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Ballpark Grass Is Artful Work

Red Sox groundskeeper pioneered growing trend in baseball aesthetics

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 30, 2008 6:55 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Amid the pageantry sure to accompany tomorrow’s opening of the Major League Baseball playoffs, the increasingly intricate patterns mown into stadium grass is sure to catch fans’ eyes. Red Sox groundskeeper David Mellor pioneered the technique as an assistant in Milwaukee in 1993, the New York Times reports, and disciples coast to coast have taken up the torch.

“It’s completely an aesthetic issue,” says the man who’s carved diamonds and the like into Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Ballpark, where the Phillies host Milwaukee tomorrow. “It’s never going to enhance the play on the field.” Mellor produces a new design whenever the Sox return to Fenway Park, to prevent permanent tendencies in the grass. “Literally, every day I walk out here I get goose bumps,” he says, though “safety and playability are always my first priority.”

The Boston Red Sox logo is among the camera-friendly patterns cut into major league fields.
The Boston Red Sox logo is among the camera-friendly patterns cut into major league fields.   (AP Photo)
The St. Louis Cardinals honored Hall of Famer Stan Musial by cutting his number into the swath of grass beyond the outfield.
The St. Louis Cardinals honored Hall of Famer Stan Musial by cutting his number into the swath of grass beyond the outfield.   (AP Photo)
A groundskeeper mows the grass in left field at Fenway Park in Boston.
A groundskeeper mows the grass in left field at Fenway Park in Boston.   (AP Photo)
The Boston Red Sox logo is shaved into the infield grass ahead of the first game of last year's World Series.
The Boston Red Sox logo is shaved into the infield grass ahead of the first game of last year's World Series.   (AP Photo)
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What's happening on top of that pretty grass
Yahoo

On an up-and-coming groundskeeper
Post-Standard (Syracuse)

The postseason schedule
MLB.com

But how do they do it, exactly?
How Stuff Works

 
Philadelphia Phillies • Boston Red Sox • Fenway Park • stadium • baseball • Citizens Bank Park • grass • David Mellor • lawn mower • outfield

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