How to Build a Baseball Field

Clubhouse Gas Casey: I had a lot of questions come through the pitches an idea option on our website about how you go about building new facilities on your youth park. Well today we’ll talk to a guy whose president of the very successful commercial construction firm and also manages construction voluntarily for a local youth baseball league and he’s going to tell us how his beautiful facility came to pass. That’s right here today on Clubhouse Gas Of course we have to be joined by Gene Warren. Gene, thanks for joining us buddy. Gene: Casey thank you buddy. Casey: Now I understand the impetus for this field, why we had to build it is a change in affiliation for the league can you talk about what the requirements were and what the change was needed. Gene: Well Casey as you know, we left little league baseball and we voted to change to Cal Ripken Baseball in November and we did that. The field size had to increase little league dimensions are 60 foot bases or 46 foot pitching distance and 200 foot outfield fences. The Cal Ripken League goes to a 50 foot distance from the mound to the plate. A 70 foot base bath and a 225 foot distance from home plate to centerfield and that was the knee. We only had one place to do it. We looked originally to do it on our major league field it was a our major little league field at that time we could not get, we were land locked we couldn’t get to dimensions opening up for so we have to come up to which was the old triple A field and take what we had enlarge it and so what you see enough here is really our field that we have on triple A that was about a 205 foot distance in fence and we took it. You look back over our shoulders, you’ll see the green monster and that’s where we kind of got land locked. We have to save that historic oak tree and it makes a nice backdrop and we actually put the green monster exactly the same place where the old little league fence was. Casey: Right. Gene: And we just went up 20 feet with it. So if a kid hits one out of there he’s got a 260 feet, you know not between 260 and 270 feet. Casey: Right. Gene: So it’s a shot. What is the challenge land wise, you know you talk about being locked down there but really what does land cost around here about $2 million a foot? Gene: Well you’re right the hard bucket. The one thing we had to do if you look around, we kept the colors and the scenery of the field to match what we had at the part. It’s that form the red brick wall on the inside of the back stop. We keep a split face stone look in a hunter green dug out covering and that blends in with the park. We did the same thing with the grand stand covering the yawning and our goal was to keep everything looking like everything did in the park, the green look. We went outside where we had to stop the fence short and we built a retaining wall. In the old field we had a huge erosion problem in the left field to left center field. When we we’re starting the season we would pack it in by the time we finish the season you know there’s 1 big 1 foot gap underneath the bottom of the fence that just kept washing out so if I put the retaining wall and we corrected all that problem. Casey: Where did the funding come from? Gene: All private donations within the league and alumni outside the league. Casey: Is this private, land or public land? Gene: The city owns the land it’s all part of Frankie Allen Park but Buckhead Baseball is the base of the steward of the park we have the what you call a memorandum of understanding with the city park and it’s our shot to take care of the park in the facilities and all the fences and fields with it. Casey: As quickly as you can take us through what it takes to do this from beginning you had the planning all the way to where we are standing here now, looking at one of the most beautiful youth fields I have ever seen in my life. Gene: Well the first thing we did is we voted to get out of little league and that all triggered in November and then we we’re working on plans and we had to take those plans down the city park and get them through. We had to show them what it was going to look like so they approved it and we had to go from the park approval to the building and zoning and they approved the retaining wall and the electrical for all the lights and the backstop and grandstand area. So after all those were approved you can get everything your budget set and try to save within the budget which is tough, but we started probably I would say the 3rd week or second week of December so we really got ill and from that point it was just a race to get done before March 1. You know we’ve just been coming out of a drought, no rain everything was dry and the minute we hit the field out here the rains came worst. We had several key subcontractors precision turf did the grading in the extra dirt and brought everything on level and did all the side. This is the same side we get a turnip field. They grow it to south of making same stuff I think it comes out of Tifton, Georgia and anyway they were all that stuff back in October is when we knew we were thinking about this so they got the order in and from that point these guys let me say they worked if they knew rain was coming in they would be out here the night before with the headlights on working till the cops came to the gate and closed them down and ran them out here and they were that good. Costello Electric was another one. You know when we got wet, we had to bring equipment out here and work outside the field, those guys just kind of work around the clock and you know they were super as well. So Nelson Masonry, I got to give these guys credit. These three guys are the key. They did all the concrete did all the masonry wall surrounds to the dugouts and McPherson Enterprises was the last one that came in and did all the framing for the dug out and the coverings for in this dugout elevated benches so— Casey: Well they did a great job, it is a beautiful facility. We here at Clubhouse Gas know a little bit about working in a ballpark with your headlights on until the police come to kick you out we were done at AYF National Championships last night. We’re there for 9 nights and they’ve been gone for about 5 hours and we’re trying to get everything edited and we had our headlights on and floodlights going and 5 others that you guess you’ve got to go. We’ve got to close the place down but we’ve got the job done and you guys did to. It’s a fantastic job. Congratulations! Gene: Well I appreciate it. Casey: Thank you so much for hanging out with us. That’s going to do it for today. We look forward to seeing you right back here next time for another great edition of Clubhouse Gas.