TRAVERSE CITY -- Turf's up!
The new artificial turf at Wuerfel Park will make its Frontier League debut on Wednesday when the Beach Bums open the season with the Midwest Sliders.
It's ironic that the Bums are playing the Sliders, given that sliding is one of the areas that the new surface has drastically affected.
"That's one of the biggest things," Bums second baseman Steve Young said. "(Early in spring training), I stole a base mainly because I wanted to slide on this surface. I've actually been thrown out on turf sliding about three feet past the base. You really have to get a gauge on when to start sliding, because it just seems like you don't stop. You keep going and going. ... You have to figure out how to stop yourself."
True enough. Center fielder Mike Epping said he slid past the base in a simulated game, and an Elk Rapids player had to grab hold of the base to avoid doing the same in a high school tournament game played at Wuerfel Park.
Obviously, there are adjustments to be made.
While many collegiate players have some experience at indoor training facilities with some sort of synthetic playing surface, the type of AstroTurf at Wuerfel Park isn't as common as most and is just beginning to spread in popularity in baseball.
The surface, more commonly associated with football fields, is similar to that at the Detroit Lions' Ford Field. The Gameday Grass surface uses ground-up recycled rubber tires as its "dirt" around monofilament polyethylene that is the grass, all above four layers of environmentally-friendly backing.
The result, players say, is a true bounce on batted balls. Defenders don't have to worry about bad hops.
However, defense is one of the big questions as the team adjust to its altered digs.
"I've always enjoyed playing on grass fields," Young said. "The turf is nice because most of the ground balls are just nice ground balls. It gets to a point where you can field it with your eyes closed. There's not too many excuses you can make if you miss one.
"We're just going to have to be that much more prepared when we play on the road and play on grass on fields like in Kalamazoo where the infield surface isn't as good."
That is very true.
Chillicothe and Southern Illinois also have the same surface, and there's a big increase on the road when the Paints and Miners have to deal with less ideal field conditions.
The Paints saw an increase from 0.83 errors per game at home to 1.35 a contest on the road. The Miners' increase was less, but still went up from 0.94 to 1.09 a game.
By the way, the Beach Bums -- who struggled defensively in stretches last season -- saw a decrease in errors when playing at Chillicothe and Southern Illinois. Traverse City averaged just 0.67 errors a game in Chillicothe and 0.33 in Southern Illinois, a big departure from their average of 1.32 miscues a game in all other contests.
The pitchers love it for several reasons.
"I'm a ground ball pitcher and you'll never see a bad hop out here," starting pitcher David Nathanson said. "I think the pitchers are real excited about it."
Pitchers don't have to deal with holes in the mound left by other hurlers. The mound is concrete underneath, assuring it will stay in the correct shape.
"It's nice to have a perfect mound every time you throw the ball," Nathanson said.
Perhaps the biggest changes are in store for outfielders.
"It's a little different," said Epping. "It takes some getting used to. In the outfield, you get a lot bigger hops. The infield seems to be a little bit slow, but time will tell with that."
The chief concern among outfielders is the warning track -- or lack of one.
The track -- named because it gives speeding outfielders a heads-up that they are close to the wall -- simply isn't there anymore.
"My only concern is that the warning track is the same," outfielder Brad Roblin said. "We'll have to rely on a lot of communication with the other outfielders."
The turf is colored differently for the track (and base paths), but outfielders generally don't like to take their eyes off the flight of the ball.
"With me, I'm a guy if I'm going near the wall, I turn and look because I don't trust hearing my feet hit some dirt," said first baseman Kyle Maunus, who has also seen time in the outfield. "But some guys do that, so it might be tough."
"It should be all right," Epping said. "That's what your other outfielders are there for, to help you when you get close to the fence. You can't look down or next thing you know the ball hits you in the head like Jose Canseco."
The surface seems tailor-made for the makeup of the Bums, who boast a lot of speed.
"Bunting has been really good here so far," Epping said. "It's like the warning track; it's a different color, but it's the same thing, so the roll is pretty true."
Among other areas the new surface impacts:
•The rain doesn't have as big an impact, meaning fewer rainouts.
•It's rumored to affect the air immediately above it, making it warmer and heavier and acting as a sort of anti-Coors Field that can knock down fly balls.
•The surface is a little more loose now than it will be. "The more and more wear it gets on it, the more it will settle down," hitting coach Jason Wuerfel said. "The more it gets packed down, the less you'll see the rubber flying up when the ball hits it."
It also will affect the personal habits of some players.
Posted in the dugouts are "Artificial turf rules" signs that read: "NO sunflower seeds, gum, peanuts, tobacco, Gatorade, pop. Please use buckets."
When all is said and done, it's what the players have to play on, beneficial or not.
"The pitchers rave about it because they throw their ground balls and they're expecting them to get eaten up," Young said. "As hitters, when we hit a ground ball, it can be a different story. When it comes down to playing, it comes down to mind over matter. If you don't mind, it won't matter."
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