After nine seasons as the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Senior Director of Sports Turf Management, Chris “Butter” Ball is moving up to Class AAA to Gwinnett, GA of the Atlanta Braves organization.
The Pelicans were the advanced-A affiliate of the Braves until this season, when they joined the Texas Rangers organization, and former Pelicans general manager North Johnson is an executive in Gwinnett.
“The stadium is a really great stadium and a great area to further my career,” said Ball, 35. “Myrtle Beach has been phenomenal for me. I’ve made some life-long friends and grown up here and I’m ready to punch the next ticket in the next phase of my life.”
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Wagging tails, shagging balls; it’s a dog’s life out on the field
Baseball is America’s pastime for a reason. It’s one of the most amazing sports ever invented and it brings people from all walks of life together with the common purpose of having a good time.
Ball and his staff earned five consecutive Carolina League Field of the Year Awards from 2006-10, and he was named the Class A Sports Turf Manager of the Year – presented by Minor League Baseball and the Sports Turf Managers Association – in both 2007 and 2010.
He joined the Pelicans after stints with the City of Greensboro (N.C.) Parks and Recreation and double-A Harrisburg (Pa.) Senators, and his final day is Thursday. He’s been assisting in the rebuilding of BB&T Coastal Field’s 12-year-old field since the conclusion of the 2011 season.
Corey Russell has been named Ball’s replacement. Russell was Ball’s assistant in 2009 and ’10, and spent 2011 as the assistant groundskeeper with Texas’ Class AAA Round Rock Express.