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Coors Field:

The Rockies groundskeeping crew has one mission: to keep the playing surfaceat Coors Field in top shape. Front row (left to right): Bob Swentzell, JohnNichols, Mark Razum, Jose Gonzalez; back row (left to right) Reggie Fuentes,Mike Del Real, James Sowl, Tony Rivera, Javier Rivera and Andy Glass. Photocourtesy: CPS Distributors Inc.

By Katherine Buggy

ajor League Baseball's newestdiamond made its debut inApril as the Colorado Rockies

unveiled their pristine home ballpark,CoorsField in Denver. Fans were imme-diately impressed by the new facilityand by the lush, green field in particu-lar. ''It's the most emerald-green diamondI'veever seen,"remarked one Rockiesfan,a sentiment shared by many who attended

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the first game played there, an exhibi-tion contest against the New YorkYankees just before the Major LeagueBaseball Players Association ended thestrike that had crippled the game.

The Rockies are paying $53 milliontoward the $215.5 million cost of build-ing the stadium, with Denver taxpayerscontributing $161.3 million and the sta-dium district chipping in the final $1.2million. The stadium is a masterpiece,and the diamond is the crown jewel.

"If there was an MVP award givenfor head groundskeepers, it woulddefinitely go to Mark Razum," saysBetsy Graff of Graff Turf Farms.Graff has worked closely with Razumsince he started with the Rockies inOctober 1994.

Razum says that he has had an inter-est in sports field groundskeeping sincehe was a boy watching baseball gameson TV.A native of Cleveland, OH, Razumbegan his career as a member of the

grounds crew at Cleveland MunicipalStadium, then home of the ClevelandIndians, in March 1978. He credits muchof his current success to his mentors,Harold and Marshall Bossard, whosupervised him in Cleveland. "It was aprivilege to learn the art of groundskeep-ing from men who were pioneers in thefield of groundskeeping," says Razum. "Ilearned things from them that are nottaught in school."

Razum left Cleveland in 1982 to man-age the California Angels spring train-ing facility in Casa Grande, AZ. Besidesmanaging the baseball fields, Razumalso assisted the head groundskeeper ofthe 18-hole golf course at the FranciscoGrande Resort, which afforded him mul-tilevel learning experiences in turfmanagement.

Razum's reputation in the industrygrew, and in 1984, Walt Jocketty, farmdirector for the Oakland Athletics, con-tacted Razum and hired him to build andmaintain several new fields at ScottsdaleCommunity College, which would becomethe team's new spring practice facility.In addition, Razum maintained thegrounds at Phoenix Municipal Stadium,

Forty-five miles ofunderground electricheating cables willkeep the field atoptimumtemperatures. Photocourtesy: Randall &Blake, Inc.

the Athletics home fieldduring spring training.

"During spring trainingof 1989, before the team'sworkout, [A's Manager]Tony LaRussa asked me tojoin him and the players onthe field," Razum recalls."He said to the players,'I don't know about the

. rest of you guys, but theseare the best fields thatI've seen. The personresponsible is Mark.' Hebegan applauding me, andall the players joined himin applause. It was over-whelming for me to seeguys like Dennis Eckers-ley, Carney Lansford,Terry Steinbach and Mark

McGwire applauding and appreciatingmy work."

Razum's status with the Oakland

organization grew, and he occasionallyflew to Oakland to act as a consultant onproblems with the Oakland Coliseuminfield. The organization ultimatelyoffered Razum the head position at theOakland Coliseum for the 1989 season.He spent five seasons there before accept-ing the offer from the Colorado Rockiesto become the head groundskeeper atCoors Field in April 1994. However,Razum was unable to participate in theinitial field construction until after theconclusion of the 1994 season in Oakland.

In October 1994 Razum moved toAurora, CO, near Denver, and sincethen he has been inordinately busypreparing the field that has impressedfans and players alike. His prepara-tions have included researching infieldsoils, purchasing tools, equipment,materials and supplies, consulting on andobserving daily construction, inter-viewing and hiring crew members,establishing maintenance and laborbudgets, setting up and organizing theground-crew shop area and generallyturning Coors Field into a first-classmajor-league facility. Assistant HeadGroundskeeper Jose Gonzalez says,"This is groundskeeper's heaven. Wehave everything we need. Everything isbrand new, and it's obvious that they [the

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dugout at the new ballpark, he cov-ers the same ground where 66-million-year-old dinosaur bones werediscovered during the construction ofCoors Field.

• Water, Water Everywhere:The irrigation system at Coors Fielduses between 12,000 and 22,000 gal-lons of water per day. The completesystem utilizes about 90 sprinklers.Hunter Industries supplied muchof the irrigation equipment, includ-ing 1-40 rotors in large turf areas and1-25 rotors in small turf areas, brassvalves and quick couplers.

• Good Wood: 1,000 trees will beplanted around Coors Field, offeringpleasant scenery and an estimated$162 million in environmentalbenefits.

Fast Facts About Coo s d• The Long Haul: Dimensions

down the left field line (347 feet)and the right field line (350 feet)are the longest in the NationalLeague except for "cozy" WrigleyField in Chicago.

• You Mean It's Not the "Live"Baseball?: A study conducted byUniversity of Denver Physics ProfessorThomas M. Stephen concluded thata baseball hit at Denver's altitude willtravel nine percent farther than a ballhit at sea level.

• Nosebleed Seats: A row ofpurple seats in the upper deck iscalled "Mile High Row" because it isexactly 5,280 feet above sea level.

• Jurassic Ballpark: WhenRockies manager Don Baylor pacesback and forth in the first-base

May 1995 15

Mark Razum Profilecontinued from page 15

Rockies] want to take care of us."According to the players, his Oakland

crew members, Colorado crew membersand other who have worked with Razum,his trademark is attention to detail."Just seeing the hard work that playersgo through to get to the major leaguesmotivates us to produce a field worthyof their efforts," says Razum.

BluelRye Sod Mixture

The sod for Coors Field was grown onGraff Turf Farms in Fort Morgan, CO,by Randy and Betsy Graff, who alsoprovided sod for World Cup soccer gamesat Soldier Field in Chicago in 1994 andfor the renovation of Kauffman Stadiumfor the Kansas City Royals. The CoorsField sod is a bluegrass/ryegrass mixtureselected by Randall & Blake Inc. (RBI),the company subcontracted for the con-struction project, and RBI's consultingagronomists, Dr. Tony Koski and MarkAltman. Typically at Graff Turf Farms,the harvesting process will leave enoughrhizomes to regenerate and producethe crop for the following year. However,RBI insisted upon a different growingtechnique for the Coors Field sod. Toavoid contamination of the sod by thefarm's parent soil, RBI laid approxi-mately two to three inches of the samesand that was being used at Coors Fieldand seeded it. RBI requested a heavy top-dressing in the fall, which suffocated thevarious bluegrass strains, and as aresult, the plants were slow to comeup in the spring.

"It was a challenge and a big learn-ing experience for us to use someoneelse's guidelines and techniques," admitsBetsy Graff. "We also had one of thehottest summers and excessive windconditions to deal with, which presentedmore challenges," she adds. ''When Mark[Razum] visited the farm for the first time,the grass was at its worst. He madeseveral recommendations, includingusing a [Ransomes Motor 180] triplexmower and mowing in different directionsevery day at a 11/4-inch cutting height.We followed his advice and that of Dr.James Watson [an agronomist and con-sultant retained by the Rockies] andreally saw more growing than in thepast year - a big turnaround."

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Although the sod was in great shapeat the harvest time, it was very thin(approximately l/2-inch soil depth)because of the coarse sand layer inwhich it was planted. It appeared sim-ilar to washed sod. Installation was dif-ficult and tedious. The big-roll (42 inchesby 100 feet) method was used. Each rollhad to be wrapped with netting in aneffort to keep the soil intact.

Unfortunately, RBI crews' hurriedinstallation of the sod resulted in wideseams and grade disturbance. Heavy,

uneven topdressing and brushing doneabout two weeks after installation inan effort to remedy the problem insteadput the turf in shock during a crucialgrow-in period and widened the seams.The seams were filled in with sand byhand. Thanks to diligence and mildweather conditions, the grass is growingwell now. In March, Razum introducedPrinceton 104 Kentucky bluegrass intothe original mix, which enhanced the colorand durability of the field. A specialfeature of Coors Field is a 6,000-square-

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