Field Facts and Corn Stats
COVER STORY
Field Facts and Corn Stats
• The field was constructed with a 10-inch rootzone over a 4-inch pea gravel base with drain tiles spaced every 15 feet across the entire field .
• Before installing the subbase , 30,000 cubic yards of material was graded to balance the site .
• A Rainbird irrigation system and controller are supplied by a well that provides 80 psi to each head while running a couple zones at a time .
• The infield clay , mound mix and warning track mix is a DuraEdge product with a Turface conditioner .
• The turfgrass is 365ss bluegrass sod ( a Mountain View Seeds product ) from Madison , Wis .
• John Deere provided all the turf management equipment needed to grow-in the field and to maintain it at an MLB level .
• Most of the bases , hitting mats , cages screens , drags , etc ., were from Beacon Athletics , Covermaster and C & H batting cages .
• The corn is a Dekalb field corn , which is engineered to grow 10 to 12 feet high . An irrigation system ( installed in spring 2021 included elevated Rainbird Falcon rotors and a water gun from Landmark Irrigation that provided 125 gpm to irrigate all the critical corn areas around the MLB field and the movie site field . use and management – have yet to be determined .
Following this year ’ s game , the temporary stands and other back-ofhouse amenities were removed , and will be rebuilt for next year ’ s game .
“ We are in a cornfield , and the baseball field will be all that is left when BaAM finishes breaking down the rest of the temporary structures ,” said Cook . “ There ’ s not even a backstop . There are no bathrooms , and the lights do not have a permanent power supply ( they run on generators ).”
According to Cook , for this year ’ s game , BaAM Productions ( which also handles the NHL Winter Classic events ) began building the entire 8,000-seat structure , all the locker rooms , and other back-of-house structures and amenities on July 1 , and completed the build by August 8 . So the management and setup for next year ’ s event will probably be much as
it was for this year .
For now , however , Cook is just happy with the result of all the effort that went into making the Field of Dreams a reality .
“ I ’ m just proud of the way the field turned out at the end ,” he said . “ It was really special , almost magical , from the game itself to the excitement of the fans that attended or watched it all over the world .”
The night before the game , Kevin Costner toured the field and took a moment to play catch with his son on the field . Afterward , Cook had the opportunity to meet Costner , who paid the field the ultimate compliment .
Said Cook , “ Kevin pointed at the grass and said , ‘ Is this real ?’”
“ It was a moment ,” Cook added . “ It ’ s perfect . For the industry , it just shines a spotlight on what we can do with natural grass , and the dreams it can make come true .” SFM
Photo provided by BrightView Sports Turf
John Kmitta is associate publisher and editorial brand director of SportsField Management magazine . sportsfieldmanagementonline . com October 2021 | SportsField Management
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