Artificial Turf at AmFam Field 🤮

[edfunderburk]

Excerpt from “Brewers Beat” …

The Brewers have considered installing artificial turf at American Family Field for a couple of years, but they haven’t moved forward with that plan yet. One of the benefits, beyond ending the long battle associated with getting grass to grow in a domed stadium, would be expanding the number of events when the Brewers are away.

I HATE this idea - I hope this NEVER happens. 

Baseball should ALWAYS be played on GRASS!

[Brewcrew82]

1 hour ago, edfunderburk said:

Excerpt from “Brewers Beat” …

The Brewers have considered installing artificial turf at American Family Field for a couple of years, but they haven’t moved forward with that plan yet. One of the benefits, beyond ending the long battle associated with getting grass to grow in a domed stadium, would be expanding the number of events when the Brewers are away.

I HATE this idea - I hope this NEVER happens. 

Baseball should ALWAYS be played on GRASS!

Artificial turf these days is effectively grass. We're a long ways removed from Astroturf.

Recent ballparks with retractable roofs like ours, such as Texas and Miami, have artificial turf. 

 

[Axman59]

If they put fake grass in I will never attend another game. I'm serious. Disgusting. Totally unacceptable.

Thankfully, I've never attended a major league game played on artificial grass (15 different ballparks through the years - Brewers (County Stadium and Miller Park), Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Orioles, Phillies, Cubs, Reds, Pirates, Cardinals, White Sox, Dodgers, Padres, Angels).

[rickh150]

I am actually ok with this. There is still dirt, right? And the new turf for even high school fields actually looks nice. This isn’t the Metrodome or SkyDome turf.

[MVP2110]

Yea this seems fine. I don't really get what the big deal is 

[Brock Beauchamp]

This isn't something I'd be outraged about but I'm a firm believer in baseball being played on grass. New turf is much better than Astroturf but I'll never get the taste of the Metrodome out of my mouth and will always dislike artificial turf.

[jerichoholicninja]

Considering NFL players want to ban turf due to all the injuries it causes I can't believe this would even be an option.

[Frisbee Slider]

Fewer collisions with the turf in baseball.

[Frisbee Slider]

The Metrodome turf from 1987 looks brutal.

 

[homer]

Turf has come a long way. My guess is that if they switched over without telling anyone, hardly anybody would be able to tell.  

[Brock Beauchamp]

46 minutes ago, Frisbee Slider said:

The Metrodome turf from 1987 looks brutal.

It was terrible. When Torii Hunter broke into the league, Kirby Puckett pulled him aside and taught him how to dive for a ball with his arms and face bent upwards so that the turf wouldn't tear off his skin.

They moved away from that turf in the early 2000s, maybe 2003?

And then Joe Mauer tore up his knee in something like his fifth career game.

I ****ing hate turf.

[MrTPlush]

I find this incredibly disappointing. When you think baseball, you think of the fields, the grounds crew, and the art of making the baseball fields what they are. All the effort to keep them in top shape for 162+ games through changing seasons. AmFam was specifically constructed in a way to allow enough natural light into a retractable roof stadium to grow natural grass…which I believe was quite a feat when it had been done. They then got the grow lights to make the grass go from decent the great. Taking all that into consideration, it is so disappointing to think they might rip up the field fo put down fake grass.

The natural grass was probably one of the lone things that made AmFam not feel like an airplane hanger completely and that it was a bit outdoors.

That being said, here is a cool info video about the Rangers field…which is pretty likely what the Brewers would install. Notably, theirs doesn’t have rubber pellets for ‘dirt’. It is a coconut shell ground up.

https://insidetheblueprint.com/texas-rangers-new-stadium-features-innovative-synthetic-grass/

[Jim French Stepstool]

As long as it's an all-dirt infield (no sliding pits) I'd be OK with the more realistic, truer stuff they install today. Especially if it improves the bottom line (maintenance, ability to hold other events).

[Harold Hutchison]

All for it, if anything, it would be great to find an artificial surface that could play to some of the strengths of Turang and the prospects coming up.

[RobertCrawley]

No thank you.

[edfunderburk]

On 6/17/2023 at 6:11 PM, Axman59 said:

If they put fake grass in I will never attend another game. I'm serious. Disgusting. Totally unacceptable.

Thankfully, I've never attended a major league game played on artificial grass (15 different ballparks through the years - Brewers (County Stadium and Miller Park), Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Orioles, Phillies, Cubs, Reds, Pirates, Cardinals, White Sox, Dodgers, Padres, Angels).

You are now my favorite forum poster 🙌⚾️

[edfunderburk]

I’m equally opposed to aluminum bats in college baseball 

No to artificial turf

No to aluminum bats

Yes to grass fields 

Yes to wood bats

That’s my story & I’m sticking to it 

[owbc]

On 6/18/2023 at 8:34 AM, MrTPlush said:

I find this incredibly disappointing. When you think baseball, you think of the fields, the grounds crew, and the art of making the baseball fields what they are. All the effort to keep them in top shape for 162+ games through changing seasons. AmFam was specifically constructed in a way to allow enough natural light into a retractable roof stadium to grow natural grass…which I believe was quite a feat when it had been done. They then got the grow lights to make the grass go from decent the great. Taking all that into consideration, it is so disappointing to think they might rip up the field fo put down fake grass.

The natural grass was probably one of the lone things that made AmFam not feel like an airplane hanger completely and that it was a bit outdoors.

That being said, here is a cool info video about the Rangers field…which is pretty likely what the Brewers would install. Notably, theirs doesn’t have rubber pellets for ‘dirt’. It is a coconut shell ground up.

https://insidetheblueprint.com/texas-rangers-new-stadium-features-innovative-synthetic-grass/

The key design flaw of AmFam was not having the roof panels slide completely off the stadium like they do at many other stadiums with retractable roofs. So the stadium still feels partially indoors even when the roof is open. It also causes more problems with shadows during day games than it would if the roof could rotate another 10-15 degrees off the stadium. 

I don't particularly like the change either, but I honestly didn't even know that the Rangers and Marlins play on artificial turf. It looks like grass on TV. 

[nate82]

11 minutes ago, owbc said:

The key design flaw of AmFam was not having the roof panels slide completely off the stadium like they do at many other stadiums with retractable roofs. So the stadium still feels partially indoors even when the roof is open. It also causes more problems with shadows during day games than it would if the roof could rotate another 10-15 degrees off the stadium. 

It would have been better to go with a retractable field than a roof but I am not sure if that would work in a baseball stadium like it works for a football stadium.  The Arizona Cardinals have a retractable field.  This would allow for the grass to get enough light as you would just roll the field out after a game.

[homer]

42 minutes ago, owbc said:

The key design flaw of AmFam was not having the roof panels slide completely off the stadium like they do at many other stadiums with retractable roofs. So the stadium still feels partially indoors even when the roof is open. It also causes more problems with shadows during day games than it would if the roof could rotate another 10-15 degrees off the stadium.

That's always been my one complaint about it.

[jay87shot]

Wouldn't it be easier just to make movable lower impact stages. My guess is other events would be like 90% concerts.

[kestrel79]

Is this a cost savings measure? Or is it actually a better surface to play on than grass? Don't all the NFL players complain about the newer artificial grass that has been all the rage the last couple years blowing out their knees?

[Baldkin]

40 minutes ago, kestrel79 said:

Is this a cost savings measure? Or is it actually a better surface to play on than grass? Don't all the NFL players complain about the newer artificial grass that has been all the rage the last couple years blowing out their knees?

It's a money making venture. 

 

More events, no grounds crew, more money in Mark A's pockets at the detriment of the players. 

[nate82]

20 minutes ago, Baldkin said:

More events, no grounds crew, more money in Mark A's pockets at the detriment of the players. 

I thought all events at least in the off season go to the city. 

[Baldkin]

1 hour ago, nate82 said:

I thought all events at least in the off season go to the city. 

 

As far as I know it's the exact opposite. 

https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2017/04/20/murphys-law-the-failed-promise-of-miller-park/

 

The agreement provides a financial boost to the Brewers because any money earned at the non-baseball events goes directly to the team under the Brewers lease. The Brewers keep the revenue from parking, food and merchandise.”

Yep, yet another gift from the taxpayers of this five-county metro area (which includes Racine county, much to the continuing anger of its residents), who get no cut of the concert revenues in the stadium they built.