Boston Red Sox Grounds Crew Installs New Field Inside Fenway Park
BOSTON (CBS) – Opening Day at Fenway Park is just three weeks away and the grounds crew is hustling to get ready.
After the World Series in October and a busy offseason with football in November and the Red Bull Crashed Ice event back in February, a new field is being rolled out inside the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball.
"The sod comes from New Jersey, it's 100-percent Kentucky bluegrass," David Mellor, the Senior Director of Grounds for the Red Sox, told WBZ-TV.
They started taking out the old sod on February 20 and began preparing the roots for the new grass right away.
But there was one curve ball from Mother Nature.
"Some cold weather and snow put us a little bit (into) a slow period there," Mellor said, so they brought out dark black sand. The sand absorbs the heat from the sun and helps melt it into the drainage system. That way they don't have to shovel the snow off the grass and risk damaging the new sod.
"We hope for the best and plan for the worst and we will be ready no matter what. It's a lot of teamwork," Mellor said.
The Red Sox face the Blue Jays at 2:05 p.m. on Tuesday April 9. They'll get their World Series rings in a ceremony right before the game.