Opening Damp: Long, wet winter challenges MLBs groundskeepers

A grounds crew member works on the infield at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. (Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post)

It is by now mid-March, and the impossible has happened: temperatures have warmed, the snow has melted (even in Boston), spring seems possible and even probable, and baseball could, in theory, be played somewhere other than Florida or Arizona. Three weeks from now, every team in baseball will have played at least one game. The expectations will be there: green grass, smooth dirt, Opening Day logos.

If you talk to any groundskeeper across baseball or any professional sport, theyre never going to be happy with the field, said John Turnour, the head groundskeeper at Nationals Park. Certainly, for your home opener, you want to look your best.

And this winter, across what seemed like the forever frozen Northeast, that has presented certain challenges. Groundskeepers, by the nature of their jobs, are obsessed with weather.

Other than my wife, said David Mellor, the head groundskeeper for the Boston Red Sox, the first thing I look at when I wake up is the weather. And other than my wife, the last thing I look at when I go to sleep is the weather.

This winter, neither was a particularly enjoyable way to end one day or start the next. Boston received a record 108.6 inches of snow. Washington endured its coldest February since 1979, then got snow in March. Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York all have outdoor baseball parks, all have grass that needs to grow, all will be hosting games within a month, and none were particularly sunny about the prospect a few weeks ago.

I generally try not to look at the weather during the offseason, Turnour said. I enjoy not looking at it. But unfortunately this year, weve had to start paying attention a lot sooner than what Id like to.

At Nationals Park, thats true not only because of the cold, but because of the fact that the field underwent a complete resodding, finished just Monday. When the Nationals and the District government agreed to use Nationals Park to host the NHLs Winter Classic on Jan. 1, the club knew it would be an opportune time to put in new grass specifically, 100,000 square feet of Kentucky bluegrass over the entire playing surface. The old field had endured four seasons, so it was time for a new one anyway.

Its a very straightforward project, Turnour said, and he and his crew as well as an outside contractor hired to do the work began the work Feb. 9. They needed, Turnour said, somewhere between 14 and 21 days to fully strip the old grass, grade out the root zone effectively lowering the field a bit and then regressing. When the winter began, March 1 was the target date to have the new field in.

Its not complicated by any means, he said.

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Opening Damp: Long, wet winter challenges MLBs groundskeepers