Behind the scenes at the year-round operation that is Goodyear Ballpark
BASEBALL
Behind the scenes at the year-round operation that is Goodyear Ballpark
All photos provided by Goodyear Ballpark
SportsField Management( SFM): Can you tell us about Goodyear Ballpark, the complex and fields there, and the overall scope of your duties? Scott Dobbins, CSFM: We have the Guardians and the Reds here; so we have two separate complexes, but one stadium that is shared between the two teams. So, during spring training, we will have 30 straight games at the stadium— 15 Reds games and 15 Guardians games— which is a little bit of a challenge. Then, each complex has eight fields( the Reds have 8 fields and the Guardians have 8 fields), so we have 17 fields total. We have a supervisor at each location, and I’ m the superintendent overseeing the operation. Andrew is the supervisor of the Guardians complex, and Patrick Mejia is the supervisor at the Reds complex. They each have seven fulltime groundskeepers. We also have a foreman at the stadium, Tristin Litherland, as well as a mechanic and an irrigation technician. Overall, we have 23 full-time staff to take care of the place; then we supplement quite a bit with part-time help.
Goodyear Ballpark( Goodyear, Arizona) was the result of a $ 108 million dollar construction project that was completed in 2009. The state-ofthe-art training facilities and 10,000-seat stadium helped attract the Cleveland Guardians and Cincinnati Reds to relocate to Arizona from Florida. In addition to being the spring training home for both MLB teams, the fields are used by the City of Goodyear for tournaments, Little League games and more. In fact, local, regional and national tournaments account for more than 1,500 baseball games played at the ballpark and team complex fields each year. For a behind-the-scenes look at how the operation is managed 365 days per year, SportsField Management recently spoke with Goodyear Ballpark Superintendent Scott Dobbins, CSFM, and Supervisor Andrew Donovan.
SFM: Outside of spring training, what does the rest of the year look like for you in terms of your event loads and what you are hosting? Andrew Donovan: By January 1 we’ re pretty much spring training ready. We’ re dialing stuff in at that point, but guys are showing up. Major league players work out here year round. In April, there are rehab players here working out; then, a couple of days later, extended spring training starts. The major league teams take off, all minor league affiliates take off, and you’ re left with a group of 30 to 40 guys plus rehab guys. Some guys
18 SportsField Management | June 2025 sportsfieldmanagementonline. com