20 SportsTurf | February 2014 www.sportsturfonline.com
A
t Rangers Ballpark in Arlington,
TX home of the Texas Rangers, Dennis
Klein, Director of Major League Baseball
grounds, says he "would recommend zoysia."
For several seasons, even during Word Series
Games, the Rangers infield was grassed with Zeon Zoysia,
and then Y2 Zoysia, both developed by Bladerunner Farms
in Poteet, TX.
"It did great," Klein says. "Zoysia is a little slower to es-
tablish than bermudagrass, and slower for the seams to
lock together, but once it's in there and established it's re-
ally hard to hurt. We put it in in June and wouldn't replace
a piece of grass on it until after the season. We went
through a couple of World Series with it. The cutout at
first and third base, and in front of the pitchers mound,
you could beat balls into it and it wouldn't divot. It's really
tough grass."
Klein says the Rangers installed the zoysiagrass infield at
the request of the pitching coach. "We had been putting
zoysia every year on the infield grass because we were able
to maintain it at a taller height of cut to slow the ball
down. The pitching coach wanted it tall and the zoysia of-
installing the power cords runs across that hill. Concerts
are a tough week for that hill and it stands up. We've
been really happy with the zoysiagrass in that role," he
says. "There was one time at a concert, a forklift fork was
shoved into the hill and tore the grass. We replaced the
divot and it healed back over the winter. I wouldn't ex-
pect to grow warm season grass in the winter but even
some November damage healed."
From high school to the big leagues:
ZOYSIAGRASS FOR SPORTS TURF
Field Science | By Stacie Zinn Roberts
Dan Bergstrom
of the Houston Astros
in action last season.
Photo courtesy of
Houston Astros.
Opening Night at Minute Maid Park in Houston, March 31, 2013.
Photo courtesy of Houston Astros.