Winter Sports
Removing the infield with a Terraplane rotor. Image © Taka Yanagimoto
So, what is a warning track?
The warning track is the part of the baseball field that is closest to the wall or fence and is typically made of dirt, instead of grass or artificial turf like most of the field. It runs parallel to the ballpark's wall and looks like a running track. The change of terrain from grass to dirt serves as a "warning" for fielders trying to make a deep catch that they are running out of room, since it is often difficult for the fielder to keep his eye on a fly ball while keeping track of his position relative to the wall.
Despite the warning track's presence, it is common to see outfielders crash into the wall to make a catch, due either to a desire to field the play regardless of the outcome or because they fail to register the warning.
The term "warning track" comes from Old Yankee Stadium, where an actual running track was built for the use of track and field events. This also helped outfielders know when they were approaching the wall, and soon every ballpark was using one.
The average length of the warning track (depending on the ballpark) is 690 ft while the width is 15 ft.
Removing the pitcher’s mound. Image © Taka Yanagimoto/St. Louis Cardinals
machine so we could monitor the depth of the cut and make sure we removed the exact amount of clay. The clay was hauled out of the stadium using a fleet of Toro Workmans. We removed less material in the middle of the infield skin, creating a slight crown in order to help any excess water that hit move toward the edges of the field and into the rootzone. The baselines were then cut and removed using a sod cutter set at 1.25 inches.
All of this work was being done under the watchful eye of Chelsea’s Head Groundsman, Jason Griffin, who was quite impressed with the method we were using to remove the clay and prepare the field. “This isn’t new to us,” he said of playing football in baseball stadiums. “But the process that they’re using out here is a new way of doing it. It’s very good. It is going to be nice and flat, which is what both teams want.”
The pitcher’s mound, which had been in place since the field was built in 2006, was being removed at the same time as the infield. It took the power of an excavator to get the tightly packed clay broken up so the mound could be hauled out. Like the baselines, the mound area was taken down 1.25 inches below grade as well.
The mound clay was kept in one pile, and the infield clay in another. Both piles were watered to try and keep the clays hydrated. We did not want them to get too dry, as this would make it hard to get them compacted and firm when we reapplied them to the field. When the turf arrived, we did everything we could to keep the rolls cool and in the shade, so we took advantage of Busch Stadium’s gigantic ice machines. We filled John Deere Gators with ice and hauled it outside to the staging area. We then used a special scoop we built to pack ice into each of the tubes in the turf. This lowered the temperature in the middle of the rolls, where they usually are prone to overheating and burn out. By the end of the first day, we had all of the clay removed and had installed turf at home plate, the baselines and the pitcher’s mound. The 1.25-inch thick turf lined up perfectly with the existing grass. The 6mm plastic was installed under all of the turf, and the seams were sealed with tape. We had to make sure the clay beneath the turf did not get wet, as this might make the areas unstable, and make it difficult to reassemble the field after the game. With heavy rain predicted, we covered the entire infield with
Jason Griffin and Steve Bush confirming dimensions on an iPad. Image © Taka Yanagimoto
60 PC OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2013
Baseline with clay removed. Image © Steve Bush
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