Another ballpark upgrade for 2015: The Windy City ThunderBolts (independent; Frontier League) are installing a new artificial-turf field at Standard Bank Stadium. (more…)
Tag Archives | artificial turf
Seats, turf going in at new Hops ballpark
More milestones reached at the new home of the Hillsboro Hops (short season A; Northwest League): seating and synthetic turf are being installed this week and beyond. The photo above was taken last week and shows the beginning of seat installation on the third-base side of the seating bowl. Also started: installation of the synthetic […]
Upgrades approved for Dutchess Stadium
Dutchess Stadium, home of the Hudson Valley Renegades (short season A; NY-Penn League), will receive some $1 million in renovations and upgrades after county approval. The outlay was approved by the Dutchess County Legislature on a 21-3 vote. Most of the money will go to infrastructure, such as upgrades to the ballpark’s electrical system. In […]
Ottawa ballpark will sport artificial turf — per request of parent team?
A Class AA Eastern League team in Ottawa will reportedly play on artificial turf based on the request of its future parent team — though there’s no team there yet and no parent team on tap. Gerald Sheehan, chief financial officer for Beacon Sport — the investment firm working on a plan to buy an […]
Blue Jays considering grass field at Rogers Centre
The Toronto Blue Jays are considering a major change to Rogers Centre: replacing the artificial turf with grass. It’s not uncommon anymore to find grass at a retractable-roof ballpark — it’s been done for years in Seattle, Houston and Arizona — but it’s a challenge to add grass to a facility built for artificial turf. […]
Ohio State switches to artificial turf
Ohio State is switching from grass to artificial turf at Bill Davis Stadium, a transformation that should be completed in time for fall practices. The reason for the switch to AstroTurf GameDay Grass: more reliability. The entire field will be turf save the pitching mound; the basepaths and batters boxes will be turf as well. […]
New group takes control of Joliet ballpark
The regime change in Joliet, Ill., is complete, as a new ownership group led by Alan Oremus takes control of Silver Cross Field and sets up operations today. Now comes the fun part: prepping for the 2011 season. Steel City Baseball paid $915,000 for the privilege of playing at Silver Cross Field, along with all […]
Joliet approves Steel City Baseball lease for Silver Cross Field
The pieces are almost all in place for Steel City Baseball to field an independent Frontier League team in Joliet’s Silver Cross Field, as the City Council approved a 10-year lease; John Dittrich will be GM of the new effort. Yesterday was a big deal for Steel City Baseball, headed by local resident Alan Oremus, […]
Steel City Baseball Club LLC buys Joliet assets
Steel City Baseball Club LLC has closed on a purchase of the lease to Joliet’s Silver Cross Field and other physical assets held by the owners of the Joliet JackHammers (independent; Northern League), clearing the way for a new independent Frontier League team to play there next season. The city will consider a new lease […]
The next big thing: Artificial turf
Forget about the old days of AstroTurf, the artificial turf with practically no padding, the stuff that killed careers — or certainly impacted them, as Andre Dawson can attest. Today’s artificial turf is making a resurgence in indy and college ballparks, as the product has improved significantly in recent years. It wasn’t that long ago […]