After 11 years of Hooks baseball and 12 years after the construction of Whataburger Field began, the Ballpark by the Bay’s playing surface received a makeover. The Hooks’ grounds crew drew one step closer to completing a resurfacing Wednesday when it laid new sod across the field.
After 11 years of Hooks baseball and 12 years after the construction of Whataburger Field began, the Ballpark by the Bay’s playing surface received a makeover. In conjunction with Ryan Sanders Sports Turf Services, Landscapes Unlimited and King Ranch Turf Grass, the Hooks’ grounds crew drew one step closer to completing a resurfacing Wednesday when it laid new sod across the field.
The undertaking started the day after the Hooks season ended when head groundskeeper Nick Rozdilski killed the existing grass at the ballpark to prevent cross contamination between old and new surfaces. October 8 marked the beginning of the process to rebuild the field as the Ryan Sanders group and the Hooks grounds crew tilled the old surface, Landscapes Unlimited laser graded it to make it even, then King Ranch Turf Grass laid the grass – Bermuda Tifway 419.
“It’s been a long month, but now we can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Rozdilski said. “The different entities that participated in this process have been a huge help and we wouldn’t be able to complete the field rebuild without them.”
“After 11 years of baseball and exposure to the elements a field just needs to refinished,” Hooks president Ken Schrom said. “We didn’t have a ton last season, but I think we’ll see even fewer bad hops this year and it will be a big help when we get heavy rains.”
Rozdilski added that the new surface should drain a little better than the old edition and that aesthetically he hopes the field looks just as good as it did a year ago.