While some teams tear up the ground with their cleats, spit on it, or even worse, not use it at all, the University of Tampa baseball squad has a different relationship with Mother Earth. It seems to echo the philosophy of Wendell Berry, an author and farmer.
“The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility,” Berry once said. “To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.”
Before and after each game, the Spartans take care of their home field to the best of their abilities, ensuring that it is watered properly and that its grass is plentiful.
Why do the Spartans themselves do it, you may ask? UT pitcher Sean Bierman jokingly declared that, “We tried to hire a grounds crew. We actually had a couple bids from professional teams such as the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, but they weren’t cheap enough for the university, so we decided to work on the field ourselves.”
In reality, members of the baseball team find themselves doing the work of a grounds crew as a way to allocate money elsewhere, says UT Sports Information Director Tom Kolbe.
“This allows the program to save money and concentrate its fund-raising dollars on scholarships and the daily expenses of running the program,” Kolbe said.
While the Spartans may not be professionals at maintaining a baseball field, Kolbe says the team does just as good of a job as an outside company would.
“I believe they are just as effective, as they are trained properly by the coaches and other players on the team,” said Kolbe.
Kolbe added that Jerome Fulton, the university’s facilities director, helps the team with the field work, and overall does an excellent job at keeping the baseball field in good shape.
Members of the team use rakes to comb the soil around home plate while Head Coach Joe Urso uses a tractor to smooth out the dirt that makes up the diamond.
Bierman explains the team’s relationship with the field.
“We really care about our field. Aaron Gerbasi [acts as] our head man on the grounds crew — he puts so much love into what he does.”
Bierman claims that on Sundays, Gerbasi actually calls for “all of [the players to] meet on the mound at 6 p.m. for a prayer. He starts the prayer with ‘Let this grass be prosperous during this next week of play, and allow us to play at the best of our ability in the Bird Cage.’ The Bird Cage is what we call our field.”
Clearly, in terms of athletics at least, the fenced-in landscape is an important part of these players’ lives.
Bierman explained that himself and fellow pitcher Max Kreuter work on taking care of the base paths.
In addition, the position players each are in charge of maintaining their own position on the field with rakes, and that the Spartan catchers keep home plate in top shape for gameplay. Gerbasi, who “oversees the operations,” Bierman said, also waters the field.
Extensive care and concern seem to be taken when the UT baseball team deals with their diamond-shaped piece of earth. With the field acting as a second home to these men, who use it for games and practices, it should come as no surprise that they want to take good care of it.
“We see the field as part of our team,” Bierman stated. “We go to war with it and we grieve with it. Every blade of grass and every rock of dirt is important to us.”
When asked what Bierman would like to get across to the future Spartans who are worthy enough to handle the affairs of the field, he said, “Once our time has come and gone, I would explain to people coming into the Bird Cage that the field is part of the team. The Cage is loved and honored.”
Bierman then warned that, “if you treat it badly, Gerbasi will find out, and he will track you down.”
Maya Todd can be reached at mtodd@spartans.ut.edu.