September 23 – Two sentences in red letters stand out on the chart posted in the office of Mariners groundskeeper, Tim Wilson. The 8 by 11 page shows a four-week shift schedule for members of Wilson’s day shift, most of which are marked green to indicate Mariners’ home games — that is, except for the red text.
The first part says ‘Crane on the field’. That thought makes Wilson stressed. He loves the field, loves his job and loves the attention to detail it takes to maintain a pristine playing surface like T-Mobile Park. He jokes with one of his assistants that he might be playing golf that day because he doesn’t want to watch the event staff roll a crane onto his field.
The second sentence – “concert” – explains why the crane was there. T-Mobile Park hosted the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Aug. 3, meaning the crane rolled in three days before setting up the stage in the outfield and laying the floor. Ten thousand people standing on the ground can damage the grass below, and covering the grass with portable carpeting limits sun exposure and traps moisture, which can lead to possible diseases. Spilled drinks seeping through the openings in the floor won’t help either.
“It seems like it gets more and more every year,” said Kevin Dvorak, one of Wilson’s assistants, of the other events on the field. “As far as everything on the field goes, baseball is the easiest, most routine for us. And the most fun – that’s what we’re here for.”
The job was baseball-centric when Wilson joined the Mariners groundskeeper in 1999, where he worked under former chief groundskeeper Bob Christofferson. But over the years, the stadium turned into a multi-purpose facility that hosts weddings, graduations, concerts and magical Christmas activities.
The behind-the-scenes roles of Wilson and his staff are full of intricacies and details, both in preparation for concerts and at each of the Mariners’ 81 regular-season home games. Maintaining an MLB margin comes with a spotlight, Wilson said, and the workload isn’t light. They have already started planning the 2023 All-Star Game, a “showcase” for the field. But despite busy schedules, the passion Wilson and his crew share for grounds management, which they consider an ‘art’, is evident throughout the season.
“The best field in the league, and I haven’t always said that, but what Tim and his team have done is phenomenal,” said Mariners manager Scott Servais. “Really – the grass, the dirt – our players love it.”
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The morning after a concert is probably the most nerve-racking, Dvorak said. The crew has the floor system removed and the field cleared as soon as possible so they can assess the damage before the Mariners return home, often with a quick turnaround. By now they have done it so many times that they know what to expect. “We’re always happy when it’s not as bad as it could be,” Dvorak said.
Sometimes they had to reseed large areas of midfield where the podium is usually set up. If there was ever too much damage, they would call their distributor in Moose Lake and buy the same type of turf: Kentucky bluegrass overseeded with perennial ryegrass.
But for the most part, the crew turns to their “sod farm” nursery behind the center field wall, where they grow an extra patch of grass to sod again. That grass has the same fertilizer and fungicide treatment schedule and watering schedule as the field itself – that way the consistency and coloration will match if a small patch needs to be replaced.
The sod farm is also useful for regular game days. If midfielder Julio Rodriguez repeatedly digs his cleats into the same lawn, it could lead to a “worn spot” that the squad reseeds to keep the pitch as lush and healthy as possible.
Those are the kind of minor imperfections that only the crew notice. If there is a small gap between the mowing lines, they call it a “mohawk.” If there is a slight bend in the straight lines of a mowing pattern, they call it a ‘banana’. Both are easy fixes, but they’re still a good laugh for everyone involved.
“It doesn’t affect the playability of the game,” Wilson said of bananas. “But I’m still going to laugh at someone for it, and they’ll laugh at me if I do the same.”
The crew places great value on aesthetics, but playability and safety are far more important. For example, Dvorak is talented and creative enough to mow the Mariners logo directly into the grass of the midfield, but he wouldn’t because the ball would change direction if it bounced.
The playability ties into everything the crew does on a daily basis. And for the grass in the outdoor and indoor fields, this is directly correlated to the health of the plant.
The crew uses a Toro Reelmaster 3100-D in the outfield and hand-powered mowers in the infield to change the grass pattern on each home stand. The mowers have steel drums that push the grass in one direction, forming the pattern visible from the stands. But pushing the grass in the same direction continuously isn’t all that healthy, so every few days they let the grass get up and breathe.
To do that, the crew performs a “neutral mow” that erases the pattern and gives the grass a break when the team moves out of town. A few days before the Mariners return, they discuss and implement the latest pattern.
“I do have allergies,” day crew member Carl Gaube said after completing a neutral mow, dumping a bin of grass clippings. “But Zyrtec works wonders.”
Gaube and crew mowed the grass to ⅞-inch and maintain that. But especially in the summer, when the grass has a lot of sunlight, they also use spring tines to implement “dethatching,” which keeps the grass from becoming too dense by removing thatch and organic buildup, said Ryan Nagy, Wilson’s other assistant. Otherwise, the ball may “snake” by rolling back and forth in a more unpredictable manner, or not roll quite fast enough.
Wilson likes the summer heat because extra sunlight is better than none. Seattle’s climate is ideal for grassland cultivation, Dvorak said, but it becomes challenging during early spring and late fall. The right field and sidelines of first base don’t get sunlight for two months, so they have to drive in “growth lights” for artificial sun, Nagy said. The field is only watered once a week, otherwise too much moisture will become trapped, leading to disease.
In that summer heat, Dvorak arrives at 6 a.m. to water the field on an 85-degree day in late July, among other duties. Of course the grass needs more water when it’s hot, but so does the dirt.
The crew usually manages the irrigation system for the grass in the outfield, but waters the dirt on the field by hand to avoid inconsistencies. On a hot day, that means watering every few hours so that the dirt is evenly moistened throughout. Dvorak demonstrates by digging a wrench simulating a baseball cleat stud into the dirt and then pulling it out. If the level is right, there will be no disturbance in the surface (not too hard so the key won’t go in, and not too soft where it leaves a dimple).
They also use moisture meters to get more accurate readings, explains Nagy. It spreads Turface as a top coat, meant to soak up moisture like a sponge, and an extra layer of shale product, meant to keep the moisture in after it’s absorbed. Wilson himself will go out minutes before the first ball to lay the “finishing touch” of the water.
“It’s a grind during the season,” Wilson said.
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It’s all an art. Before the season, they had done laser-grading work in the field, creating a perfectly flat surface. AJ Montoya, a day crew member, works on the hill every day. He meticulously repaints the dirty lines with string and a wheelbarrow of paint, which Wilson prefers to chalk.
Jay Herrick works the hill every day. He adds BlackStick Mound Clay, and his Twitter handle “@Sir_Tamps_a_lot” refers to the process of “tamping” in which he packs and levels the mixture of tilled soil, sand, and clay.
“I’m an artist, so I like to get everything tuned,” said Herrick, a day crew member. “Aesthetics is what I go for.” (He’s also, quite literally, an artist. Wilson said he paints a lot on the side too.)
Technology has made the gardener’s job a little easier. With his phone, Wilson can operate the irrigation system, monitor the moisture levels of six buried sensors in the field, and access security cameras that show him the field. He checks a few times a day.
While it helps to improve work-life balance, as the crew doesn’t always need to be in person to monitor field conditions, Wilson is still often on the field. That morning, in late July, Dvorak texted Wilson at 4:45 AM about that day’s game plan, and Wilson replied within 30 minutes.
“There’s a lot that I take on, but there’s a lot that I enjoy going to work every day,” Wilson said. “Sometimes you just can’t turn your brain off if you love what you do.”
Wilson and the day shift watch batting drills and infield grounder drills every day. They provide a smooth transition from indoor grass to infield dirt to outdoor grass: no sudden bounces. They also check the edges (where grass and dirt meet) to make sure the ball doesn’t change trajectory unexpectedly. It’s an area they’re continuously working on to improve, Dvorak said.
Borders are one of Wilson’s hobbyhorses. The crew laughs at him for it, but he wants them to be “perfect” so they have an edge twice per house. That’s because the sharpness makes the field look more pristine, which isn’t the case at Wilson’s or Dvorak’s gardens at home.
Back at T-Mobile Park, days after the Red Hot Chili Peppers, fans can still see the notches where the stage was set up. Aesthetics are part of the job, but there’s only so much they can do. Besides, Wilson always goes back to playability.
He builds relationships with the players by talking crap or just hanging out so they feel comfortable coming to him if there’s something they want to change.
“The feedback has been great,” Wilson said. “The most important thing for me is to stay consistent, so every day they go out they know they’re getting a consistent playing field that will play well for them. In the end, we’re all there for them, and I want them to know that.”
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