It’s no secret how amazing the 2015 World Champion Kansas City Royals played on their home field last season. In this post, Kauffman Stadium employees tell their story and reveal the procedures and sports field equipment behind their home field advantage.
Watch these videos to see the advantages you can get when what’s behind a team is pretty amazing too. Enjoy!
John Deere Sports Turf Stories: Kansas City Royals
Home field advantage number one? The fans. When it comes to home field advantage, fans are a big part of it. The whole reason they want a home field advantage is for the fans.
Trevor Vance, senior director of grounds and landscaping for the Kansas City Royals explains that people always say they want their yard to look just like the field. What does he tell them? He says, “Hire 10 guys and work them 7 days a week because that’s what it’s going to take if you want it to look like this.” They run about a 12 to 14-person day crew throughout the summer, and they are on call 24/7. It’s a challenge.
Evan Fowler, manager of grounds and landscaping for the Kansas City Royals, says that having a cool season turf that prefers spring and fall temperatures is one of the challenges faced. It definitely doesn’t like the hot, and then when you cover it up it will increase the surface temperature by 10 to 15 degrees, he says. This is something they are especially challenged with during rainstorms and other extreme weather conditions.
Home field advantage number two? The crew. The crew puts their job ahead of everything else, and that’s the dedication that it takes. No one wants to wake up at 3 am and put a tarp on the field. No one wants to work on holidays, but that’s the dedication that the Kansas City Royal ground crew has.
Home field advantage number three? The equipment. The ground team explains why they chose John Deere sports equipment to tackle the challenges on their turf. Their reasoning is simple – because it’s the best. They rely on John Deere mowers to give a clean and consistent cut every time. It also gives the team members pride that they are a part of something special.
John Deere Sports Turf Stories: Kansas City Royals
The next home field advantage? The skin. Did you know that about 70% of the game is played on dirt? For this reason, the grounds keeper really earns his reputation with the skin surface, or the dirt area. The goal is to keep it consistent from day one to game 81.
In this video, Trevor Vance and Evan Fowler explore how to maintain the skin at Kauffman Stadium. The key to maintaining the skin is moisture.
Fowler explains that besides the mower, the John Deere 1200A Field Rake is the most important machine they have out on the field. This piece of sports field equipment helps maintain infield dirt and groomers for the track. The versatility of the machine and having different attachments available for consistency is a huge help.
We hope you enjoyed this video gallery and learned more about what’s behind the home field advantage at Kauffman Stadium. What else do you think is behind the home field advantage of the Kansas City Royals? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
If you enjoyed this post or want to read others, feel free to connect with us on Facebook, or Twitter!
