or30 years, Bud Koehnke held onto Osceola County Stadium & Sports Complex his dream of making the majors. FSince he was 17 years old, when a minor league scout for the St. Louis Browns signed the adolescent pitcher dur- Koehnke Blends ing a tryout camp in his home town of Appleton, WI, Koehnke worked his way toward the Big Leagues. Experience And "I was a thrower, not a pitcher," Koehnke jokes today. After stints with the Browns and the Cincinnati Reds in cities Innovation At such as Pittsburgh, KS, Wellsville, NY,Ab- erdeen, SO, and Knoxville, TN, his playing career ended. "Four years in the minors Astros Spring gave me some strong feelings about base- ball facilities," he adds. "I appreciate what ballplayers contend with and have been Training Center fortunate to be able to do something about it." Had Koehnke remained a player, he might not have been part of a major over- haul in spring baseball training facilities. His hard work for the Houston Astros at Osceola County Stadium in Kissimee, FL, has earned his facility the 1990 Baseball Diamond of the Year Award in the profes- 12 Golf& SportsTURF sional category, the closest thing baseball ida. We pulled up stakes and moved there mer player and pitching coach, liked his groundskeepers have to the Hall of Fame. in 1980." resolve. DeFlon found it a bit unsettling. Koehnke, in conjunction with HOK Upon arriving in Orlando, Koehnke Both are pleased today with the product Sports Facilities Group in Kansas City, MO, called Calvin Griffith, owner of the Twins at Koehnke has delivered to the Astros for the designed and built the stadium field and the time. Tinker Field had gone downhill. past eight years. four practice diamonds in 1984. Osceola Griffith invited him to bring the field back Actually, Koehnke is quite open-minded. County essentially upped the ante for com- to life. He is loyal to products that work for him, munities trying to attract professional base- "It was my first exposure to yet is willing to try new techniques. He ball clubs and their tourist fans. The 60-acre berrnudagrass and mole crickets," he ad- welcomes suggestions from his crew and site has enabled the Astros to consolidate mits. Koehnke credits much of his success his suppliers. When he tries something spring training of both their Major and at Tinker to the assistance of Dr. Wayne new, he solicits comments from the players Minor League clubs, provided a home for a Mixson, manager of the O.M.Scotts South- and coaches on the results. In fact, he is single-A Florida League farm team, and east Research and Development facility in constantly experimenting with new equip- served as a base for fall instructional Apopka, FL. "Dr. Mixson was a tremendous ment and chemicals. leagues. The facility is dedicated year-round help in building a fertility program, offering After all, if he was set in his ways, it's to player development and meets all the advice about overseeding, and making sug- doubtful that Osceola County Stadium & requirements of professional baseball. gestions on how to control mole crickets," Sports Complex would be what it is today, "Osceola started a trend in spring train- adds Koehnke. I'He gave me time to con- a model for many new spring training facil- ing facilities," states Rick deFlon, senior centrate on other problems like the infield ities from Arizona to Florida. HOK has vice president of HOK. "In 1983, when the dirt, compaction, thatch, and the playability since designed three more spring training Astros were in Coco [FL], half of their of the field. spring training games were rained out. "For example, if you're a pitcher, the They started looking at other facilities in mound is your office," he states. "If the Florida. Andy McPhail and Al Rosen [owner pitching rubber is off by four inches or the and general manager respectively] put to- landing area is too loose, the office is gether specific ideas based on what they wrong. I've seen cases where the bases saw and what they'd like if they could start were off by two feet and no one caught it. from scratch. Osceola had been talking with It's the groundskeeper's job to keep an eye the Cubs." on those things." The Astros and Osceola got together Inside of three years, Koehnke had Tin- and brought in the newly-formed Sports ker Field back to specs, had established Facilities Group of HOK to turn their ideas schedules for all maintenance practices, into reality. DeFlon was assigned the chal- and had added a number of extra tech- Stadium field at the Osceola Complex. lenge of creating a prototype for future niques that impressed the Twins' manage- spring training facilities. "It was one of ment. Rosen became aware of the complexes in Florida with features common HOK's first big ventures in sports facility improvement at Tinker Field under to Osceola: nearby Baseball City for the architecture," he adds. It was also one of Koehnke. Royals, the White Sox complex in Sarasota, the first times a stadium architectural firm The Astros deal with Osceola gave the and a brand new facility in Homestead. had addressed a spring training project. team input on construction and control From a design standpoint, the main fea- Meanwhile, Koehnke was renovating over maintenance. Rosen wanted his tures are a pinwheel-like arrangement of Tinker Field in nearby Orlando for the grounds keeper involved early in the project the four practice fields with a clubhouse in Minnesota Twins. Since leaving the player to work with the county, the contractors, the center and an adjacent stadium. Osce- ranks, he had spent most of his career as and HOK. The new facility was going to be ola added an AstroTurf half-field last season Recreation Director for Appleton. Good- extremely busy once it opened. There was with the old material from the Astrodome. land Field in Appleton was a regular stop little room for mistakes, especially consid- All natural fields have bullpens. Two four- of the Class A Midwest League and one of ering that the new design would be under station batting tunnels and an eight-pack, Koehnke's responsibilities. "I had Good- close scrutiny by other teams. eight side-by-side pitching positions, are land Field, all the parks, an 18-hole golf The good thing about Koehnke is he was tucked in around the practice fields. course, and four swimming pools to look right for the time. Management felt most The Tifway berrnudagrass fields are after," he recalls. "The people of Appleton comfortable with "old school" grounds- nearly as fast as the AstroTurf the team take pride in their athletic facilities. My son keepers who came up through the ranks plays on at the Astrodome. Bounces and Brandon used to help prep the stadium and were close to the game. Koehnke's rolls are true whether on the dirt or the before games, just like I had done when I background fit that mold. Twenty years as grass. All fields are lighted and fully-outfit- was a kid. It was sort of a family affair." a recreation director imparted other traits ted with warning tracks, fences, and score- Over the years, Koehnke met and built to his personality which make him confi- boards. relationships with many professional base- dent in his ability to build budgets, manage The trick is keeping all the fields and ball owners, managers, and players. "After people, and negotiate with vendors. grounds in shape more than ten months a 26 years in Wisconsin, I decided it was time Koehnke has the stern, focused expres- year. "That's the amazing part about the for a change," he reveals. "All three of my sion of a relief pitcher. If you don't know whole thing," comments Scotts' Mixson. children are athletes and I thought they him, you feel like a batter facing him in the "The fields take a beating almost year- would have more of an opportunity in Flor- late innings of a tight game. Rosen, a for- continued on page 14 March, 1990 13 Osceola World Series, the Roy Hobbs World Series continued from page 13 for players over 35, NCAAtournaments, the round with very little chance to rest and National Police Youth Tournament, soccer, recover. At the same time, the demand for high school football, flag football, and con- a quality playing surface has increased. It's certs. The Astros also added a winter pro- reached a point where the worst field today gram of three games a week this past year. would have been acceptable 25 years ago." "There's never a dull moment," adds Miers. "Baseball gets more like golf every "Building the fields has been a big help year," says Jim Griffith with Zaun, in maintaining them," says Koehnke. "The only major problem we had involved the Koehnke's Toro salesman. "If a piece of Sand Pros are used on base paths and warning equipment goes down, they need a replace- tracks. PVC pipe for the irrigation system. We've ment by the next day. Many of the features had to replace nearly all of it. Everything on greensmowers are becoming popular at rebuild the skinned areas, aerify, topdress, else has worked out great!" spring training facilities. Since many com- and get ready for spring training. That's the All fields are constructed of sand and are plexes don't have mechanics like golf time when Koehnke; Don Miers, stadium crowned on a line from home plate to courses, service becomes even more impor- operations manager; and facility coordina- center field.