An Evening On The Phillies Ground Crew

The Phillies' Administrative Office is located on the Patterson Avenue side of Citizens Bank Park, and that is where I was directed to report at least 45 minutes before gametime Saturday night. Of course I arrived much earlier, and was greeted at the VIP entrance on that sweltering, late Spring evening by smiling, head-set wearing Phillies office staff as well a blast of A/C.

This was the culmination of many days of anticipation, following my wife's terrific Father's Day present for me: A evening as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies Grounds Crew.

The Phillies' Director of Entertainment (how is THAT for a Title?), Christine Long (she's the one you see on the field wearing a headset pre-game and directing people around), greeted me with my official T-Shirt emblazoned with "Phillies Grounds Crew" on the front and a nifty CBP logo on the left sleeve. "Follow me", she said.

This is where I began four hours of what -- for me -- was heaven on earth.

First, we proceeded through the labyrinth of tunnels running under the ballpark. We passed the Phanatic's Dressing Room, the Umpire's room, and the Celebrity VIP Room. Moments later, I saw on opening with daylight....and there we were, walking into the field, just behind home plate.

It was about 6:00pm and the San Diego Padres were taking batting practice. As we made our way from behind home plate toward the right field grounds crew offices, I brushed past Chase Headley and Adrian Gonzalez. Walking down the warning truck at a quick pace, fans lined up to high five Christine, who was recently featured in Phillies Magazine this year. Christine has been with the Phillies for decades (starting out as a "Hot Pants" girl) and has garnered quite a following.

You know the window in the right field fence, just by the foul pole? Right by where Jayson Werth smacked his head against the wall a month or so ago? That's the office for the Heads Groundskeeper, Mike Boekholder. You've seen Mike on television promoting Scott's lawn seed, and we were headed to his office for me to make acquaintances with my Boss-For-The-Evening.

The right-field corner wall was open and we walked past into the large room where Mike's office is located as well as a waiting area where part of the grounds crew is stationed during the game. Christine introduced me to the dozen or so assembled crew who were sitting around a table, watching TV. She then patted me on the back and wished me good luck!

They were all watching a girls' softball game, and between pitches I chatted with Mike and a gentleman named Jeff, who is the one primarily responsible for keeping the infield perfectly manicured. Jeff is so anal (his word) about the infield that if a ball takes a bad hop, he says the "error" is on him. Clearly these guys take their jobs VERY seriously. Pretty cool.

Jeff then made the grand gesture of finding a "real" grounds crew shirt for me. The one given to me by Christine was a gray T-shirt, but the rest of the grounds crew was wearing blue rugby shirts which looked considerably more official. I quickly put on the trademark blue grounds crew shirt, and became one of the crew.

A real nice fellow named Joe then took me back out to the field. Joe works in the bullpen and is the guy you see on TV who opens the door when a reliever enters the game from the bullpen, and you've seen Joe hand the pitcher's warm-up jacked to the right field ballgirl who then brings it into the dugout. I've seen him a number of times on TV but didn't initially recognize him because he looks so much younger in person.

Joe and I then walked around the outfield warning track as the Padres' pitchers were shagging fly balls. He chit-chatted briefly with a few of the Padres as we made our way to the center field bullpen, dodging a few balls along the way and picking up some debris from the warning track.

We proceeded up the center field steps into the home team bullpen and then the visiting team bullpen. By this time, the park is starting to fill up, with fans lining the bullpen area trying to get our attention so we can throw them a ball. Joe shared some neat anecdotes, and as we stood on the Phillies' pitcher's mound, he noted how Jamie Moyer, the night's starting pitcher, always begin his pre-game bullpens by digging a large rut in front of the pitcher's rubber. When finished warming up, Moyer then gently places the baseball in the center of the rut, where by superstition it will remain until Moyer is finished pitching for the evening.

As Joe was sharing one of his fascinating stories, I heard my name being called and looked up at the crowd assembled by the bullpen's standing room only section. Looking down on me with wide-eyed wonder, just as I had looked down on so many of my favorite ballplayers, were my biggest fans: my family. I walked over and threw a couple baseballs up to my kids, who smiled down and waved as if they hadn't seen me in years. Something about being on a professional ballfield will do that to people.

Joe and I made our way back down to the outfield and walked around to the left field corner, then circled back toward the infield. We made our way down into the visitor's dugout where Padres' Manager Bud Black was sitting, and I was introduced to some of the TV crew who are stationed there. We then walked over to the Phillies dugout where Tom Burgoyne, the man who is the Philly Phanatic's Best Friend, was hanging out. He's as funny without green as he is with green: when Joe introduced me to him as the night's Honorary GroundsCrewman, Tom wittingly replied, "Yeah, you look like one of the grounds crew guys: overweight." I immediately replied that if he has the Phanatic stick his belly out at me on the field, I was going to take the Phanatic down.

The Phanatic did not bother me at all that evening.

We then walked down the tunnel leading from the Phils' dugout to the locker room. Along the way, we had an opportunity to see Milt Thompson, J-Roll, and Jamie Moyer. Joe and I wished Moyer good luck, and went back onto the field to go to work.

My first official job was to assist in tearing down the batting cage and stowing it behind the fence in right field. Either the batting cage wasn't that heavy or I was pushing from the wrong area, because it felt pretty light and took only a few minutes to put away. We then proceeded to the left field corner where we needed to lay the lime for the left field foul line. I was taught the precise way in which the line is calibrated, using the complex instruments known as a string and a nail. We also invited a few kids from the first row onto the field to help us, which of course made their night.

At this point I notice that I'm being beckoned by Christine, who is in the infield coordinating the pre-game activities, which included a Candy Bar throwing out the first ball and a tribute to Roy Halladay's perfect game. I was directed to assist with wetting down the infield ("Don't drag your feet, make sure you PICK THEM UP, so you don't mess up the dirt!), and as I was holding the hose I was introduced to the crowd on Phanavision. I didn't hear a whole lot of applause, but maybe I had a little water in my ears.

As we're finishing up watering the infield, I stole a glance from my position just behind the pitchers mound. There was Chase Utley, Placido Polanco and Ryan Howard stretching and running just a few feet away from me behind first base. Wow, I am really standing here doing this! I'm then directed to grab first, second and third base from storage, and put them in the field. My Phillies Game-Day watch, which is set to play "Take Me Out To The BallGame" at gametime every day, starts to chirp just as I'm putting Third Base in. It's set 10 minutes fast, but it still gave me a bit of a jolt: Here I am, putting third base in the hole. I didn't need my watch to remind me that it was gametime that night.

It's worth noting that, all the while I am putting the bases in, I am sharing the field with the man being honored for throwing just the 20th perfect game in the 100+ years since Major League Baseball has been in existence. Savvy viewers will see me jogging past Halladay and his family a few times as he's being honored, and also standing just a few feet away as we all watched the tribute to him on Phanavision.

As the game began, I was perched right next to the Padres' dugout steps. When I wasn't switching out bases later in the game, this is where I stayed for the entire 9 innings. Highlights during included:

1. Being able to hear the chatter in the Padres' dugout as if I was watching one of TWIB's "mic'd" segments (which included Matt Stairs saying some not-fit-for-TV things to the home plate umpire).

2. Chatting with the Padres' third base coach at the end of the third when I changed out third base (he asked me if I knew how long the rain would hold out; I gave him the best answer I had and proceeded to advise him that I was only an honorary grounds crew member, and I was happy I hadn't screwed anything up yet, to which he replied, "You're doing a great job", and gave me fist).

3. Shaking hands and speaking to Jim Joyce, the 2nd base umpire that night but also the umpire who notoriously blew Armando Galarraga's perfect game last week on a botched call at first for what would have been the final out. Despite his mistake (and we ALL make mistakes, but not all of us are in high enough positions for there to be such ramifications for our mistakes), Joyce is a class act and I told him as much. He thanked me and gave me a nice shoulder-pat.

4. Seeing Moyer notch his record-setting 100th win after the age of 40 from the best seat in the house.

5. Handing a game-used ball to a young girl in the first row.

6. Getting to know some of the grounds crew guys and gaining an appreciation for their hard work and dedication.

I was most impressed with the professionalism and collegiality of the entire Phillies crew: from the ballplayers to the grounds crew, the ballgirls to the security guards, the Phanatic to the front office. I got the distinct impression that all of their energy and focus was headed in the same direction, which was to put on a great show and ensure everyone had a great time.

Mission accomplished!