The grass is green, the sun is bright and all is well on the field at Arrowhead Credit Union Park.

 

In the next few weeks, the 66ers will host a Field Day pertaining to the daily maintenance of baseball fields. We will be covering the basics: turf selection and management, infield dirt maintenance and mound/plate repair.

 

We’ll have several sports turf professionals on hand giving you the tricks of the trade and sharing their own personal ways of maintaining a baseball field.

 

This event is for the Saturday morning groundskeepers of youth league fields, parks and recreation employees and professionals looking for that little piece of knowledge to set them apart from the rest of them.

 

For more information on the event, contact me at jhilderbrand@ie66ers.com.

 Happy New Year everyone!

 

With the week off between Christmas and New Year’s, I was pleasantly surprised when I came back to the park on Monday the 3^rd.  About 95% of the seed we placed over the dormant Bermuda grass has germinated, meaning we’ll hopefully start seeing that perfect green color that baseball fans come to expect.

 

Compared to last year, we’re looking ten times better with our over seed.  And with the recent weather pattern in Southern California, that’s great news.

 

The next two months are critical for our newly established turf.  Balanced fertility is key, and if everything goes right, the new ryegrass should be fully mature and thriving around March 1.

 

Baseball fans know the importance of a perfect field.  Nothing screams summertime like baseball, and we’re all excited with the way our field is coming together leading up to the season.  Remember the first time you saw a freshly-cut infield at a professional stadium?

 

It’s the way I want our fans to feel everyday at Arrowhead Credit Union Park.

 

Jason Hilderbrand is the Head Groundskeeper at Arrowhead Credit Union Park.  He is always available for professional or at-home lawn maintenance advice at jhilderbrand@ie66ers.com

Hello and Happy Holidays to everyone in Angels/66ers Land!

Before I introduce myself, I want to let you know that I’m going to need your help by the end of this post.

My name
is Jason Hilderbrand and I am the Head Groundskeeper for the Inland
Empire 66ers. The upcoming season will be my third with the team. Before heading
out west to California, I interned with both the New York Mets and the
Brooklyn Cyclones (A-short season Mets affiliate).

I have high hopes for
the field at Arrowhead Credit Union Park for 2011. One thing people ALWAYS notice at a ballpark is the design of the field.  The field diamond will always look the same, but in order to differentiate ourselves from other stadiums, we’re looking to deviate from simple diamond, checkerboard and straight away patterns.  We’ll use different stripe widths and angles.

If you’ve been to a ballpark before, you’ve likely seen how different fields can look. Let me know what types of patterns are your favorites!