Pics from my job on the Reds Ground Crew (100+ Photos Added 1/26)

[vaticanplum]

A lot of people don't know this, but Griffey and Dunn go out at least an hour early EVERY day to do batting practice before the rest of the team. Usually Chambliss will pitch to them allowing them an extra hour to hit.

Grounds_Crew,

I have some experience writing press releases. If you don't mind, I'd like to package this up in a nice release and send it to every media outlet in Cincinnati, with a notarized copy to Marty Brennaman. If we take up a collection we can probably swing a full-page ad in the Enquirer as well.

(I'm kidding. Mostly.)

Also -- you guys are all a bunch of starstruck groupies

Great stuff, thanks for posting.

[remdog]

If McCoy didn't write Marty won't read it.

Rem

[Caseyfan21]

Thanks a lot for all the stories GC...they have been a lot of fun to read and I always enjoy getting an inside view of things. Two years ago Doug Gallant (head groundskeeper for the Reds for those who don't know) gave a little lecture at OSU as part of the freshmen lecture series. Anyways, we had a Q&A with him much like this and he was telling us how the management will come to him and ask for the infield to be different heights for different teams (higher for faster teams, etc). How often does the grounds crew get asked to modify the field like this and what other modifications are done?

Doug had also mentioned how much he liked the rookies and despised the veterans. In his words, he basically said Lark and Griff were always two of the biggest whiners about how the field played. Just curious what your opinion on this was?

[BoydsOfSummer]

Could the cologne baths be a replacement for real baths? I remember reading/seeing something about either the European basket-ballers or hockey guys aren't as regular with the showers. A culture thing.

[Grounds_Crew]

Thanks a lot for all the stories GC...they have been a lot of fun to read and I always enjoy getting an inside view of things. Two years ago Doug Gallant (head groundskeeper for the Reds for those who don't know) gave a little lecture at OSU as part of the freshmen lecture series. Anyways, we had a Q&A with him much like this and he was telling us how the management will come to him and ask for the infield to be different heights for different teams (higher for faster teams, etc). How often does the grounds crew get asked to modify the field like this and what other modifications are done?

Doug had also mentioned how much he liked the rookies and despised the veterans. In his words, he basically said Lark and Griff were always two of the biggest whiners about how the field played. Just curious what your opinion on this was?

Wow, you met Doug. That's quite random actually. He graduated from OSU, so that's probably why he was giving a lecture. He's right though, Griffey always commented on the field conditions. He would say it in a sarcastically funny manner..but he was mostly serious in his efforts. Here's the thing, Pitchers want the grass to be tall so that it slows the ball down when grounders are hit. Batters want the grass to be really short so that the ball skips across it and gets out of the infield quickly, thus allowing them more time to get to first. If the grass is short, they think the chances of the ball being fielded are greater.

As for management, they directed all of those concerns to Doug. We all just did what we were told.

For the record, Doug is a great person. I'm really thankful to him for the opportunity he gave me.


EDIT: By the way, Griffey often made really funny comments about the grass. Here's an example: He'd come out of the clubhouse and into the dugout early in the afternoon, wearing basketball shorts and a cut off t-shirt screaming, "yo...where the "heck" is Doug?" Haha, keep in mind he was being funny, not serious. Then he'd say, "Yo, I want this grass cut! If Doug doesn't get this "crap" cut, I'm gonna bring my own lawnmower out here and do it butt nekkid". Haha. He'd do this all the time. I always thought that is was incredibly funny. Doug would just laugh lightly and blow him off, haha.

[Grounds_Crew]

Could the cologne baths be a replacement for real baths? I remember reading/seeing something about either the European basket-ballers or hockey guys aren't as regular with the showers. A culture thing.

I don't think that's the case with Pena and Lopez. These guys are pretty boys. You should see them in street clothes. They are definitely into their fashion and appearance. I'm not saying that's bad, just mentioning that fact.

[Yachtzee]

Here's another technical question for you. How difficult is it to mow special patterns into the grass? Do they give you a template or something? I'm always amazed when you turn on a game and see some logo or special tribute mowed into the grass. An example would be mowing the Wishbone C into centerfield. I've also seen the Red Sox mow the "pair of socks" logo into centerfield.

[bucksfan]

I have not enjoyed a thread this much in a long time! Thanks for sharing GC. You were lucky to have the experience but, even better, you appreciate it!

[Grounds_Crew]

Here's another technical question for you. How difficult is it to mow special patterns into the grass? Do they give you a template or something? I'm always amazed when you turn on a game and see some logo or special tribute mowed into the grass. An example would be mowing the Wishbone C into centerfield. I've also seen the Red Sox mow the "pair of socks" logo into centerfield.

First of all, keep in mind what I said earlier about the direction of the grass results in the way it appears.

With that said, now consider this:

Patterns can be created with equipment ranging from reel type mowers, drag mats (kinda like the mats you see the grounds crew drag the infield with in between innings) and of course rotary mowers with rollers. Instead of a typical mower with a blade that works like a ceiling fan, all of the mowers we had were rotary. Even a roller squeegee made for water removal can be used.

[HumnHilghtFreel]

First of all, keep in mind what I said earlier about the direction of the grass results in the way it appears.

With that said, now consider this:

Patterns can be created with equipment ranging from reel type mowers, drag mats (kinda like the mats you see the grounds crew drag the infield with in between innings) and of course rotary mowers with rollers. Instead of a typical mower with a blade that works like a ceiling fan, all of the mowers we had were rotary. Even a roller squeegee made for water removal can be used.

You just ruined my visual of a poor guy toiling in the outfield grass with a pair of scissors

[Grounds_Crew]

You just ruined my visual of a poor guy toiling in the outfield grass with a pair of scissors

And a toothbrush? Oh, Oh...wait...and a cooler full of beer!

[LincolnparkRed]

So I saw that you were helping update gamecasts and things like that. How come you have to go to Pittsburgh to do it? Was it a change of scenery thing or would it be too hard to move from the grounds crew to your current job within the reds??

Thanks for the pics/info

[Grounds_Crew]

So I saw that you were helping update gamecasts and things like that. How come you have to go to Pittsburgh to do it? Was it a change of scenery thing or would it be too hard to move from the grounds crew to your current job within the reds??

Thanks for the pics/info

My girlfriend is from Pittsburgh (unfortunately - damn Steelers) so I now live with her. Luckily for me I landed the opportunity to get the gig with MLB.

[Caseyfan21]

My girlfriend is from Pittsburgh (unfortunately - damn Steelers) so I now live with her. Luckily for me I landed the opportunity to get the gig with MLB.

I'd say Pittsburgh is one of my favorite parks in the big leagues along with Detroit. My friends and I always try to make a road trip out there to catch either the Reds, Giants, or Indians (our 3 teams). However, I knew what kind of following the current Pirates team had when we went to the first fireworks night of the year a couple years ago. The stadium was pretty full and I was talking to another older season ticket holder telling him how surprised I was with the massive attendance on a bad weather night. He told me they always packed it in for the fireworks nights, best games of the year.

[919191]

Here's a more in-depth description of what I'll be doing for MLB.com.

I'll be an operator for the "sportsvision" system. The system tracks every pitched baseball, calculating its trajectory and break, for television broadcast, Internet broadcast and stadium video production.

Wow- I would get fired the first day- really bad attention span.