Rockies Are Smoking on Their Thick Grass

It's almost like manicuring a golf course; it's your home field, you can regulate the conditions to your liking (unless there are rules I'm missing). And that's exactly what the Rockies have done this year. In addition to using the humidor, the Rockies have changed the way the game is played at Coors Field through their groundskeeping.

After three years of experimenting, Rockies groundskeeper Mark Razum has created turf coveted by upper management to slow down the game at Coors Field.
"Maybe it's not perfect, but it's close," Razum said Wednesday. "We aren't here to please ourselves or the visiting team. I don't care what they think. We have tried to help the pitchers and our defense, and I think we have done that."

The stats seem to be in the Rockies' favor. They've committed the fewest errors in the NL with just 33 on the season, the 1.95 homers per game is the fewest in franchise history, as are the 10.07 runs per game. I don't know how much can be credited to the thicker grass, but I'm sure that has to help somewhat (they're 24-18 at home this year). The Rockies sure have changed their franchise approach and it seems to be working. At least, better than it has in past years.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-05-2007 @ 1:08PM

mark DEZUBA said...

COORS FIELD! WHAT A BEAUTIFUL STADIUM. BUILT IN THE NEWLY RENOVATED DOWNTOWN DISTRICT, COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS "LODO", SHORT FOR LOWER DENVER; AND JUST A STONES THROW AWAY FROM THE FRONT RANGE OF THE ROCKIES - OUR STADIUM IS ONE OF THE BEST. NOW THAT THE GROUNDSKEEPERS HAVE FIGURED OUT THE RIGHT CONFIGURATION FOR GRASS DENSITY AND LENGTH, COORS FIELD FINDS A GOOD BALANCE BETWEEN THE THIN RARIFIED AIR AT THE MILE HIGH ELEVATION AND THE INFIELD. AND, YES, THE HUMIDOR HAS KEPT THE GAME IN BALANCE AS WELL. MY COMPLIMENTS TO ALL INVOLVED. I FIND NOTHING BETTER THAN SPENDING AN EVENING WITH MY SON SITTING BY THE FIRST BASE LINE WATCHING THE ROCKIES PLAY THEIR COMPETITORS ON THE RICH GREEN GRASS OF THE DIAMOND AND THE GLORIUS ROCKY MOUNTAINS IN THE BACKGROUND. SINCERELY, MARK DEZUBA

7-05-2007 @ 2:02PM

CrazyDaddy.net said...

Seems the Rocks like the homem field advantage- as do lots of hot teams. Though they will have to get over that to advance in real. Lots of teams get hot, but ya need to be able to close anywhere to get to the big show.

My beloved DBacks are one of the hottest road teams in the MLB now 2.5 GB-although lost yesterday to Cards??

Though the Cards will see some improvement at least now that their Pitching rotation is at least a bit stronger with Maroth and improved batting.

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