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Lips and puddles and dust oh my.
That is the stuff of nightmares for baseball groundskeepers
everywhere. While professional baseball teams usually have the
funding and are better equipped to deal with these problems, there
are things that local leagues and teams can do to keep better care
of the fields they use.
A few basic tools, along with some tips from the pros, can go a long
way to mitigating common problems on baseball fields, according to
Dan Douglas, Director of Stadium Grounds for the Reading Phillies
Baseball Club, the Eastern League AA affiliate for the Philadelphia
Phillies and winner of the 2009 Eastern League Sports Field Manager
of the Year Award.
There is more than to taking care of a baseball field than meets the
eye, Douglas said. “Baseball fields are like their own little
animal,” he said. “You can’t treat them like somebody’s front yard.
There are somewhat special skills involved with maintaining good
fields.”
Sometimes well-intentioned people armed with rakes, tractors and
drags can do long-term harm to their fields. It’s not uncommon to
see, on wet days, well-intentioned helpers pushing saturated infield
mix off into the grass. That’s a short term solution that can
create a long-term problem – the loss of dirt.
For most community and amateur fields Douglas prefers skin infields
because they are easier to maintain.
There is something you can do to help your field before you even
grab a rake or fire up the drag Douglas said. “One of the best
things you can do for your field is to join a local chapter of the
Sports Turf Managers’ Association,”
he said.
Douglas presides over the Pennsylvania chapter of that organization
– Keystone Area Field Managers’ Organization (KAFMO.) That
organization offers lectures, seminars and hands-on field days
focused on turf management and field maintenance for baseball,
football, soccer or multiple-use facilities, among others.
There are problems that are common to most baseball fields. Hardball
Magazine consulted Douglas to comment on sensible ways to deal with
these common problems.
LIPS
Nature itself, without any other help, can create infield lips.
Douglas estimates his professional baseball field in Reading loses
eight to ten tons of dirt a year. “It washes away or blows away –
and that’s with us wetting the field and using a tarp. We still lose
that much material,” Douglas said.
Other factors, however, can exacerbate the problem. “A lot of guys
doing some sort of maintenance can make lips worse,” he said.
Pulling drags – especially with tractors – right along the edge of
the grass is problematic because of the resulting dirt spray.
Douglas recommends keeping drags a foot to a foot-and-a-half away
from the edge of the infield while dragging with the tractor. “Hand
rake that area along the edge,” he said. Always rake parallel with
the edge of the grass.
The same care should be used when raking base paths from home to
first and third base.
If, for example, the drag you are pulling around is as wide as the
base paths you should cease and desist. “It’s a one-size fits all
mentality,” Douglas said, “but one size doesn’t fit all.” When
hand-raking the base paths, it is vital to rake parallel to the foul
line. Raking perpendicular to the line creates a gulley and is,
Douglas said, an absolute no-no.
Sometimes local leagues will add more dirt in an effort to elevate
the field to the level of the high lip, but that may not always be
the best solution. “If I walk out onto that field, we’re going to
cut those lips out of there and then grade the field to match up
with the lips,” Douglas said. “For the really bad ones you want to
use a sod cutter,” he said. You can also use a lawn edging tool, he
said.
BROOMS
Another good strategy to counter the formation of infield lips is
steady, preventative maintenance via the good old fashioned straw
broom. “Use a straw broom to sweep dirt back onto the infield after
each game,” Douglas said. “Over time it’ll save you from having a
big problem,” he added.
Naturally, Douglas added, caring for a field the right way is more
than a one-person job. When he was head groundskeeper at George
Mason University, Douglas said it was easy to find help. “We had the
team do a lot of this stuff,” he said. “Pitchers would work on the
mound, and hitters would work around the plate. We’d train the guys
on what needed to be done after the game and with enough help you
could pound it all out.”
When it comes to field drags, “wider is better,” Douglas said. “It’s
better for leveling areas. Use a six or seven-foot-wide drag rather
than a four-foot wide drag. The same principal applies for field
rakes, Douglas said.
MOUND AND PLATE
The two most critical areas of the diamond are the mound and home
plate. Though costly, hard-packed clay is the answer. Most
professional stadiums, including the Reading Phillies stadium, take
this approach. “We pack 100 percent clay (clay bricks) into the wear
areas of the mound and batters boxes instead of a sandy, infield
mix,” Douglas said. Clay “doesn’t blow apart like an infield mix
will,” he said.
Four to six inches of clay is a good amount, Douglas said. Keeping
the clay moist is a must. Most pro fields are better because they
add a little water.” Douglas admitted that the clay and water
approach is a high level approach that might be difficult for some
field operators or leagues, but still prefers that option. “I’ve
seen guys drag loose, dry dirt back in thinking it’s going to stay.
They’ll tamp it, but dry dirt doesn’t stick to dry dirt.”
LANDING STRIPS
Though it’s not as much of a problem with adult leagues, where
outfielders tend to move on every pitch, MSBL players who coach
their sons might be familiar with the sight of, for lack of a better
term, landing strips in the outfield – one each in right, center and
left. The holes are caused by prolonged periods of standing around
without much action. They are exacerbated by young players who dig
holes with their cleats as a way to pass the time.
There is a right way and a wrong way to attack the problem. “You
can’t just throw some seed on and make it better,” Douglas said.
“You need seed to soil contact.” Start by tilling and aggressively
raking the area, then mix in the new top soil. Next, add the seed
and rake it into the soil a little. The last step is to cover the
area with any type of mulch, hay or burlap. Some purchase
germination blankets that are good for encouraging new growth.
RAINY DAYS
Sometimes, for the long term health of the field, you should just
say no. “It’s a fine line between getting the game in and destroying
the field,” Douglas said. There are times when you have to say, ‘we
can’t go today. It’s too wet.’”
The worst solution, Douglas said, is pushing the puddles off with
brooms and the flat edge of field rakes. This may be useful in
removing standing water the first time, but it deepens depressions
that led to the problem in the first place.
One of the best solutions on the market are Puddle Pillows – highly
absorbent, sponge-like pillows that can soak up 3.5 liter of water
each and be used over and over. “By using these you’re not digging
the hole any deeper,” he said.
Another familiar product is calcined clay which comes in 40 or 50
pound bags and is a familiar site on most diamonds. Larger
gradations of these products will keep working as it breaks down,
Douglas said. Other products are made from ground up corn cobs and
are used as a top dressing sometimes on fields.
TARPS
Use with caution, Douglas said. Tarps will kill grass if they lay
around on it for too long. The big myth about tarps is that they
are used only to keep the moisture out. While that is true during
rainy times, tarps can – and should – be used on dry days. “It’s
important to keep the moisture in there,” Douglas said. After
raking, tamping, and wetting the mound, tarp it. “When you uncover
it there’s a pretty good chance it will be just the way you left
it,” he said.
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Above: how the field should look, with
lips removed |
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Above: Where drags are concerned, the
wider the better. |
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Hand-rake the dirt that meets the grass
with a field rake |
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ABOVE: sweep dirt from the grass
back into the base path after each game to help keep lips
from forming. |
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Tarps can help keep moisture in when it’s
hot and dry outside. |
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About Dan Douglas
Dan Douglas is the Director of Stadium Grounds for the
Reading Phillies Baseball Club, the Eastern League AA
affiliate for the Philadelphia Phillies. He earned a
Bachelors of Science degree in agronomy from Penn State
University in 1986, worked as the Sports Turf Manager at
George Mason University from 1986 to 1990, and now works
with the Phillies. Douglas has presided over the Keystone
Area Field Managers Organization – KAFMO – since its
inception in 1993. He was named the Eastern League Sports
Field Manager of the Year in 2009. It is the fourth time he
has received that honor. In 2001 he was awarded the coveted
Harry C. Gill Memorial Award – the highest honor awarded by
the Sports Turf Managers’ Association. |
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