Sunday, February 26, 2012
The Offseason
What to make of the offseason in baseball? What do we do? Of course, a turfgrass manager in Minnesota will have a different winter than a colleague in California. Many professional baseball facilities have various activities from November into February. This past winter saw college football bowl games in San Francisco and New York, while Oakland continues to have the tough task of pro football sharing the field with big league baseball. Both Philadelphia and Boston had hockey rinks across their diamonds this winter. And in California, Anaheim and Los Angeles both hosted huge dirt motocross events. Other ballclubs have either corporate or revenue generating events in the offseason if their climate allows it.
In Minneapolis, we have been fortunate to have a light winter of snowfall thus far, although it looks like that will change by this Wednesday. This winter my crew has rewrapped all of the wall pads at the ballpark with fresh vinyl. After 86" of snow last winter, we have enjoyed the chance to catch up on projects, as our snow removal duties in and around the facility have been light. March tends to be a very difficult month in many parts of the country with the weather, but rest assured the grounds crew at your favorite ballparks are up to the challenge. One of the things major league groundskeepers do every January is meet as a group. Here is an article about our: annual big league groundskeeping activities. This year was our 14th annual meeting. All teams are invited and nearly all show up. In addition to meeting, we renovate a field along with the tremendous support and contributions from the Baseball Tomorrow Fund. Our founding sponsor companies for the meeting are The Toro Company, Turface Athletics, and Covermaster, Inc. They have contributed greatly to the ongoing success of our meetings and field renovations.
- Larry
In Minneapolis, we have been fortunate to have a light winter of snowfall thus far, although it looks like that will change by this Wednesday. This winter my crew has rewrapped all of the wall pads at the ballpark with fresh vinyl. After 86" of snow last winter, we have enjoyed the chance to catch up on projects, as our snow removal duties in and around the facility have been light. March tends to be a very difficult month in many parts of the country with the weather, but rest assured the grounds crew at your favorite ballparks are up to the challenge. One of the things major league groundskeepers do every January is meet as a group. Here is an article about our: annual big league groundskeeping activities. This year was our 14th annual meeting. All teams are invited and nearly all show up. In addition to meeting, we renovate a field along with the tremendous support and contributions from the Baseball Tomorrow Fund. Our founding sponsor companies for the meeting are The Toro Company, Turface Athletics, and Covermaster, Inc. They have contributed greatly to the ongoing success of our meetings and field renovations.
- Larry
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About Me
- Larry DiVito
- Welcome to my blog. I am Larry DiVito, Head Groundskeeper for the Minnesota Twins. DISCLAIMER: content within this blog does NOT represent views or policies of the Minnesota Twins or Major League Baseball.This turfgrass management blog will provide insight into the work of a big league groundskeeper and his crew. I grew up in California playing and coaching baseball, while also working on fields along the way. In 1995 I was fortunate to be hired as Head Groundskeeper for the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox, where I spent seven seasons. In 2002 I became the Assistant Groundskeeper at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. I worked for four seasons in LA from 2002-05. In 2006 I became the Head Groundskeeper for the Washington Nationals in Washington, DC. After three seasons there, I moved to Minnesota in the spring of 2009 as Head of Grounds for the Twins during the building and completion of Target Field.
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