Well, after Game 7 of the World Series a few days ago, it is now officially the off season for baseball, which really makes me sad thinking about it, but there is no “off” season for the Royals grounds crew.
The Royals are undergoing the project of ripping up the entire baseball diamond and outfield and putting in a new one for the first time since 1994, in what head groundskeeper Trevor Vance calls “a massive overhaul,” according to the Kansas City Star.
This is in part to an ever-aging drainage system that used to be able to drain 20 inches of rain every hour, but is now only draining around 5 inches per hour according to Vance. The Royals are doing this now in the off season while it’s a non-issue so they don’t run into problems when the season starts back up again.
This is a bittersweet moment for some Royals fans because that field hosted four World Series games in 2014 and two World Series game in 2015, the year in which Kansas City won the World Series. It also played host to two ALCS games in 2014 and three ALCS games in 2015, with only one ALDS game coming 2014 and three ALDS games in 2015m in what was an absolutely enthralling series vs the Houston Astros. We also cannot forget about the breathtaking Wild Card Game in 2014 that redefined the persona of this team for the last three seasons.
It also has played host to a lot of horrible Royals seasons as well, when the Royals went 58-104 in 2004 and continuing that with a record of 56-106 the following year in 2005 and a 65-97 record in 2009 so this field has a lot of history associated with it, especially if you grew up with this team and have been there with them during the dark days.
According to the Kansas City Star, the Royals grounds crew will begin the process of laying sod on November 13th, and hope to have the whole project done by November 22nd.
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featured image courtesy of KC Star