Baseball Fields Hosting Football?

As many of you saw over the weekend, both Wrigley Field and Yankee Stadium hosted football games this weekend. So, I figured I would share a couple of articles and a video of some of the preparations. Look for an additional post about the games later this week.

For an article about Wrigley’s transformation, click HERE
For an article on the history of football at Wrigley, click HERE, check out how the old configuration ran north-south

For an article on the Yankee Stadium transformation, click HERE
For a video of the transformation, click HERE

Play on!
--Jamie

Bermudagrass in the North - Round 2

As a quick follow up to the earlier post on Bermudagrass in the north, I wanted to post two more photos as the fall seasons start to wind down. These photos are from Rose-Hulman. The first photo is from the Cook Stadium at Rose-Hulman. This field has a Patriot Bermudagrass base that has been overseeded with Barenbrug Turf Star Elite ryegrass. As you can see, this field is still in excellent condition. The second photo is from the intramural fields at Rose-Hulman with the same Patriot Bermudagrass/Ryegrass overseeding. These fields have had numerous practices, games, etc and have been used non-stop since the early fall. Though not all of the Barenbrug Turf Star ryegrass has survived the traffic through the middle of the fields, the surfaces are still safe and playable.
Play on!
--Jamie

Slicer Baseball

Travels across the Midwest leads to interesting visits, on Friday the site was La Porte. I snapped a couple of photos of this interesting field. La Porte has won 8 state baseball titles, the most in the state of Indiana. Also, in 1987, La Porte was National Champions.

Play on!
--Jamie

Bermudagrass in the North?

As the Colts line up to take on the Eagles in Philadelphia today, I figured it would be a great time to spend a couple of minutes on bermudagrass. The game today will be played on bermudagrass that has been overseeded with ryegrass. Does that make a difference? Absolutely. Bermudagrass will go dormant and lose all color when weather cools and the first frost occurs. In Indiana and Philadelphia this is typically mid-late October. The turf will stay dormant until temperatures rise above 60 degrees in the spring, and then the turf will slowly start to green and will grow vigorously when night temperatures exceed 65 degrees. Please see the two photos. The first one is from the Colts training camp fields at Anderson University. This photo was taken last week. The other photo is from the Colts complex also taken last week. Both are Patriot bermudagrass. Obviously, the Colts complex has been overseeded. This practice field has seen in excess of 30 practices since Sept 1. The Eagles have a similar overseeded field. Purdue also plays on a similar overseeded field. Bottom line is, with proper maintenance, these surfaces provide a great surface for football.





In conclusion, this is something to keep an eye on. I truly believe we will continue to see bermudagrass push further north for athletic fields. For more info on bermudagrass in northern climates, click here.

Play on!
--Jamie

Late Fall Fertilizer?

It has been a difficult year to grow good sports turf in Indiana in 2010. I get a number of questions in regards to late fall fertilizer. The bottom line is, apply the late fall fertilizer application! Please see the link HERE for a great piece from Purdue.
Play on!
--Jamie