STMA PROFILE: THE RISE OF JESSE CUEVAS By Steve and Suz Trusty

magine major league park by the time we're ''I've appreciated being able to network spend- finished with the expansion," says with STMA members who were in the Iingyour Cuevas. "Seating will grow to between same situations, who related to the work week 23,000 and 25,000." same problems, especially after losing with TV The needs of the Omaha Royals and Frank," says Cuevas. camera those of the CWS are closely inter- He describes his position as that of a crews-and twined-each benefits from the pres- general manager. He says, "I may make thus the ence of the other. The AAA club gains a the decisions, but it's the crews that eyes of top-flight playing arena because of the make things happen. You're only as sports fans improvements needed to retain the CWS good as the people who work with you." nation- action in Omaha. However, the short col- Cuevas has two permanently assigned, wide-look- lege series play alone could not justify the full-time people. His chief assistant is his ing over improved facility without the Royals brother, Terry, who started at the sta- your shoulder. That's the reality just season-long schedule. dium 21 years ago as a "ball shagger." played out by Jesse Cuevas, the stadium Moving Forward Terry covers overall maintenance, from work on the field to equipment han- superintendent of Johnny Rosenblatt Juggling the needs of the Omaha Stadium, Omaha, NE, home of the dling, to plumbing. Mike Heidenriech, who Royals, the College World Series, and serves as groundskeeper, has been with College World Series. other city events is nothing new for With the opening and championship the stadium for 17 years. He started Cuevas. In effect, he has "grown up" out as a bat boy. The three work close- games broadcast on CBS affiliates and with the Rosenblatt routine. He started week-long coverage by ESPN, Cuevas and ly together, coordinating activities. working at the stadium at age 16, and Cuevas calls it "running the place by com- his crew gave viewers an "up close and steadily moved up the ladder. He has mittee." He has two other full-time personal" course in ball field preparation worked at the stadium for 22 years, 15 employees that are not permanently and grooming. with the city. assigned, and a part-time crew. Whether it was perfect baseball weath- "I was fortunate to work under a real er or pouring rain, Cuevas was there with "With the shuffling of employees pro like Frank Mancuso," says Cuevas: between three facilities, training and the crews, directing the action to keep "He made sure each step I took was a retraining are constants here," says things moving like a well-oiled machine. learning experience-about the facility, Cuevas. ''We like to start the part-timers Would play be suspended during the interaction with the crews, and the oper- in their late high school or early col- downpour or continue to satisfy TV ations of city government. As I pro- lege years, so we can keep them for sev- schedules? Whatever the call (and it gressed, working under Frank was like eral years." was play ball), Cuevas and his crew having a safety net. If we ran into a Cuevas has a hands-on, practical were there to deliver the best possible problem, he'd scratch his head, think for management style. Having come up playing surface under existing condi- a minute, and come up with a solution through ranks has advantages. His staff tions. During a Friday night drench- he'd discovered years before, to pull us knows he won't ask anything of them he ing, 27 bags ofTurface (calcined clay),plus out of trouble. wouldn't do himself. 10 bags of Turface Quick Dry, and lots "I took over as stadium superintendent At times, long hours are required. of work, kept the field playable. Cuevas six years ago. It's amazing how smart you Cuevas says, "You've got to do what and crew presented players with top are when you're second in command, you've got to do. Usually, when the team quality conditions for the Saturday CWS and how dumb you get when you're is here we get into a routine. We do the finals, won by the Waves of Pepper dine first." more disruptive procedures when they University. Cuevas has worked the equivalent of are away. The day before a game is Rosenblatt Stadium is the home of the two years of college into his hectic sched- devoted to getting everything ready for Kansas City AAA affiliate team, the ule by fitting classes in a bit at a time. play. During the CWS, we started at 7 Omaha Royals, and the perennial host He's concentrated mainly on business a.m. on Friday and finished at the end of the College World Series, an arrange- courses, attending the University of of the game Saturday night-a 48-hour will ment that began in 1950 and continue Nebraska at Omaha, Bellevue College, shift. " through 1995.ABpart ofthe arrangement or Metropolitan Technical Community with the NCAA, the stadium has just College. He reads "everything I can get Making Improvements undergone the first segment of an my hands on" in turf management, A $750,000 field renovation started at improvement program-the Rosenblatt attends turfgrass courses and conferences, the end of the Royals' 1991 season. 2000 Plan-which will entail the expen- and has been a member ofthe Sports Turf "Literally at the end," Cuevas notes. diture of $8 million by 1995. Managers Association since 1987. He's "During the last hour of the season on "We'll be a boiled-down version of a currently an STMA board member. September 4, we took out the old bases

20 sports TURF I~II~LI)IIARKING I-AIN't'S

TEMP-STRIPE

• Temporary field paint • Proven effective • Easy removal following • Great for multi- the game purpose fields • Will hold up to • Apply like normal foul weather paints PRo-STRIPE Rosenblatt field. Photo by Omaha World-Herald. • Long lasting field • For use on both paint natural and and the pitcher's mound rubber and "The most rain Omaha has ever • Available in team colors artificial turf sort of waved goodbye. The heavy equip- received is 45 inches per year," says and brilliant white • Will not harm ment took over and started tearing Cuevas. "So, theoretically, we could get • Dilutable up to 3:1 grass things up that night. By noon on the whole year's rain in five hours and Manufacturers of Quality Coatings Since 1900. September 5, it looked an A-bomb had still play ball 45 minutes later." J.C.WHITLAM MANUFACTURING CO. W 200 W. Walnut St., P.O. Box 71 hit. " An underground sprinkler system ~~ Wadsworth, OH 44281 MADE IN U.S.A. The original field was constructed replaced the old watering system of CALL 1-800-321-8358 CONTACT: MARK WHITLAM in 1948. "The city didn't get its money's seven hoses and 12 hours of labor to Circle 109 on Postage Free Card worth," Cuevas reveals. 'We'd been told put down 1/4 inch of water. ''Now we can there was drainage tile, but none was control when and where to water by found. Four inches of top soil was dumped pushing some buttons," says Cuevas. over clay hard pan. It's a tribute to the 'We can put down three inches of water TWO FOR ONE! skills of Frank Mancuso that the field held in five hours and be assured of com- That's what you get with the new up as well as it did for all those years." plete coverage. " Millcreek 2 cu. yd. Model 75TD Some new equipment was included in top-dresser equipped with a grass "The new field has a sand/peat grow- clippings dispersing attachment. ing medium, and though less than six this stage or renovation, including a 1. A superb topdresser with tractor, top dresser, and sprayer. months old, has grass roots five to six inch- adjustable pattern. 2. The answer to your grass es long and still going," he continues. "It was hard to coordinate equipment "E use and achieve the results we needed," clipping problems. C1:l Cuevas and Greg Peterson, project o explains Cuevas. ''The city recognized that. Q) director of the City Planning Department, ~ Greg Peterson didn't want to spend a nick- u, knew they'd be on an extremely tight Q) el more on the project than necessary, but 0) schedule to complete the renovation. C1:l he didn't want to spend a nickel less than (j) o Luck was with them, Cuevas recalls. needed to insure an excellent job." o, c 'We laid the last roll of sod on October Always planning ahead, he expects fur- o 25 at 7 p.m., just in time for an Omaha ther improvements as the field matures. Join the increasing number of satisfied ....o Royals season ticket holder field preview professionals who use this new time- .... While TV commentators were singing the /work-/money-saver to create better Q) party. Then temperatures dropped into praises of the new field, he was making fairways and roughs. You'll reduce or ~ the 20s and we got hit with a Halloween eliminate those rising grass clipping o hands-on assessments. disposal costs at the same time. We'll surprise-a freak storm that delivered "It will take two to three years to show you how to get two jobs done with several inches of ice and over a foot of form heavy enough roots and a tighter one machine in our free brochure. A new demo video is available. snow. Even a one-day delay would have knit surface to takes lots of punish- Call today. 717-35S-2446 left us with bare ground in the infield and ment," he asserts. Fax 717-35S-2272 foul territory behind home plate. " Working before the cameras to a An underground drainage system national audience doesn't bother Cuevas uses 1-1/4 miles oflaterals, which drain and his crews. They'll do the same job for into four six-inch storm drains. According the hometown crowd-keeping Rosenblatt ~1~Eu~~J~ to Cuevas, the system should be able to Stadium looking great-because, as The Spreader Specialists handle 10 to 11 inches of rain per hour Cuevas says, "You've got to do what 112 S. Railroad Ave. right now. you've got to do." 0 New Holland PA 17557 July, 1992 21