quote:Originally posted by SKeep:quote:Originally posted by Bulldog 19:Wow... my description makes it sound like we've got a horrible field. That really isn't the case as CoachB25 would probably agree to. Our head coach spends A LOT of time working on the field yearround.
Doesn’t sound horrible, but rather that you’re dissatisfied.
Almost all of the negative “issues” you mentioned are a direct result of not enough bodies to work on it, but some are literally 20 minute fixes for very little $$$$$.
The weeds on the track can be taken care of with $20 hand sprayer, and a couple ounces of roundup in just 20 minutes or so, and could be virtually eliminated by putting down a good pre-emergent.
The warning track was done poorly at the beginning. I'm pretty sure they did ]the entire thing in a day if that tells you anything. There was no plastic put down, no grass killed beforehand, etc. Our coach has sprayed it and sprayed it and sprayed it. We also used to drag the warning track using the teeth drag. Now he just lets it go because he fought it for so long and it was a losing battle.
The low spots in the IF dirt can be easily taken care of with a couple wheel barrows of additional dirt. Wet spots because they’re low on the rest of the field can easily be taken care of by topdressing with the cheapest sand you can get your hands on, and applying a half inch or so and raking it in, every 10days to 2 weeks in the growing season. If the wet spot persists, renting a small trencher and putting in some 3” drainage pipe with holes in it and covered with a sleeve to keep dirt out is really pretty easy. Takes some time and a few $$$$$, but can be done in just a few hours with the right equipment.
We've added dirt to that particular spot several times. I'm not sure if we haven't gotten dirt that is moved back toward the outfield grass which has caused the water to not drain out and off the infield dirt that way. This year a couple of times our coach cut a trench into the grass and he said that water would just gush out of there. We do have drainage pipes that run parallel with the baselines in front of the dugouts. At this point, installing additional drainage pipes would take so much time that I don't see them doing it for one season.
I really hate to see grass base paths, especially if they’re already dirt!
I liked the dirt basepaths too and I think our coach does too, but it has gotten to the point that everytime he turns around something needs to be done on the basepaths.
Why did they RAISE the plate?
Homeplate had sunk significantly. From the dugouts, you could not even see homeplate. I wonder if you could from the mound. We found when we pulled it out that the homeplate was actually broken; the padding inside of the plate was coming out of the bottom. There was a big hole that we filled in some and then we added more dirt to the homeplate area because it was a low spot on the field as well. The area needed dirt added to bring it up to the level of the grass in front of the plate.
To be honest, it sounds like nothing more than a very old ball field, a lack of funds to maintain it well, and a lack of desire on the part of the parents to donate a little labor to help. That’s not an indictment, its just a pretty normal thing. During the life of a baseball field, if little preventative things aren’t done, pretty soon things start adding up and the field degrades. It happens almost everywhere.
We used to have a baseball booster club and they were great with the funds they had. Now we have one sports booster club for the entire school and things just don't work the way they used to. Our booster club is great; just things are different now.quote:Originally posted by Bulldog 19:When we move to the new high school for the 2009-2010 school year, we are supposed to be moving to a new baseball complex which will include both a varsity and JV baseball diamond. It has been said that they have brought in a company who has designed several minor league facilities, but we aren't going to hold our breaths..
In good conscience, I’ve got to issue this warning. If the old facility is as poorly maintained as you say, a slick new facility with all kinds of bells and whistles isn’t going to solve any problems what-so-ever, other than it’ll be eye candy.
A big problem that people don’t quite get is, that new field will need even more attention than the old one because any “warts” will really be noticeable.
Since I’ve been through this what seems like a million times, I’ll offer this. Work with the designers and some local landscape gurus to develop a preventive maintenance plan! Find out the best way to keep weeds out of the grass, and the best way to get rid of the ones that do. DO other little things like put up signs warning everyone that smacking baseballs into the chain link isn’t going to be tolerated! Make sure that whoever puts in the facility, provides enough of each color of paint that will be used so touch-ups can be taken care of quickly.
Make sure any mowers used will be properly maintained so that any blades are sharp and things like adjustments work. Make sure any other field maintenance equipment is also in top shape! Spend a couple hundred buck and get a new drag, preferably 2! Along those lines, I’d make sure the base lines were not only dirt, but were at least wide enough to accommodate a drag. If you don’t like the wide lines, buy a narrower drag! There is nothing worse than using rakes on baselines!
Our current basepaths are about 6-7 feet wide.. wide enough for both the teeth drag and the screen drag to go through there and he often does. I've got to disagree about the rakes, but sure dragging it does look great if it's done right.
If nothing else, if you don’t have a reel mower for the IF, get one! Nothing looks better than grass that’s been mowed with a sharp reel mower, and the rollers help keep the field smooth.
If your gonna have irrigation, make sure the controller for the field is accessible, and that the coach can control the time on each of the stations. Make sure there’s an irrigation station and heads that will do nothing but water the IF dirt, and make sure it can only be activated manually!
Right now we're just hoping to have water out there!
Make sure there are electrical and water stubs in the dugouts, and in the OF where lights or a scoreboard might be envisioned. It’s a lot easier and cheaper to do it during construction, than later on. Make sure there is a sewer stub close at hand in case there will ever be REAL restroom facilities.
[I] I think the baseball field and softball field are going to be located in close proximity to the football field so it would be my guess that they will use bathrooms there.
Think about this because its another one that would be much easier during construction. I’ve seen a few ball fields that have MISTERS in the dugouts, and one where they had them running up the vertical backstop poles. You’d be amazed at how much they can cool off a dugout, and even more amazed at how much they’ll cool off the stands.
There’s prolly a million other things I’m forgetting, but I think you’re getting the idea. DON’T JUST SIT BACK AND TAKE WHAT YOUR GIVEN! Make sure you have some input.
I don't think it's a matter of being poorly maintained, but rather a matter of there's only so much one man can do. Pretty much the only thing our coach doesn't do is cut the grass. School district maintenance does that. But he does anything on the infield, the mound, etc.