• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Big League Groundskeepers, Dirt of the Sports World? by Ron Hall, assistant editor Fiesty George Toma jabs his finger where he started as a 17-year-old tion atop the stadii groundskeeping into the air as he decries the lack of for the Cleveland Indians farm hierarchy which he's managed to respect he feels his profession gets team Barons, to the modern maintain by being more than a in the high-rolling world of big Truman Sports Complex with its grass doctor. time sports. carpeted Arrowhead Stadium and "You have to know a whole lot "The groundskeeper is the dirt adjoining Royals Stadium—38 about grass," he says, "but there's a of the organization," he says. "He's years to be exact, time enough to lot more. There are chemicals, the lowest person of the organiza- gain a reputation as the number then you have to know how to dec- tion. He's the dirt, dirt, dirt of this one groundskeeper in the nation. orate the end zones, to put up goal- whole thing." Part of this fame is a result of posts, to repair the sod." Toma, groundskeeper of the Toma's rennovation of the turf in Ironically, Toma's number one Kansas City Royals professional KC's old Municipal Stadium, home responsibility is Royals Stadium baseball team, may or may not be of the A's before their move to with its artificial turf surface, but the best groundskeeper in the Oakland. A bigger reason, how- he takes just as much pride in the condition of the nearby Chiefs' practice field with its mixture of Touchdown, Merit, and A-34 blue- grasses and Derby, Regal, and Elka ("we'll be changing to Derby, Regal, and Gator," he says) ryegrasses. "My feeling is the prac- tice field should be better than the game field. That's where a lot of your injuries are," Toma notes. In recent years, Toma's 26-year- old son, Chip, has been building a groundskeeping reputation of his own. Working closely with nation- ally-recognized agronomist Dr. James Watson of Toro, the younger Toma has developed a sand con- cept system that he successfully used to rennovate a bermuda grass field at William Jewell College in Liberty, MO. George Toma —the industry's outspoken turf guru. Simply explained, the ratio of sand to loam is increased at each of country, but he is undisputably the ever, is probably Toma's penchant three levels to the playing surface, best known. He's the guy that for speaking his mind. providing a relatively inexpensive draws the impersonal eye of the "The groundskeeper really design with good root development television camera and the praise of doesn't get the credit that's due and stable footing. the likes of Howard Cosell him," he says. "It gets 110 to 150 But, the elder Toma remains between pitches, the fellow that degrees out on that turf (synthetic) unhappy about the lack of support gets the call when it comes time to and we've got kids out there paint- many groundskeepers get with spruce up the field for the millions- ing. You have to feel sorry for these their natural turf fields. plus viewers of the NFL Super kids sometimes." "People expect too much of it Bowl. and in turn give it too little," he He's also been in the forefront of Paying dues argues. "If you have a natural grass what's often been a loosely- Toma pays his dues as well. field you can't buy a grass cutter organized and poorly-defined Thrown from a three-wheeler and you have fight to buy an effort to get athletic field mainte- and into a tree just outside Royals aerifier." nance recognized for something Stadium several seasons back, That leaves it up to the more than mowing grass. The fact Toma directed groundskeeping groundskeeper to call the shots, to that he's nationally-recognized is operations from a hospital room in push for what's due him and his probably an indication that he's his office. "I broke a bunch of ribs," profession. making some headway. he tosses off. "It's not the dirt," Toma says. For Toma it's a long way from a The energetic, 5'5" Toma obvi- "It's the man that works the rake handle in Wilkes-Barre, PA, ously relishes his unofficial posi- dirt." • .

Load more

  1

Copy Link