Grooming Baseball Fields: Tips andTechniquesarchive.lib.msu.edu/tic/stnew/article/1992oct7.pdf ·...

hose or leaf rake will do the job.When you use a broom or leaf rake

the soil is pulled inward toward thebaseline. Some field managers prefer ashovel to a broom because they feel thebroom tends to push the clay back intothe grass. If you use a hose and nozzleto blow the clay off he grass edge.becareful to keep from forming lumps andridges in the grass.

To avoid creating a lip, make a grassedge cleaning procedure part of dailyfield care. If necessary, repeat the pro-cedure after pre-game batting and in-field practice.

Some field managers will remove thelip by aerating over the problem area,and then rolling it out. If an extensivefield lip has been created, you may needmore drastic measures. To renovatesuch areas, use a sod cutter to cut the sodback along the baselines. Remove thesod and excess dirt. Use a level toreplace the sod at the proper height. Youcan use the same procedure on the areaaround the pitcher's mound.

When conditions are especially hotand dry, it may be beneficial to attachbrooms to the back of the traditional naildrag. This allows the nails to dig in welland the broom to smooth and finish theclay in the same step. This methodseems to help counteract the compac-tion a heavy tractor pulling a drag cancause. You can follow with a seconddrag to create the same cushion effect.

When standing water remains on theskinned area, you can pull a long hoseover the area to remove it. Do this asearly in the day as possible. Ifnecessary,work a calcined clay conditioner into thebaseline pathes to absorb excess waterthat the hose can not remove.

Later in the day, dragging and turfrolling will firm the surface. A seconddragging will put on the finish. You can

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moisture from the dew. If moisture isinsufficient, you can. water lightly toachieve the desired consistency.

Maintenance MethodsOne method of working the baseline

area is to use a hand rake. Somegroundskeepers prefer to rakelengthwise to avoid kicking clay ontothe grass. Rake lightly, just scratchingthe surface enough to fill in the holes.After raking, you can firm the baselinewith a turf roller, especially in the areasof heaviest wear - between home andfirst and first and second bases.

Most groundkeepers use some sort ofdrag for grooming. Field drags may beold boards or nail drags made of railroadties with approximately 1,000 nails inthem. Use these on the skinned areas ofthe field and around the mound.

Keep field finishers or drags awayfrom the adjacent turf to ensure that a lipdoes not form in the grass. Remove anysoil that is kicked onto the grass. A stiffbristle broom, flat shovel, high pressure

Grooming Baseball Fields:

Tips and TechniquesW.R. (Bill) ChestnutGolf & Turf Products DivisionJohn Deere Ltd.

Ball field grooming needs to providea safe and acceptable play area that

also looks good to stadium managementand the ballgame viewers. Providing aninfield that yields consistent bounceswhile still staying within a limitedbudget is a constant challenge.

Often, the infield area is a speciallycombined media mix, installed when thefield was constructed. The outfield areatrends to be natural soil that was in placebefore construction started. These twofield areas may have different drainageand water retention patterns, and requirestrikingly different maintenance proce-dures.

Skinned areas should be maintainedfor firmness, footing uniformity, andresilience.

The composite soil make-up of theskinned areas varies from SO-percentcalcined clay and 20-percent sand toSO-percent sand and 20-percent cal-cined clay. Other variations includeagricultural lime for baseline areas andblue clay for the pitcher's mound. Priorto the beginning of play each year, youmust bring these skinned areas up tostandards, which usually requires ad-ding more material.

Typically, your maintenance routinewould include daily light waterings onthe skinned surface to maintain softnessand scarifying to enhance resilience.Fill, roll, or tamp low spots or infirmareas as necessary. If the soil surface istoo wet for play, you may scarify thefield to accelerate drying or apply addi-tional calcined clay products to furtheraccelerate the drying process.

The baselines are often worked earlyin the morning to take advantage of the

improve skinned areas that hardenquickly and stay wet for long periods byincorporating a soil conditioner into thetop two inches of clay. When rain isthreatening, some groundskeepersprefer not to open up the clay by drag-ging until about an hour prior to prac-tice.

Put the final finish on the skinnedsurface before each game. For the finalfinish, hand rake with a specially con-structed drag or field finisher. Apply thefinish in a spiralling motion, starting atfirst base working toward third base, ina clockwise or counter clockwise mo-tion. Reverse the patterns each time toprevent uneven spots.

Using Riding BunkerRakes

When personnel hours are at apremium, riding sand rakes, such as theJohn Deere 1200 Bunker and FieldRake, can speed the process. Ridingsand rakes enable the user to groom andput a finish on ball fields in considerablyless time than raking by hand. Theoperator can even attach a small gangdrive reel mower and mow the field.

U sing the field rake, scarify theskinned area lI2-inch deep with the nar-row scarifier attachment. The con-ditioner rake should be in the downposition to loosen the soil surface andaccelerate drying. You can fill in anylow spots by using the 6Q-inch-widealuminum blade.

Avoid the grassy areas of the field

when dragging, scarifying and fmishingto avoid creating a lip at the grass edge.You can pull an aerator behind the raketo aerate and relieve the lip. If the fielddoes not dry sufficiently, use the con-ditionerrake for the fmal step. When thefield is dry, use the rear-mounted fieldfmisher for this fmal step, Apply thefmal finish in a spiralling fashion just asyou would using self-built drags.

Checking the GradeGrade conditions may have gradual-

ly altered over the years, affectingdrainage. Use a scraper blade for chang-ing the grade of an area or when yourenovate a field You can accomplishadditional field care projects quicklyand easily by using a field rake.

During the playing season, checkfield dimensions every two to threeweeks, depending on growing condi-tions. Stretch a string along thebaselines and diamond to provide astraight edge. You can use a poweredger or sod cutter to recut sharp lines.

Early in the season when there ismore grass to remove, you can use a hoeto dig out grassy clumps and fill in lowareas with clay. Keeping the clay andgrass flush with each other will allowthe ball to roll true. In the off-season,you can use glyphosate after the edgingprocedure to spot treat grass clumps

The Pitcher's MoundThe pitcher's mound is usually con-

structed of a fmner clay than the rest of

the field. Keeping the mound complete-ly flat allows the pitcher to step from therubber and remain on level ground. Youcan maintain the mound edges at anapproximate 45-degree angle down tothe infield.

You can bury mats underneath theclay of both the pitcher's mound andhome plate to prevent players fromcausing extensive damage to the fieldby digging deep holes. With the flat sideof an aluminum rake, you can fill in thebatter's box and the catcher's hole.

After each period of play, sweeploose' dirt from the holes in the moundand batter's boxes, lightly wet thedepressions, add fresh material andtamp down. If problem areas requiremore than one layer of material, wet andtamp each layer as you apply it. Main-tainbullpens in the same manner.Where possible, wet down and coverthe mounds until the next practice orgame.

Ideally, ball fields will be equippedwith irrigation systems. With or withoutautomated irrigation, adjust watering toweather conditions and field use. Keep-ing turf moist enough for proper growthwhile keeping the baselines dry is acontinuing problem. Highly used areas,such as around home plate, need addi-tional water to combat stress.

[Reproduced with permission fromsports TURF Magazine, Vol. 8, # 4,pp. 32 -33, 1992.J