Parkview Field as seen during Game 2 of the 2017 Midwest League Championship Series. (Photo by Craig Wieczorkiewicz/The Midwest League Traveler)
Fort Wayne TinCaps head groundskeeper Keith Winter and his grounds crew have won another award for their work.
This time they’ve won the Sports Turf Managers Association’s “Field of the Year” award for professional baseball. All teams in Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, and independent baseball leagues are eligible for the annual award.
Parkview Field, along with other “Field of the Year” award winners (Georgia Tech football, South Carolina Upstate baseball, Stetson University softball, and FC Dallas of Major League Soccer), will be featured in a 2018 issue of SportsTurf Magazine, the STMA’s monthly publication. The TinCaps grounds crew also will receive a physical award at the 29th annual STMA Conference and Exhibition in Fort Worth, Texas, in January.
Field entries were independently scored by a panel of 13 judges, who based their ratings on playability, appearance of surfaces, utilization of innovative solutions, effective use of budget, and implementation of a comprehensive agronomic program.
The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (in 2008) are the only other Midwest League team to receive the honor, which was first awarded in 1988.
The TinCaps have won the Midwest League’s Grounds Crew of the Year award six times in the last eight years, and Winter was named Minor League Baseball’s Single-A Sports Turf Manager of the Year in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
