In baseball news today, the Baltimore Orioles have hired Nicole Sherry to be their head groundskeeper. She comes to the Orioles from the Trenton Thunder. She used to be the Assistant Head Groundskeeper for the Orioles for three years before she went to Trenton.Sherry becomes the second full time head groundskeeper in MLB. The first was Heather Nabozny, of the Detroit Tigers, who is busy preparing her field in Detroit for the World Series.
Having spent countless years in minor league baseball, I can tell you being a groundskeeper is hard work. The tarp pulls on your day off. Yes, everyone pulls tarp. And I mean everyone. How would you like to be that guy who had to call people at home saying “get your ass to the ballpark to pull tarp.” Well, I was that guy. Not sure how everyone felt about me at the time, but you have to understand one thing. Working for a minor league baseball team isn’t actually about the baseball for the front office, its about the all mighty dollar. The corporate sponsors, the season ticket holders, your groups, you name it; if it involved money then you could bet your bottom dollar that the groundskeeper was instructed to do whatever it takes to get the game in.
Dealing with the players and coaches on how they want the field to be can be challenging. Some coaches want the grass cut short on the infield so that their speedy bunters can use that their to advantage. Or sloping the foul lines so that the ball will stay far or foul. You name it, I have done it when it comes to that. If there’s a bad hop on the field, you can bet it’s your fault.
All in all though, its a great job to have. Where else can you get a farmer’s tan, get paid and enjoy America’s Pastime.
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