TRAVERSE CITY -- Rolling out the synthetic AstroTurf at Wuerfel Park allowed the Beach Bums to roll out the red carpet.
For the first time, a high school baseball tournament accompanied the team's annual Fan Fest. It was the second event held on the new artificial-turf playing surface at Wuerfel Park.
Manton and Boyne Falls played a doubleheader on the new field Tuesday while Frankfort, Elk Rapids, Bellaire and Mason County Eastern hit the turf on Saturday.
John Wuerfel, president and CEO of Wuerfel Sports Development, said the new surface will allow more events at Wuerfel Park.
"Before, the grass was like it is on that berm, all brown and stuff," Wuerfel said, motioning to the lawn seating. "Teams would get on it this early and tear it up and it wouldn't rejuvenate until June, so we really protected it.
"Now it opens everything up."
Getting a chance to play on the new turf -- and at Wuerfel Park -- even made Frankfort give up playing its tournament at home.
Frankfort coach Mike Zimmerman said athletic director Dave Jackson approached him about moving it.
"He walked out and said, 'Do you want to host the Frankfort Tournament on the road?' and I said, 'Why would we do that?' " Zimmerman recalled "He said, 'Because the Wuerfels offered their ball park' and I said, OK.'
"That was all it took."
Following the Frankfort Invitational at Wuerfel Park will be the TC St. Francis Invitational on April 26. It's the second straight season the Gladiators have held a tournament at Wuerfel Park.
There will also be the Glen Lake Invitational on May 17 and a doubleheader between Elk Rapids and Mancelona on May 15.
Wuerfel said he hopes the marriage of the field turf and baseball is a long one, especially with the maintenance costs removed.
"We don't have to drag the field between games, we don't have to rechalk it and there's no watering it down," Wuerfel said. "We're ready to go."
Wuerfel said his son, Jason, even received an inquiry about hosting the Division II national tournament at Wuerfel Park. Jason Wuerfel is the Beach Bums director of baseball operations as well as the team's hitting coach.
But of the six dates for the tournament, only three were available. When the Bums were unable to reschedule those three games, the tournament wound up at GCS Park, home of a fellow Frontier League member in the Gateway Grizzlies.
Those college and high school games are what Wuerfel would like to see more of in the future. The artificial turf has already hosted a football practice as St. Francis prepped for an indoor playoff game.
"It'll open it up for all sorts of events," Wuerfel said. "Concerts can be held on the field, there's the possibility of having college games here on the weekends."
Wuerfel Park has already booked country singer Andy Griggs for a pregame concert on Aug. 7.
John Wuerfel added there are pegs to put the bases at 60 feet -- instead of the regulation 90 -- for slowpitch softball games.
Holding a high school tournament also helped draw more fans inside of Wuerfel Park for Fan Fest. John Wuerfel said season-ticket sales were at about 850, on par with the team's inaugural season in 2006.
Concession sales were also up, even at half-price rates.
"Part of it is having baseball games here," he said. "People are staying. Before people would buy tickets, register for a few giveaways and leave.
"Now with four baseball games they're sitting in the stands enjoying the games, having a hot dog, a pop or an ice cream and they're staying here."
Colleen Smith of Traverse City checked out the turf after buying two tickets to the July 16 Frontier League All-Star Game at Wuerfel Park. She also took home tickets to a couple of regular-season dates.
"It's just good entertainment and a lot of fun," Smith said of Beach Bums' games. "It'll be different for them to play on for sure."
Frankfort freshman Kyle Zimmerman, the winning pitcher in the first game of the tournament, said it was a nice surface to play on.
"I like it," he said. "There are no bad bounces or anything. Plus on the mound there's no holes you have to fill in and you never slip."
Kyle Zimmerman did say there was one big adjustment to playing on the surface: sliding.
"You go really far," he said. "You have to plan ahead a little bit. You have to start two steps earlier."
The experience Kyle Zimmerman has playing at Wuerfel Park is as much as new Bums outfielder Michael Epping has on it. Other than an adjustment process, Epping said it should be a strong surface.
"It's great," Epping said between autographs on the stadium's concourse. "I just had one day to get out there, but so far, so good.
"I play the small game a little bit. I think it'll help me a little bit with bunting, but time will tell. It'll be pretty much new to everybody."
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