BASEBALL
INDUSTRY SUCCESS Winter was successful at his job from the beginning. During his first year with the Loons, Dow Diamond won the Midwest League Field of the Year award. Then, during Winter’ s first year in Fort Wayne, as an assistant, Parkview Field won Minor League Field of the Year. As head groundskeeper, Winter and his crew went on to win Minor League Field of the Year in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2024.
“ What was best about that is once you won the league award, that puts you on the stage to win the national award,” he said.“ We got national recognition in‘ 13,’ 14,‘ 15 and then in’ 24, That’ s a feather in the cap because then you are comparing yourself to all the other Class A fields in professional baseball.”
Winter and the TinCaps also won the STMA Professional Baseball Field of the Year for Parkview Field in 2017.
Despite the awards and accolades, Winter said the“ greatest joy” of his career was the opportunity to instill a good work ethic and knowledge into the people who have come across his path.
“ Training and teaching and bringing not only my work ethic, but my faith and my belief in Jesus into the lives of these young people has by far been my best reward and what I will remember the most out of this,” said Winter.
His message to others is that if you stay loyal and consistent, you’ re probably going to be successful.
“ When I was done raising my sons, I was raising a field, and I was raising those who came to work for me,” he said.“ It’ s about being authentic and trying to instill integrity, character and work ethic into them.”
Winter has also spent years giving back to the sports field management industry— part of which was handling communication and organization for the Professional Baseball Sports Turf Managers Symposium.
“ One of my greatest victories was getting Major League Baseball to recognize the symposium to recommend that all 120 PDL team groundskeepers attend,” said Winter.“ Developing a working relationship and creating a sense of mutual respect with Major League Baseball was a big win in terms of keeping the symposium going.”
36 SportsField Management | November 2025 sportsfieldmanagementonline. com