sign in sign up
<<
Home , Milwaukee County Stadium

Harry Gill: Man of the Year

Gill on right with Brewer ...

ixteen years ago, Harry Gill knew he now has more than 800 members. He has moving the All Star game, which was was about to lose his job as a golf brought the sports turf industry together scheduled for July at the , to Scourse superintendent in Rockford, more than any other individual, inspired another city. I knew turf, but I had only a IL. To make matters worse, he and his universities to teach athletic field manage- good fan's knowledge of baseball:' family lived in a house on the course. For ment, and unselfishly groomed grounds Gill met Paul at the stadium the following months, he had mailed resumes out to keepers for other across the Saturday uncertain that he wanted the job. several courses in Illinois and . country. He'd have to move his family to Christmas approached without another job Selecting Harry Gill as the recipient of and learn an entirely new line of work. He for the 54-year-old self-made superinten- the 1990 Golf & SportsTURF Man of the now had an offer from a chemical company dent and groundskeeper. Year Award was one of the easiest deci- to sell fertilizers to golf courses. Golf had Gill had no idea that his career was about sions we've had to make since starting the been his life for 20 years. At this point in his to make a big turn, one that would take him magazine five years ago. His contributions life, as it wise to change careers? away from golf into th'e rather .exclusive and to both the sports turf and golf course "I was cocky and could have blown the secretive field of stadium grolJndskeeping. industry are equalled by few. He brings as whole thing that day with my attitude," Gill For in 1975, Harry Gill became a Milwaukee much honor to the award as the award recalls. Maybe the cockiness is what Paul Brewer and proceeded to change the world brings him. liked. The job was to maintain the entire of athletic field management, not only for "When Gabe Paul Jr. [vice president of stadium. He had years of experience in stadiums, but for colleges, high schools operations for the Brewers] called my house building and park maintenance. Gill took and parks. in January 1975, I didn't return the call for a the job under certain conditions. This fall, at In 16 years, he lifted the lid of secrecy, week," chuckles Gill today. "He got my the age of 69, he will retire but stay on to sought and developed new techniques in resume from someone else. The field at Mil- consult for the Brewers. athletic turf management, and helped start waukee County Stadium had been called On April 3, 1975, Gill walked out onto the an association for sports turf managers that the worst in baseball. There was talk about mound at Milwaukee Country Stadium and 20 Golf & Sports TURF stared at the infield dirt for nearly ten game. On a Thursday we removed the initiated law suits against minutes. "The turf didn't bother me," he damaged sod from the infield. That's when the county which operates the stadium. points out. "It was the dirt and all the field we noticed that there was a bubble of dirt With league officials looking over his shoul- preparation that had me worried. For- four inches high, extending from the der, Gill proceeded to solve the problem. tunately, I had a good older crew with lots of basepaths into the infield turf from first to Gill's plan was to take healthy Merion sod ideas they had been holding inside for third. The rock fans on the field had kicked from outside the foul lines (hips) and use it years. We agreed that I would listen to them dirt into the diamond turf and ruined the to fix the infield. Then he would sod the hips if they worked with me as a team. I knew grade." with the common. The crew started by then,and I am still convinced, that the peo- Between the two concerts, four player removing the infield dirt and the bubble ple around you are your greatest resource:' protests had been filed with the league between first and second. "We hit t~~ origi- Then Gill got on the phone to the major about the field. Both the Brewers and the continued 'on page 22 turf suppliers and sod growers in the area. He also called Dick Ericson with the Min- nesota Twins 'and George Toma with the Kansas. City Royals. "I picked brains 'as much as I could," Gill admits. "Not all stadium qroundskeepsrs were: willing to share their knowledge of baseball field Why wetting management. That, bothered me:' Time has.eased the pressure of that first agent users are season, b,ut Gill's description of his first eight months' as a major league ground- turning to skeeper is enough to send chills up the spine of anyone starting out. The All Star Pene-Turf soil game was July 12. In May, a Seals and Crofts concert wiped out 5,000 square yards treatment. of turf. Gill managed to locate enough Merion sod to repair the damage before the next home stand. A continually growing problem for turf managers is that of compaction On June 8, the stadium hosted a Rolling reduces porespace, resulting in decreased air and water movement through Stones concert, followed two weeks later by the soil. Wettings agents are often used to temporarily relieve the a concert. "I don't know why any- svrnptorns.but wetting agents work only of the surface tension of surface one puts chairs out on a field," Gill com- water-improving infiltration in the top several inches of the soil. ments. "The 12,000 kidson the field for the Pene-Turf Soil Treatment does what a wetting agent will do, but where the concerts never sat down. They just stood, wetting agent stops, Pene-Turf continues, Pene-Turf works on the real probe danced, and jumped up and down." The tern. compaction. Pene-Turf reduces the surface tension of soil water,which result was another 5,000 square yards of allows the compacted soil to shift, and it works several feet deep in the soil, destroyed turf on the field, with less than Thisresults in increased pore space, improved percolation, and deeper water three weeks to go before the All Star game. infiltration, In addition, Pene-Turf requires less applications than wetting. This time, sod growers were fighting dis- agents and is non-phytotoxic. eases on their Merion fields and couldn't UR STAR 2275 N. State Road 1, P.O. help Gill. All they had was common Ken- Box 463, Bluffton, IN 46714 tucky bluegrass. GRICULTURAL Toll-Free: 1-800-348-2608 "I couldn't have an infielo that was half SERVICES, INC. Indiana: 219-824-5384 Merion and half common," Gill recalls with *f This product is available as Perk Soil Treatment in the following states - alarm'. 'TheWhite Sox were corninq in eight ...... AK. AZ, CA,r.O.HI.ID,MT,NV,OR.UT,WA •.•••••••••• days, followed a day later by the All Star • Circle 104 on Postage Free Card

Without a 'Line-Ward Line Laying M~:~;~i,ne, You Could Be Missi'righThe Best Buy On The Market.

• Not just low maintenance • Reduces Follow-Up and downtime, but with • 800 Lb. Rugged Package proper care the gear case • The L-2 Can Literally may never have to be opened Turn On A Dime for repairs Actually Makes Right Angle Turns • Continuing to make a Call For A Free On-Site Demonstration Or, record number of drops in- Write For Our Color Brochure service for more than 16 years [L-.....- 1Line-Ward Corp. • Moves On Tracks, Not . ~ 157 Seneca Creek Road Wheels, For Superior Traction COAP Buffalo, New York 14224 (716) 675-7373

Circle 105 on Postage Free Card January, 1990 21 Man of the Year a stadium, but they could still adapt stadium continued from page 21 "Groundskeepers methods to help their institutions. nal stakes three to four inches below the They all knew that time was somethinq surface," Gill recalls. used tricks to give stadium groundskeepers had little of. They The clay mix was stockpiled while the could barely handle the growing number of crew cut the remaining healthy Merion from their team the requests for help from schools and parks. A outside the foul lines. N3 the grade was way to provide information on field con- restored between first and second, the crew advantage. Gill struction and maintenance to those who began laying the Merion cut from the field. needed it had to be developed. The process was then repeated between thought everyone Stadium groundskeepers also needed a second and th ird. way to prove that they were doing all they The final step was to install the common should know what could for their teams. "If your team won on Kentucky bluegrass sod outside the foul the road and lost at home, the players and lines. "Each load of sod was a different those tricks are." coaches put a lot of heat on you," recalls color, from dark green to yellow," Gill Ericson. "There were no standards to follow, just vague guidelines. Groundskeepers laughs. "We ended up with a checkerboard cation and achievement. By then he had used tricks to give their team the advan- pattern that was impossible to miss:' already survived another potential disaster. tage. Harry thought everyone should know He called in the county painters on Wed- On August 8, the played what those tricks are to make the game fair nesday, two days before the series with the an exhibition game at Milwaukee County for the groundskeeper as well as his team. White Sox. "I gave the painters one radio Stadium in the rain. If that wasn't hard "Harry was different," adds Ericson. "He and took another radio to the upper deck of enough on the turf and dirt, 1,800 Shriners let out all his secrets. He was always trying the stadium," he remembers. From his van- marched on the field during halftime. Hav- to improve things, not just for himself, but tage point in the stands, Gill instructed the ing resodded twice that season, and with anybody who was interested enough to ask. painters on the field where to spray green two months of baseball and four more dye for a uniform appearance. Packer games, Gill was determined to He learned and he shared, so today he is On Thursday, Brewers owner repair the turf he had. one of the best groundskeepers in profes- and two lawyers met Gill on the field. The Gill knew from his work on golf courses sional sports, especially when you consider question was simple and directed to the and also from talking with Ericson, that he has an outdoor multipurpose stadium:' new groundskeeper: "Will the field be ready perennial ryegrass could be overseeded Before Christmas 1980, Gill wrote a note for the All Star game?" With the confidence into thin areas to bring them back to life in each card he sent to his long list of of a person with 30 years' experience in quickly. He also recognized that core aera- groundskeeper friends: "What do you think turf, Gill replied that the field would be tion provided holes to protect the seed while about starting an association for managers ready. it germinated, relieved compaction, and of sports fields?" The response was over- On Friday morning, a large headline on produced topdressing. Before the first whelmingly in favor. He invited everyone to the sports page of the Milwaukee Sentinel regular-season Packer game the stadium attend the meeting at the Midwest Turf Con- read, "Groundskeeper Says Field Not So field was green, dense and soft. ference that coming March to work out the Bad." That night the series with the White That winter Gill made two trips which details. Sox started without a hitch. strengthened his belief that sports turf "When I walked into the room that Doc After the last Sox game on Sunday, Gill managers had to share their experiences. Daniel set up for us at Purdue, 150 seats brought the painters back in to touch up the The first was to in Boston, were set up," Gill remembers. "I thought, no common bluegrass. The following morning where groundskeeper Joe Mooney had way are we going to fill this room. But we hundreds of press and players poured onto earned a good reputation with players. The did. I think it surprised a lot of people. Most the field for the traditional interviews. Mean- second was to Purdue University in Wast of those who came were school and park while, Gill carefully outlined his strategy to Lafayette, IN, site of the Midwest Turf Con- groundskeepers worried about keeping the crew and painters. ference. There, Dr. William Daniel shared their fields in shape with increasing use. As soon as the reporters, photographers his experiments with sand-based rootzones They needed answers right then and there and players left the field, the crew ran out to for golf greens and athletic fields with Gill. to help them get through the coming year:'

perform their assigned tasks according to It was also where he met John Souter, a !~ Gill's schedule. He has become known for builder of sports fields from Scotland. timing all field duties with a stopwatch, a Gill asked Daniel if the university would practice which came in handy that night. provide a meeting room during the next As the field was being mowed, Gill made Midwest Turf Conference to hold separate several trips into the stands to check the sessions on sports field care. Daniel suq- pattern. When he was satisfied, the painters gested that Gill enlist the support of Erik refreshed the white lines on the turf. Mean- Madisen, executive director of the National while, other crew members worked like a Institute on Park and Grounds Manage- precision drill team on the mound, batter's ment. Madisen, who had begun to offer box, bull pens, and basepaths. Each dirt sports turf management seminars, area was wet down and covered upon com- promised to help. pletion. When Gill returned to Milwaukee, he At four o'clock the following morning, the called Ericson, Toma, Barney Barron a.t painters returned to dye the entire field , Dale Sandin at the green one final time. As the crew was Orange Bowl, Roger Bossard at Comiskey touching up the dirt and chalking the lines, Park, and Pat Santarone at Baltimore's Selig walked out onto the field accompa- Memorial Stadium for their ideas. They all nied by two giants in baseball, Commis- agreed that it was time to remove the veil of sioner Bowie Kuhn and American League secrecy hanging over athletic field main- President Lee McPhail. Upon looking at the tenance. There were thousands of grounds field and a brief conversation with Gill, they managers at parks, schools, and universi- dropped all lawsuits. ties who needed to know the elements of Four weeks after the event, Gill was maintaining high-use athletic turf. These Milwaukee County Stadium. presented with an All Star ring for his dedi- people may not have the budgets or staff of 22 Golf & Sports TURF Gill may have been the first TURFeD M ETE-R-MATIC II stadium groundskeeper to use TOW-TYPE TOP DRESSER a helicopter to dry a field to Top dressing levels existing turf on prevent a rainout. athletic fields while stimulating growth and improving soil conditions. Repeti- tive top dressing fills in the low spots That night in Gill's hotel room in the student union, seven peo- and also promotes the decomposition ple gathered to work out the details of starting an association. Among them were Toma, Daniel, Ericson, Madisen, Purdue of thatch. groundskeeper Steve Weisenberger, Wisconsin landscape con- tractor Roy Zehren, and Mike Schiller, park superintendent from Northbrook, IL. The Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) was officially formed that evening with Ericson as president, Daniel as vice president, Weisenberger as treasurer, Gill and Toma as board members, and Madisen as the executive director. For two years, STMA provided educational sessions at both the Purdue and the NIPGM conferences. Other stadium ground- skeepers joined the cause to help the association keep up with the demand for field information. Steve Wightman from Denver , David Frey from Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Tony Burnett from RFK Stadium in Washington, DC, and Sam Newpher from the Braves pitched in to take some of the load off of Gill. Many state extension services started to include sports turf management in their turf programs, including Ohio, Mas- sachusetts, Nebraska, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vir- ginia, Maryland, and California. The most successful of these was the Sports Turf Institute at California Polytechnic Institute in Pomona. Professor Dr. Kent Kurtz, groundskeeper Mark Hodnick, and the department of horticulture organized the conference and exhibit, attended each March by more than 300 area turf managers. Kurtz, an Illinois native, shared Gill's vision of what STMA could • Top dress an be. He started helping Gill and the rest of the STMA board on athletic field in evenings and weekends from his home in Ontario, CA. In 1984, the board voted to make Kurtz executive director and turn it into under 2 hours an independent association. Within five years the membership increased from 60 to 800, before Kurtz had to resign for health • Easy loading reasons in 1989. with a front continued on page 24 end loader

18.3 cubic foot hopper • capacity reduces both top dressing time and labor costs • 60" width swath f:\ The adjustable metering gate ~ accurately controls the flow of top dressing. Pin Hitch makes {;\ The high-speed, rotating brush • ~ catches the top dressing from attachment to tractor the conveyor belt and drives it down to the base of the turf. or turf truck easy and o A heavy-duty, composition, \.V conveyor belt carries the top quick dressing from the hopper through the metering gate to the brush. Top dressing flows evenly and accurately. Ideal for sports turf • application TURFCO MFG., INC. 3456 N. Washington Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55412-2688

Ph. 612/588-0741 ~ ~l_el_eX_5_1_0_60_1_3_76_2 ~

Circle 106 on Postage Free Card January, i990 23 Man of the Year now turf manager at San Diego/Jack Mur- continued from page 23 phy Stadium in San Diego, CA. Gill's part in the creation of STMA too "A few years ago, Dr. John Street at Ohio often overshadows his other accomplish- Gill has become State University called me up and said he ments. From his first job at West Bend Alu- had a turf student that wanted to be a minum Company in 1944, he has always close friends with stadium groundskeeper. I didn't have any sought extra responsibility and showed a openings at the time, but I told him to send knack as a problem solver. His willingness celebrities of all the student up to work that summer," says to try new things took him from the produc- Gill. His name is David Mellor and he is now tion line outside to the landscape of the cor- types, from players Vandenberg's assistant at the stadium. poration, and then to its golf course (West During his career, Gill has managed the Bend Country Club) as superintendent. ' and managers to stadium through many special events. "I used to polish aluminum kettles in the Beside rock concerts and dirt events, he factory during the winter and then plant movie stars and has directed the care of the field and the trees, turf, and flowers around it during the stadium through a and the summer," reflects Gill. "I loved being out- announcers. filming of motion pictures ("Major League" side and getting involved with all sorts of to name just one). In the process he has things from landscaping to blacktopping become close friends with celebrities of all roads. One day I was called to the types, from players and managers to movie boardroom by Bernie Ziegler, chairman of Ericson at the Metrodome in Minneapolis stars and announcers. "They all like to visit the company. The board was meeting and thinks the efforts of Gill to increase commu- my office under the stadium to get away and I thought they might be having a problem nication among groundskeepers led to shoot the bull," he reveals. with lights or a projector. more specific standards for field main- Another of Gill's big challenges involved "I walked into this fancy paneled room tenance. "The old rules said the mound had , the Brewers' new with a big mahogany table surrounded by to be about 15 inches higher than home facility in Chandler, AZ. II' all the bigwigs. To my surprise, they wanted plate," says Ericson. "Without rules, the December 1984, General Manager Harry to talk to me! The professional at the coun- pitching rubber would be anywhere from 10 Dalton approached Gill and said, "Can you try club had quit and they fired the superin- to 18 inches high, depending on where you get away for a few days?" Dalton wanted Gill tendent. They wanted me to take over. All I played. Sometimes the catcher couldn't to look over different parcels of land in knew about taking care of a golf course was even see second base. Chandler for the complex. A site was what my son, the caddymaster there, had "The rules also didn't say anything about selected and plans were reviewed that sum- told me:' the slope of the mound. If you had a power mer by Gill. The first thing Gill did was call in all the pitcher, the groundskeeper could build the Chandler presented the Brewers with a area equipment distributors to suggest mound up to provide a steeper slope in tough challenge. A city ordinance restricted what he needed and give him a bid. "Bob front. If the pitcher was sidearm, you'd lower the height of any building to one story. To Reinders (Reinders Turf Equipment Co.) the mound to ten inches and decrease the meet this requirement, the field had to be was just starting out," Gill laughs. "His bid slope. Today, the league requires that the built 40 feet below grade. .was lowest but he didn't have a place to put mound is ten inches high with a slope of Just before Thanksgiving, Dalton came the equipment toqether, Jacobsen sent all one inch per foot. This helps the ground- to Gill with a problem. The job wasn't on .the equipment to the course in boxes and skeeper by eliminating last-minute changes schedule and he wanted Gill to fly to Chan- we had to put it together ourselves:' to fit certain players:' dler and check things out. He was alarmed Gill immediately sought advice from I Gill is a teacher as well as a manager. His that the project was eight weeks behind. other Milwaukee superintendents. He read willingness to snare is greatest with those With only three months to go before the every book on golf course management he just starting out. He can detect if someone opening of spring training, Gill was given :~couldfind, and then put together a list of 30 is dedicated to being a good ground- the assignment of making sure the complex questions. He asked the same list of ques- skeeper. "If someone really wants to learn, would be completed on time. tions of every superintendent he could I tell them to come to the stadium to watch Faced with the near impossible, Gill reach within 40 miles. From their answers the guys work," he says. "But I also expect remained in Chandler that fall and winter, ~he obtained important information about them to be here at eight [a.m.] sharp, not a finishing the job on schedule. To make mat- -cuttinq heights, fertilization, weed control minute later:' ters tougher, the week before opening a fire and irrigation. He also shared the results He takes pride in the fact he helped mold broke out in the clubhouse. The complex is -,,Witheveryone who had helped him. students into groundskeepers in their own a finalist in the 1989 Baseball Diamond of Two superintendents were especially right. "I didn't have an assistant the first the Year Award. helpful to Gill: Frank Moosebach at Blue year, but then I hired a graduate of the This month Gill returned to Chandler with .,Mound Country Club and Lester Ver Haalan University of Wisconsin named Rod Adel. an easier assignment: to give the crew at ,at Brentwood Country Club. In October He had a master's degree in soils. He Compadre Stadium a little advice and take 1963, the three superintendents organized taught me about soils and I taught him it easy before the season opens in Milwau- .a two-day seminar in Milwaukee in conjunc- about groundskeeping during the three kee in April. "I've got good crews in both tion with the Wisconsin Golf Course years he was here:' locations," he boasts. "They know I'll back Superintendents Association. Both days Gary Vandenberg joined Gill in 1979 and them up on new ideas that can improve our .were devoted to one subject. Every October is his assistant today. "Gary was a superin- fields:' since, WGCSA and Milorganite have spon- tendent on a golf course in town," Gill When he retires this fall, Gill will still be sored the two-day seminar. recalls. "Other candidates were better quali- there to share ideas with the Brewers Gill may have been the first stadium fied, but I had a good feeling about Gary. management and crew. Maybe he'll have groundskeeper tousea helicopter to dry a I'm positive I made the right choice 11years more time to help sports turf managers at field to prevent a rainout. "A cancellation ago:' other facilities solve problems, advise stu- can cost a stadium hundreds of thousands Paul Zwauska, a former member of Gill's dents on entering the field, and help of dollars," he points out. "Some people crew and a graduate of the University of advance the quality of natural turf outdoor mightoot think It's too smart to spend $150 Wisconsin, is now Pat Santarone's assistant stadiums. These have been his goals from per hour for a helicopter to hover over the in Baltimore. Gill also helped Steve Wight- the first day he stood on the mound at Mil- field, but twice it has saved a cancellation man perfect his baseball preparation when waukee County Stadium. They will continue (2',. at Milwau-~e~:'·." ,< he was at Mile High Stadium. Wightman is to be his goals into retirement. 24 Golf & SpartsJURF