SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/714252
32 SportsTurf | September 2016 www.sportsturfonline.com FACILITY & OPERATIONS every ordeal. He focused on work, grew his resume and devel- oped a winning reputation. He earned jobs with the Angels, the Giants, the Packers. In 2000, Mellor was negotiating for a groundskeeper position with the Cincinnati Reds organiza- tion when he received a call from Joe Mooney, the legendary groundskeeper who managed Fenway Park for 31 years. Mooney told Mellor he was ready to retire but he'd only do so if Mellor would succeed him. In January 2001, Mellor became Director of Grounds for the Boston Red Sox. Then in September 2010, Mellor was reading an article in Smithsonian magazine during an acupuncture session. In the article about a new treatment facility for post traumatic stress disorder, Mellor read the list of 12 symptoms associated with PTSD. He checked them off, one by one. He had 10 of them. "I only thought you could have PTSD from the horrors of war. Now I know anyone can have PTSD from a life-threatening trauma. While it scared me, it also gave me hope that if I did have this, I could get treatment, and hopefully I would be a better dad and husband. If counseling helped me, it was a bonus," Mellor says. He went home that afternoon and talked to his wife. They went to the hospital the next day and he began counseling. "On February 23, 2011, I slept through the night for 7 hours for the first time in 29 years without a nightmare. I'm supersti- tious, didn't tell anyone. I slept through the night 3 nights in a row. After that, I realized it was time to share with my wife and my doctor the incredible news that the counseling was helping. I went over 4 years—1,719 days to be exact—without another nightmare. I knew that a nightmare triggered by an old trauma, or a new trauma may happen again someday, so instead of letting the newest night terror pain fester, I called my doctor the next morning to work through the nightmare to desensitize it and not let it influence my life as (it would have) before," Mellor says. Throughout his career, Mellor has shared his professional experiences. As a sports turf professional, he's authored two books on lawn care ("The Lawn Bible: How to Keep it Green, Groomed and Growing Every Season of the Year") and on athletic field striping ("Picture Perfect: Mowing Techniques for Lawns, Landscapes and Sports"). He's also co-authored or con- tributed to 12 additional books on landscaping, including books with the Scotts Company. In 2013, ESPN did an E:60 feature on Mellor that revealed the physical and mental traumas he's overcome in his life. "I was very humbled and moved hearing from so many people who thanked me for having the courage to share my journey. Many people shared their own powerful challenges with me. They said they were now going to start counseling and/or stop drinking as a result of seeing the E:60 piece," Mellor says. The documentary drew the attention of television personality Glenn Beck, whose publishing company is now helping Mellor to write his memoir. The book deals as much with how he has learned, through counseling, to manage and overcome PTSD, as it does with his career in baseball. He says he's writing the book to "give people hope and let people know they are not alone, and that help is available. Whether you are dealing with physical or emotional pain, I want to encourage people to not give up. I want to help others release the stigma of PTSD and seek treatment. My family and myself feel if sharing our journey helps one person it is worth sharing," he says. "Everyone has their own challenges. I don't want anyone to suffer in silence like I did." At Fenway Park, Mellor manages a crew of three full-time staff, with up to 40 seasonal workers who rotate shifts. Along with more than 80 home games in the 2016 schedule, he and his crew prepare the field for concerts, events and fan tours. He says he's fortunate to have great communication with and sup- port from the front office, which is critical to coordinate enough downtime to keep the field in top shape at all times. Fenway Park is grassed with Kentucky bluegrass sod grown by Tuckahoe Sod Farm in New Jersey. The sod is laid over a soil mix of 90% sand and 10% Profile Porous Ceramic soil amendment. "Adding Profile to our rootzone is an investment that has certainly paid off, greatly enhancing rooting and quicker recovery from wear combined with improved drainage to have a better playing surface," he says. Mellor says Fenway is unique in that it has three microcli- mates. Most ballparks have two; the upper deck shade and the sunny part of the field. Fenway's Green Monster creates a third microclimate. The 30-foot-tall green wall creates a heat island, driving temps up as high as 150 degrees, stressing turf. The outfield can have as much as a 40-degree temperature differ- ence as compared to behind home plate in the upper deck shade. Mellor uses wetting agents and moisture meters to monitor soil Interns Case South and Jeremy Langlois using wetting agent near Green Monster.