impact players

groundskeepers are part of the game

If there’s a common thread among baseball’s head groundskeepers, it’s a genuine love for the game. Barney Lopas of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Eric Hansen of the Los Angeles Dodgers see their jobs, to some extent, as a way to remain part of the game and fuel their competitive natures.

Although Angel and Dodger stadiums are only 30 minutes apart, Hansen and Lopas have different challenges on their fields.

From high school coach to sports turf manager

Hansen has been with the Dodgers for 10 years. He was a high school teacher and head baseball and freshman football coach for seven years in Texas when he decided to make a career change. He earned an agronomy degree from Texas A & M University and for two years worked at a golf course in Austin.

“However, my interest going in was sports turf,” he says. “One of my professors was a consultant for the Toronto Blue Jays spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida. I was with them for almost six years until this opportunity came up.”

Most baseball coaches find themselves working on their field.

“I was a competitive athlete and being involved with sports turf allows me to continue that connection,” Hansen says. “What we do out here impacts the outcome of a game. So, we’re a player and an important part of what occurs here. I feel it’s a way to be involved with the game, and I really enjoy that.”

Besides Hansen, the staff includes a full-time assistant, mechanic and two others. There are three full-time seasonal people and seven more on game days. The goal is top conditions every home stand.

“When the team is out of town, I’m not concerned about how the field looks,” Hansen says. “We spend our time on things that make a difference, such as aerification, verticutting and working on the dirt and transition areas. When the team is in town, it’s strictly maintenance. We prepare a field that’s consistent for the players, and that’s key.”

For several years, Hansen has had success using Turf Groomers in the outfield. However, he says the practice requires patience to realize results.

“We started grooming the turf when the team was out of town,” he says. “Last summer we were at a point where we could actually continue grooming when the team was home. In the past, we couldn’t do that because the turf wasn’t conditioned. Maybe it’s because we stuck with it and got the turf conditioned. The turf is in good shape and the grain is under control.”

The crew cuts the outfield in two directions at 9/16 inch. One cut is with a groomer on a Jacobsen Greens King™ IV triplex mower and the second is with game reels without groomers.

“If we’re cutting home to center and foul pole to foul pole, we cut foul pole to foul pole with the Turf Groomers and home to center without,” Hansen says. “I’d say 30 to 40 percent of our cuts when the team is in town have been with groomers the last half of this season. What I mean by conditioning is when we hit the cross cut with the groomers, we don’t throw a lot of grass in the basket. We’re consistent in almost any direction we mow. It took discipline and patience to work through that.”

Grooming controls turf mat

The staff grooms to control the mat of the turf.

“With baseball,” Hansen says, “it’s about playability. The only issue outfielders have with turf conditions is when the ball snakes. If a ball is moving on an outfielder, that’s a problem; he can’t be as aggressive on a ground ball. If the turf is really bad, a player doesn’t even have to be aggressive and the ball can get by him. The player looks bad and he’s not happy. So, to improve our playing conditions in the outfield, we needed to control that grain, or mat. There are different theories on how to do it, and we chose Turf Groomers. It has really helped the playability of the turf in the outfield.”

Hansen clearly understands that resources at the Major League level are generous. What he shares with his peers in the minor leagues and elsewhere is the field’s activity schedule.

“What we do depends on the events on the field and when they occur,” he says. “We have to schedule cultural practices and maintenance around those events. As an organization we are also a team, and we work together and communicate. We have a calendar that starts with the baseball schedule. Other departments have on-field events they want to schedule. I try to work around that, but there has to be some give and take. When the team goes out of town, the first three days we’re very busy on the field. I’ve educated them on what it takes to give them the conditions they want. Of course, if management wants to book a $50,000 event on the first day, there has to be flexibility on my part.”

"Having the right equipment is half the battle toward maintaining the field" - Barney Lopas

Native soil field requires different maintenance

Lopas has been the Angels’ head groundskeeper for 10 years. He grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, and worked for the local single A team. When he graduated from high school, he became head groundskeeper. He worked with famed turf expert George Toma in Florida for three winters. When the call came from the Angels, he was managing the Florida Marlins spring training complex.

“The game of baseball attracted me to this profession,” Lopas says. “I was an average high school player, but I wanted to stay in the game.”

A Groundkeeper's Worst Nightmare
Eric Hanson of the Los Angeles Dodgers tells this story about his first days on the job. Fortunately, the anecdote has a happy ending and teaches an important lesson. “I arrived in mid-September 1996. I had come from Florida, where I managed Bermuda grass and was comfortable with what I thought I could do. Having gone through the interview process and knowing what the concerns were about the turf, I felt the best thing I could do was an aggressive verticut. The grass was really high and the ball wasn’t rolling through it the way it should. I had this done in Florida a number of times at this time of the year. “When we finished, the turf was scalped pretty good, and it looked like it. I walked upstairs, looked at the field and asked myself what I had done. I was on the concourse on the fifth level, where the rest of the organization has offices, and they wouldn’t even look me in the eye. I’m sure there were people who wondered why they hired me, and I wondered if I would make it through the last two weeks of the season. My boss said the owner, Mr. Peter O’Malley, had some questions about what I had done. “There were nine days until the team returned, and the next day I’m dumping fertilizer on the field. I’m trying to grow my grass back in one day. I’m doing everything I can to push it. At that time we contracted our spraying, and I had them in twice spraying urea on the field. It wasn’t until the day before the team came back that the grass just exploded with growth and was finally green again. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. “The lesson is to take a little time to learn about your field before you go wild and get too aggressive. In the decision-making process, it’s critical to have a backup plan. I always give myself an ‘out.’ If something goes wrong with my decision, what’s the worst that can happen and what can I do? If I can’t answer myself with something that makes sense, then I don’t do it.”
	"Turf grooming has really helped the playability in the outfield." - Eric Hansen

Angel Stadium has one of the only native soil fields in Major League Baseball.

“We bring in sand, but the profile is still a sandy loam,” Lopas says. “It’s tough to manage a flat field with no drainage. We talked about changing to a sand-based field, but it’s very costly. However, the players like it and the field looks great. Over the years we’ve gotten accustomed to maintaining it. We do a good job, so it’s hard to talk management into changing.”

There are several issues with the field because of the soil, including compaction. The crew aerifies whenever the team is out of town, at least twice a month, and pulls plugs three times a year.

“If we let aerification go, it catches up to us,” Lopas says. Then there is the transition period from mid-July to early August.

“Once the ryegrass goes out, the Bermuda grass gets thin in some areas in the infield and side areas,” he says, “which is also a result of concerts and other events we host when the team is out of town.”

Lopas bases his cultural practices on how the field looks.

“We verticut and sweep as needed,” he says, “and topdress six times a year, twice before the season and four times during. Overseeding is done in mid-September to get ready for the playoffs. I look at the clipping yield and color to determine fertilizer application. We use a lot of iron before the teams come back from a road trip.”

Lopas has been using wetting agents for about eight years.

“We use them every three weeks, and it really helps relieve compaction,” he says. “A lot of other guys might not use wetting agents as frequently as I do because their soil situation is different.”

The groundskeeper has two full-time assistants. On game days, the crew adds four people.

TV showcases field, but intensifies pressure

“I don’t get everything I want, but I get everything I need,” Lopas says. “It’s not that way in the minor leagues, from equipment to employees to fertilizers to mound clay. We spend more money here. However, we’re always under the gun. It’s intense being on television every night. If something is wrong with the field, a bad hop could take us out of the playoffs.

“When the team is gone, there may be events that give us only three days before the team comes back,” he continues. “We do the best we can every day with what we have. At the end of a 10-day home stand, the field may not look like I’d like it, but it’s the best that I can make it look.”

The infield is maintained at 3/4 inch and the outfield at 5/8 inch. The crew uses Jacobsen Greens King™ VI triplex mowers in the outfield and walk mows the other areas with a GK™ 526.

“Having the right equipment is half the battle toward maintaining the field,” Lopas says. “We have to have good, sharp mowers that are consistent. Jacobsen provides that for us.”

Lopas has no formal turf management education.

“My older brother is a groundskeeper and I was under his wing,” he says. “I learned from everyone I was involved with. I would advise young people to go to school and get a degree in sports turf management. Go to spring training complexes and work harder than everyone else. Move around as much as you can, develop your own niche and make an impact. I’ve started on fields that weren’t very good, but I worked hard and made them the best I could. Move on and on until you get to the big leagues.”