Bradenton's Turf Wizards at LECOM Park

If you’re like me, and you go to a ball game at LECOM Park, have you ever wondered how the baseball field is so well-manicured? Fortunately, I was directed to the source for all my questions.

While the Bradenton Marauders were loading their two buses on a Tuesday for a week’s worth of road games in St. Lucie with the New York Mets’ affiliate, I would be spending my early morning learning about arguably the most important piece of equipment the club uses – the playing surface.

This Tuesday morning, no Florida State League baseball is scheduled. No workouts, no weight room sessions, and no throwing in the bullpens. The batting cages are eerily silent. It’s as if I am the only soul present, and awake. My presence slowly starts to change, as I make my way to the executive offices on 9th Street West, approximately 50 miles south of Tampa.

I’m met by Rebekah Rivette, who like many in minor league baseball wears the hat of more than one responsibility, and all end with “and all other responsibilities.” The transplanted New Yorker is the Marauders’ assistant general manager who is also charged with managing marketing and game presentation for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Single-A affiliate.

We begin our short walk to the field. As we approach the back of the right field wall, a portion of it is swung open. The magnificence of the well-tailored green playing surface becomes obvious, as we enter the field, and come to a stop on the warning track. There is a man on a tractor waiting for us.

Rivette introduces me to Joe Knight. Officially, Knight’s title is assistant manager of grounds. More loosely, the Lynchburg, Virginia native is one of eleven teammates that creates the turf magic enjoyed by the Pirates during their six weeks spent each spring training at both LECOM Park and Pirate City, the Marauders season, and any other events held at either site.

Knight is what Hollywood would cast for his position. He is wearing sunglasses, and a Pirates’ cap, and is slow and deliberate in giving meaningful answers. After a very short while speaking with Knight, you know he is well qualified in his position. As our conversation grows, I can sense the pride he has, not only in himself but his team members as well, in how they maintain the field.

Just how busy is the ground crew? Just look for the two pocket schedules the Pirates’ organization prints each year. There’s a spring training schedule and a Marauders schedule. Count all the home games. Then, think of all the workouts that are penciled in at various times, even when no games are scheduled.

Knight and his fellow teammates do such a good job their work looks almost fake; like a carpet, and not grass, is what fans see. Being around baseball fields, as a player, and as a caretaker to the playing surface is how Knight is defined, along with fishing when there is downtime in his schedule.

Now in his third year working for the Pirates in Bradenton, Knight is the epitome of the adage - “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.”

“Grass doesn’t take a break,” preaches Knight, while taking a break from mowing.

Grooming grass and infield dirt, and all other areas of the fields used by the Pirates’ organization result from a well-planned schedule. The eleven-member team works year around. On game days, Knight tells of arriving at LECOM Park by 7 a.m. and can count on remaining at his post until 10:30 p.m.

As the grounds crew are deployed, according to Knight, there are regularly four team members at LECOM Park before the game begins, and they remain for the duration of however many innings are needed to complete the game.

Andrew Burnette, officially titled manager of Florida Field Operations, and to whom Knight reports to, has given his associate “the reigns” with which to keep the field up to Major League Baseball standards.

When the Marauders’ season concludes on September 3, and before the Pirates open their home spring training schedule on February 25 with the Baltimore Orioles, there are many projects to tend to. Squeezed in, come January, is the Pirates’ Fantasy Camp. Fans will get an opportunity to spend time on LECOM Park’s grounds, just as their Pittsburgh heroes of yesterday have.

Coordination and buying into a team concept that the results matter is Knight’s continuous responsibility. He appreciates his crew's hard work, at times working long hours in the often-excruciating heat. Ground crew work is more than pushing a rake, sweeping with a broom, or pulling a tarp across the infield area as inclement weather approaches.

Building relationships with fellow team members, as well as the Pirates and Marauders’ managers is also on Knight’s checklist. Coaches, too, are consulted on how the field’s conditions are, and when changes are required, often with little notice.

To Knight and his team members, the field is their office. A very large office, at that. The 12-hour days that are spring training are fun and cool, as Knight rates the time the Pirates are in town, but this schedule is a grind. Getting to see the ground crew's final product before each game is most rewarding.

There are rewards to shoot for, too. At the end of the baseball season, recognition for the field of the year and groundskeeper of the year are up for grabs. Recognition comes from umpires and visiting managers who are asked for their reviews of each homestand of the field’s condition. How’s the pitching mound, is the grass too wet—Knight and his staff always try and please.

Careers are at stake each game ballplayers are at work. Keeping the field in exemplary condition is a must. As Knight points out, as far as LECOM Park goes, being the Pirates’ spring training site is a blessing, from a budgeting point of view.

As a former infielder at the University of Lynchburg, Knight is constantly looking at playing surfaces from a player’s consensus.

“We’re always trying to be better,” explains Knight of his team’s efforts.

Again, Knight and his team find their work's highest compliment when fans look out at the green pasture in front of them and ask if it is fake. That’s a good day (and night) for Joe Knight and his staff at LECOM Park.