I am dealing with some very misinformed field maintenance personnel and can use some feedback. Those in California...
How many HS's do you see with a DG infield vs an infield dirt mix?
How many HS's do you see with a full dirt IF as opposed to having a grass area?
Thanks for any observations and feedback.
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cabbagedad posted:I am dealing with some very misinformed field maintenance personnel and can use some feedback. Those in California...
How many HS's do you see with a DG infield vs an infield dirt mix?
How many HS's do you see with a full dirt IF as opposed to having a grass area?
Thanks for any observations and feedback.
As to the second one, I have seen one -- so probably <1% of the HS fields I have seen in CA -- and that was only for one year, as they put in a grass infield the next year. Maybe they're confusing softball fields with baseball fields?
cabbagedad posted:I am dealing with some very misinformed field maintenance personnel and can use some feedback. Those in California...
How many HS's do you see with a DG infield vs an infield dirt mix?
How many HS's do you see with a full dirt IF as opposed to having a grass area?
Thanks for any observations and feedback.
I would try to get ahead of this. Get the Athletic Director at your HS and both of you go directly to the Athletic Director of your district or conference. I have seen a number of fields screwed up by maintenance personnel that have no clue. Their one and only concern seems to be how to minimize the regular maintenance. The issue of the playability of the field is lost on them. Unless they get redirected by whoever they report to you could be in for trouble.
A DG infield?????
ironhorse posted:A DG infield?????
Crazy, huh ?!
Decomposed granite? Never, thankfully. Who does that? Though some bad fields have a lot of rock mixed in.
Skinned IF. Only on middle school, public park, and JV fields. Never on a Varsity field.
DG? All fun and games until those bad hops start hammering infielders right on the nose. I've only seen one all-dirt infield in So Cal....It is an Orange County school's freshman/JV field.
adbono posted:cabbagedad posted:I am dealing with some very misinformed field maintenance personnel and can use some feedback. Those in California...
How many HS's do you see with a DG infield vs an infield dirt mix?
How many HS's do you see with a full dirt IF as opposed to having a grass area?
Thanks for any observations and feedback.
I would try to get ahead of this. Get the Athletic Director at your HS and both of you go directly to the Athletic Director of your district or conference. I have seen a number of fields screwed up by maintenance personnel that have no clue. Their one and only concern seems to be how to minimize the regular maintenance. The issue of the playability of the field is lost on them. Unless they get redirected by whoever they report to you could be in for trouble.
Thanks all. Keep the responses coming. FWIW, I am very aware of how crazy the idea is and we have been fighting to get ahead of this for almost ten years. When we took the program back then, we replaced a DG field with proper IF mix and the improvements were dramatic. Of course it does require more maintenance and related upkeep materials and Adbono's assessment is exactly what we are up against. Unfortunately, maintenance supervisors, crews, AD's, admin and board members change out regularly and it seems like every year we are fighting the same fight all over again. Someone in maintenance "remembers" how much better the DG sandpit held water when it rained and how much less maintenance was involved and they start preaching to the board and admin that we should go back. This is the very short version. Just looking for confirmation that no one in California does this any more or to be enlightened otherwise.
cabbagedad posted:adbono posted:cabbagedad posted:I am dealing with some very misinformed field maintenance personnel and can use some feedback. Those in California...
How many HS's do you see with a DG infield vs an infield dirt mix?
How many HS's do you see with a full dirt IF as opposed to having a grass area?
Thanks for any observations and feedback.
I would try to get ahead of this. Get the Athletic Director at your HS and both of you go directly to the Athletic Director of your district or conference. I have seen a number of fields screwed up by maintenance personnel that have no clue. Their one and only concern seems to be how to minimize the regular maintenance. The issue of the playability of the field is lost on them. Unless they get redirected by whoever they report to you could be in for trouble.
Thanks all. Keep the responses coming. FWIW, I am very aware of how crazy the idea is and we have been fighting to get ahead of this for almost ten years. When we took the program back then, we replaced a DG field with proper IF mix and the improvements were dramatic. Of course it does require more maintenance and related upkeep materials and Adbono's assessment is exactly what we are up against. Unfortunately, maintenance supervisors, crews, AD's, admin and board members change out regularly and it seems like every year we are fighting the same fight all over again. Someone in maintenance "remembers" how much better the DG sandpit held water when it rained and how much less maintenance was involved and they start preaching to the board and admin that we should go back. This is the very short version. Just looking for confirmation that no one in California does this any more or to be enlightened otherwise.
The 3 High Schools in my local area (not Plano) just got thru pouring concrete slabs in the bullpens so they wouldn’t have to mow the grass. Left a cutout to create a mound but left no dirt at the plate area. Complete idiocy. But what would you expect from a school district that has a Coach’s contract that begins with “Wins and losses do not matter.”
Cabbage; please open this web site. Koshien is the home of the Japan HS National Championship each year. watched by 40,000 at the games and 40 million on TV.
Our American teams have played the National Team at Koshien. The HS Stadiums in each Prefecture are all dirt infields. The Regional Stadiums seat 5,000. During a game the infield is dragged in the 5th inning of the 9 inning game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpRc-Km9t3Y
In Australia, we play on "all grass" infields except for the cutouts at the bases. This year in New Zealand our teams played on beautiful fields of dirt and grass.
Bob
Consultant posted:Cabbage; please open this web site. Koshien is the home of the Japan HS National Championship each year. watched by 40,000 at the games and 40 million on TV.
Our American teams have played the National Team at Koshien. The HS Stadiums in each Prefecture are all dirt infields. The Regional Stadiums seat 5,000. During a game the infield is dragged in the 5th inning of the 9 inning game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpRc-Km9t3Y
In Australia, we play on "all grass" infields except for the cutouts at the bases. This year in New Zealand our teams played on beautiful fields of dirt and grass.
Bob
Bob, that is interesting that they chose to go with a dirt IF in a nice stadium like that. But it's go to be the exception that proves the rule, and I'm sure that in this case that dirt is pristine. If you look at the skinned IF's in our area, they are anything but. For example, when my 2017 was put on Varsity as a freshman in HS I had mixed feelings, but one of the positives was that I knew he wouldn't be losing any teeth playing SS or 2B on our horrible skinned JV field.
our kids don't mow, but they do an awful lot of raking, filling in mound holes, and general maintenance. ive watched the local college kids spend a good 20% of practice maintaining the fields as well.
JCG;
there are over 4,500 HS baseball fields in Japan and the majority are "all dirt" infield.
Koshien Stadium is like a "shrine" for the Japan HS baseball players. Only 50 teams are invited each year to Koshien for the Spring and Summer National tournaments.
New HS Stadiums are built to the specs of Koshien [dirt infield]. When our team played in Kawasaki, it rained for 8 hours and our American players believed the game to be cancelled. I told the players be prepared to play. The Japan students and JV players emerge onto the field with shovels and "huge sponges". 12 holes were dug and the water ran into the holes and removed with the sponge. We played the game. The Japan HS pitcher was clocked at 95 mph.
Fields are "all dirt" in Korea and China.
Bob
