a consis-tent supply of your infield materialand fast, dependable service.

Managing Infield ConditionsIt's important to understand thechanges your maintenance practicescan make in the game. To produce a

slow infield, spike it deep to soften it.A ball landing in the soft infield "dies"on the dirt. To produce a faster infield,provide a harder surface. Roll it, andthen let it bake and get hard. Whilethis is an advantage to your offense,it's a disadvantage to your defense. Ihave a coach who wants a consistentfield that lets the players decide whowins the game.

To achieve consistency, you have toadjust your maintenance practices fortwo factors you can't control: weatherand field schedules. You have to mon-itor things constantly to make the callfor today's maintenance program andplot how you're going to attack tomor-row's conditions.

Ballplayers are your best friends. Ifyou respect what they do, they'llrespect what you do. As they gain con-fidence in you, they'll understand youmay make temporary deviations infield conditions to manipulate betterconditions and consistency at gametime. For example, there are times wedon't wet down the field because ofincoming rain.

continued on page 18

Call 1 (800) 817-1889 use Fast Fax #1080300 and/or Circle 108 on Inquiry Card

continued from page 15

Daily MaintenanceWith Kansas City's fast changingweather, constant monitoring is essen-tial. We rely on our DTN system fordaily weather information covering thecounties in the state and informationfrom our local weather service focusedon conditions at Kauffman Stadium.The relationship I've developed withthe weather service personnel includesphone contacts should something hap-pen that could affect the field.

Once we know the conditions we'llbe dealing with that day, we can fine-tune the maintenance program. Theprocesses may be different, but the endresult is the same consistent playingconditions.

The amount of water applied eachtime is critical. If the sun is out or it'swindy, we apply more water. If skiesare cloudy and overcast, or if humiditylevels are high, we cut back on water.With rain imminent, we may waterlightly every half hour to avoid mois-ture build up.

In a perfect world, after a nightgame, we dress the field to get it backto 90 percent playability. We pick up

all chalk. We repair the mound andhome plate, pack them well, waterthe mound and cover it. The tarpremains on the mound until battingpractice and the mound is always

tarped when the team is out of town.We rake the infield skin in one direc-

tion and mat in a second direction.

continued on page 21

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