Despite just heading into his second season he?EUR??,,????'???s earned the title of 2008 Sports Turf Manager of the Year in the New York-Penn League. Before his leadership tenure began, he worked under Matt Duncan for four years. His minor league experience totals seven years as a result.

He holds a Communications Degree from Youngstown State University, and is working on a pesticide applicators license. Particularly considering his lack of formal training, he credits his mentor with providing the knowledge needed to do his job.

The season sees three college interns called in, often from Youngstown State. The leader extolled the virtues of his interns for the previous two years. In particular, he?EUR??,,????'???s thankful tasks can simply be assigned with leeway for individual judgment about how to best accomplish them and expect it to be done right.

They typically arrive at the end of May or beginning of June and are gone by the end of August or beginning of September. Regular hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every weekday, with game nights seeing them working to midnight. Tasks commonly performed include rebuilding mounds and baselines, small tree trimming and mowing among others.

Up to 6,000 fans can be seated in the stands, while general entertainment events can handle 9,000. Examples include championship boxing, the Youngstown Symphony, an annual rib and music festival, auto shows, the American Heart Association Heart Walk and many others. Stricko estimates that between the 130,000 baseball fans and other stadium patrons, 150,000 visitors use the grounds annually.

Turf- The field primarily uses Kentucky bluegrass, with 300 pounds put down at the end of last season. Overseeding occurs at the end of the Youngstown State season with approximately 200 pounds of a 70/30 bluegrass and rye mix. Seed is obtained through Central Farm and Garden. While not a trade relationship, for a time Matt Duncan was a sales representative and could be called in to help diagnose turf issues with his former pupil. The friendship continues with the master at the Akron Arrows.

Mowing is performed at an inch-and-a-quarter every day during home stands, then every other day when the team is on the road. The outside of the facility is mowed at least once before every home game. This schedule is maintained May through September, with the practice sometimes extending into October dependent on weather.

Core aeration is performed in the third and forth week of March. For April through August, it?EUR??,,????'???s performed only in the fourth week of each month. September and October round out the remainder of the aeration schedule.

Display Beds- Acreage for this element is limited, with the landscape crew primarily responsible for about 20 Holly bushes in beds on the stadium perimeter. Stricko claims laying down 9 yards of mulch are the primary maintenance requirements.

Trees- The only arbors on site are 10 to 13 individuals on two grass areas in the 2,000 car parking lot. The Cafaro Company, who also maintains the adjacent malls landscapes, cares for these areas as well.

However, at his passionate gardener wife?EUR??,,????'???s insistence, the leader does check in on a couple of the trees. While it takes some extra time, he gladly does it for someone he considers an ?EUR??,,????'??amazing woman?EUR??,,????'?? and feels extremely lucky to have (a point reiterated several times throughout the interview).

No maintenance is performed in house, instead being outsourced, often via trade relationships. In the case of the Gator, one of Strickos?EUR??,,????'??? favorite vehicles, it?EUR??,,????'???s actually owned by Cope Farm Equipment. He gets to use it for nine months before it?EUR??,,????'???s picked up for winter maintenance and then returned for spring use. A similar approach is utilized with the Toro mower and infield groomer.

Sources include nearby colleagues from the Lake County Captains and Akron Arrows, as well as businesses Baker Vehicles, Century Equipment and RSD Equipment Rentals. As an example of the numbers involved, the formal agreement with RSD is $2,500 per year. However, this figure is gratefully surpassed every year, usually closer to between $4,000 and $5,000 by the Superintendents?EUR??,,????'??? estimation. The fellow groundskeepers are also always on the spot with advice and usually willing to come out to inspect a problem in person.

Pesticide- Use of this chemical group is very limited, only amounting to an occasional application of a grub control mix in May.

Herbicides- Several fungicides are applied, often obtained through Central Farm and Garden. Melligan product is applied August 1st in anticipation of the concert season. Disarm and Q4 are both applied August 22.

Fertilizers- John Deere fertilizers from Lesco are the primary products used, and a trade relationship exists with Greg Hohlich of Lawn Ranger for season tickets. The Superintendent estimates 75% of the items used are granular. The fertilizer application schedule was developed with Duncan while he was at Central Farm and Garden and is as follows.

He credits his interns with making it possible to keep up with this constraint, claiming they do 75% to 80% of the work. He further claims that the Turf Manager of the Year award would have been impossible to achieve without them. The same was said of the surrounding community, both in the context of other Superintendents and businesses.

The professional support comes from fellow Superintendents who, rather than being fiercely competitive and denying any support to local colleagues, come together to raise the playability of everyone?EUR??,,????'???s fields. Additional support comes from the local business community to give back to their customer base while creating mutually profitable relationships.

A final layer of support comes from his family, whom are clearly a huge part of his life after hearing him speak of them throughout the interview. His three young children even come to help out at the field from time-to-time.