Mowing patterns in major league baseball run the gamut, from San Francisco’s AT&T Park, where the grass is mowed in one direction so no pattern appears, to Boston’s Fenway Park, where the groundskeeper David Mellor is renowned for his grass-cutting creativity. Here is what fans can expect to see when the playoffs begin.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
BOSTON RED SOX, FENWAY PARK
Mellor planned a relatively sedate backdrop to start the playoffs, with large squares and triangles, and none of his well-known hose-drawn flourishes like a capital “B” or the two-socks Red Sox logo.
But if Boston advances, stay tuned.
TAMPA BAY RAYS, TROPICANA FIELD
Playing indoors on Field Turf prevents mowing, but not patterns. The groundskeeper Dan Moeller said his crew brushes the turf with brooms in a different way every day “to get it to fluff up,” but does not create patterns.
“Not on purpose,” he said.
LOS ANGELES ANGELS, ANGEL STADIUM
Barney Lopas mows the outfield so that each fielder stands among stripes pointed toward home, to help balls roll straight rather than “snake.”
The infield is a popular variation of checkerboards and stripes.
Lopas’ hopes for the playoffs: “Just green grass and no snaking.”
CHICAGO WHITE SOX, US CELLULAR FIELD
The US Cellular groundskeeper Roger Bossard’s grandfather spent decades with the Indians, and he took over from his father with the White Sox in 1983.
Tradition, plus a small crew, is why the White Sox play on plain back-and-forth stripes running through both the infield and the outfield.
Minnesota Twins, Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
When set up for baseball, the Metrodome’s FieldTurf is presented with a distinctive touch — concentric circles, like a target, around the pitcher’s mound. Such designs can be done with brooms or vacuums, just like on a carpet at home.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CHICAGO CUBS, WRIGLEY FIELD
The Cubs often have a classic box cut in the outfield — half the stripes mowed parallel to the third-base line, the other half parallel to the first-base line. The infield is another classic: checkerboards near the bases and stripes along the paths.
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES, CITIZENS BANK PARK
Patterns usually alternate between a box cut and a distinctive diamond cut in both the outfield and the infield. Flourishes, like a scripted “P,” are not the Phillies’ style.
“Some actually push over the grass intentionally,” the groundskeeper Mike Boekholder said. “We take the philosophy of, ‘Let’s get it standing as upright as possible.’”
LA DODGERS, DODGER STADIUM
The Bermuda grass at Dodger Stadium is usually cut to one-half inch (1.3cm), about half the length of the rye and bluegrass fields of most northern stadiums, but enough to create patterns. The Dodgers usually have a check/stripe infield, like the Angels and the Cubs, but the outfield is often lined in simple straightaway stripes.
MILWAUKEE BREWERS, MILLER PARK
A retractable roof and less sunlight curtail some mowing creativity. The groundskeeper Gary Vanden Berg has settled on a big checkerboard pattern — “four mowers wide,” he said — with smaller squares in the infield.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to