Field turf

[roadshocker]

infield-outfield-all field!!!!!!!!!!! field turf is what it will be

[rrshock]

I will agree that grass looks great, but it's just not practical in Wichita. They'd be putting in pieces of sod constantly to replace dead spots.

[ShockerFever]

Outfield field turf would be a mistake. I agree with most of the sentiments from above. Make it like Kitten State, but make it REAL dirt around the bases and base paths. The fake stuff is just.. well, there's no eloquent way to put it... gay.

It seems so obvious to keep the natural stuff in the outfield. I don't understand why our coach would wanna take that out.

[CharlieHog]

Haymarket in Lincoln has grass, but maybe the minor league team takes care of the field. It seems like if it's possible to have grass in Nebraska, it's possible in Wichita. We were always told that we couldn't have a grass field in Fayetteville, because of the weather (both the snow/sleet/ice and the incessant spring rain).

But our grass looks great year round. That photo in my post above is from the HS state championships just a few weeks ago. Here is photo from the Fall World Series in October and vs. Valpo in early March (best pic I have of the field from early in the year, unfortunately).

Back when we had the turf, the players took care of the field. But when we switched to grass we hired a grounds crew. The guy that was our head groundskeeper is now the head guy for the Naturals and our current head groundskeeper we hired from a AAA club. He is only the baseball groundskeeper, doesn't take care of the football stadium or anything else (which sadly is going to field turf, actually).

To answer 85's question, yes there are a lot more seats. We have done several rounds of renovations and added a lot of seats, including a couple of hundred in the outfield. We've also added a lot more suites since the last time the Shockers were in town, and they now extend foul pole to foul pole. This past season we painted the tops of the dugouts and added screens in front of them. (And yes, the RBI girls still dance on the dugouts, the Diamond Dolls lead the Hog Call during the 7th inning stretch, lol)

To look at Baum now it's hard to even imagine how it looked before DVH got here. I remember in 1999 we hosted for the first time and had a little over 6,000 fans in attendance for our first game and I was blown away. This year we had over 11,000 fans on a Wednesday night game against Arizona State.

Almost all the stadiums in the SEC are unbelievable now. Our stadium is 13 years old but because it's been kept up it's still among the best in the country. I believe we are adding a weight room in the off-season. I'm not sure what else they could do but I would love to see us add an even bigger and better video screen. Oklahoma's is awesome.

[ShockBand]

Looks like they are going with AstroTurf GameDay Grass, which is constructed much like FieldTurf, according to the Eagle this morning.

http://www.astroturfusa.com/product/gameday-grass.html

From what the story said, they are also exploring putting it in for the whole field, and are contemplating how much real dirt to have.

http://www.kansas.com/sports/story/852066.html

[KC Shox]

Looks like they are going with AstroTurf GameDay Grass, which is constructed much like FieldTurf, according to the Eagle this morning.

http://www.astroturfusa.com/product/gameday-grass.html

From what the story said, they are also exploring putting it in for the whole field, and are contemplating how much real dirt to have.

http://www.kansas.com/sports/story/852066.html

I didn't see any big time college parks or professional parks with this turf installed, but when you look at what football stadiums have the football variation of the turf, there are a lot of high profile programs that have gone with this company. Texas, Florida State, to name a few.

[tru2thaduce]

I don't mind the turf in the infield.In fact with the new stuff it will at least matchup color wise with grass by mid April.I just hope we keep the OF grass and dirt cutouts.I like to see a few dirty uniforms now and then.To me,dirt and grass stains are as much a part of baseball as the 7th inning stretch and hotdogs.

[baseball06]

i talked to the guy who landed the contract on the turf. He said the entire field will be astrro turf but the outfield was going to be a 1/2 inch higher. He said it will make it look like a grass outfield. Only dirt on the field will be on the mound.

[shocks771]

Only dirt on the field will be on the mound.

BOO!!!! Why can't they leave the dirt around home plate and the bases also? It doesn't take that much work to keep those areas nice.

[pogo]

What about the batters box?

[shockall]

I like to see a few dirty uniforms now and then.To me,dirt and grass stains are as much a part of baseball as the 7th inning stretch and hotdogs.

The players will have to charge the pitcher on the mound to get their uniforms dirty!

[tru2thaduce]

This sucks big time!I'm not a fan of this at all.

[ShockBand]

Only dirt on the field will be on the mound.

BOO!!!! Why can't they leave the dirt around home plate and the bases also? It doesn't take that much work to keep those areas nice.

While I'm certainly NOT a fan of having the bump be the only real dirt, I can tell you that maintaining those dirt areas, especially when you practice AND play on the surface does take a fair amount of work, especially in the batters box area. However, there are methods out there for dealing with that. Since the players do/did a lot of the dirt work, perhaps they can spend some more time in the batting cages and get Jobu awake for next season?

[Shirley Schmidt]

It is about time we upgraded the field and all the way is fine with me.

A tarp for the pitchers mound is all we need.

[WstateU]

It is about time we upgraded the field and all the way is fine with me.

A tarp for the pitchers mound is all we need.

Agree... just WIN baby!