Barney Lopas: Keeping the Grounds True to the Game

By Elizabeth Henderson

Mowing is a daily task, but one Barney enjoys using his Jacobsen Greens King mower.

On Game Day, Barney makes sure the pattern cut into the outfield grass is clean and simple for ultimate playability.

Barney Lopas?EUR??,,????'??? childhood was full-immersion baseball. Growing up in Appleton, Wisconsin, he lived just down the street from a minor league team, the Single A White Sox. By age five he was a bat-boy for the team. Even as a kid, Barney loved baseball. He played little league, played with friends, played right up through high school. When he realized he wouldn?EUR??,,????'???t be able to play ball professionally, he decided to stay as close to the game as possible.

It was a decision that came easily for him. Barney?EUR??,,????'???s older brother had worked as groundskeeper for several years with their hometown minor league team. But he?EUR??,,????'???d been offered a job with the Florida Marlins and was leaving town. So it was in 1985 that Barney took over the job, and became Head Groundskeeper for the Single A team. He never looked back. Twenty years later, Barney Lopas is still keeping the field green and playable?EUR??,,????'??+only now he works for the Big Leagues: the Los Angeles Angels at Anaheim, Calif.?EUR??,,????'???s Angel Stadium.

Learning From the Best

So how does a kid from Wisconsin without a degree in horticulture or sports turf management get all the way to the Big Leagues? He worked hard and also, he watched how the best groundskeepers did it. When Barney was 19, he went to Kansas City and learned from one of the best, George Toma. He followed George around learning first hand what it meant to keep sports arenas in top performing condition. The skills he learned were as sterling as any formal degree. He even slept in George?EUR??,,????'???s shop like an old-fashioned apprentice.

In many ways, Barney still holds onto his old-fashioned values. As he says, ?EUR??,,????'??I don?EUR??,,????'???t cut corners out here.?EUR??,,????'?? Most times that means working all day, going home and coming back at night to ?EUR??,,????'??put it [the field] to bed.?EUR??,,????'?? It means doing the best he can every single day. Except in the post-season, of course. That?EUR??,,????'???s when he goes golfing.

When the weather is moderate, the crew mows the field every day using the Jacobsen Triplex mower. In hotter months, they mow every two days.

The warning track at Angel Stadium is made using Stabilizer Solutions?EUR??,,????'??? Ballyard Mix, a composite mixture using wax and polymers that Barney says keeps the dirt moist year round.

Lots of Challenges

Doing his best often includes the more challenging aspects of the groundskeeping job. At Angel Stadium there is always something going on. In addition to the ball games, Barney has seen it all: last year it was the Rolling Stones in concert, this year it was Wango Tango, every year it?EUR??,,????'???s the Harvest Crusades, motor cross, commercials, or a bunch of corporate sponsors playing softball in the outfield.

11,000 concert goers dancing on the field means a lot of trampled grass for Barney to rejuvenate. One of the reasons Barney prefers real grass to synthetic turf is because after a rock concert, he says real grass ?EUR??,,????'??stands back up.?EUR??,,????'?? But the players prefer real grass too, because as Barney notes,?EUR??,,????'??It doesn?EUR??,,????'???t play as well. The infielders don?EUR??,,????'???t like it because [synthetic turf] doesn?EUR??,,????'???t transition well from grass to dirt. They get a lot of bad hops.?EUR??,,????'?? Also, he adds, synthetic turf is just ?EUR??,,????'??not baseball.?EUR??,,????'?? And being true to the game is really what it?EUR??,,????'???s all about for Barney.

Playability is the Key

Every detail Barney attends to is motivated by his own passion for the game of baseball. He wouldn?EUR??,,????'???t have made groundskeeping his profession if he didn?EUR??,,????'???t love the game as much as he does. He always keeps the ?EUR??,,????'??playability of the field?EUR??,,????'?? as his utmost priority. For example, he doesn?EUR??,,????'???t cut an exotic pattern into the grass because that would just be a distraction. Instead, he keeps the lines simple and clean. He?EUR??,,????'???s noticed that on intricately patterned fields, a ground ball seems to ?EUR??,,????'??snake?EUR??,,????'?? through the grass. It?EUR??,,????'???s not a big thing, but he likes paying attention to the little things.

His commitment to detail seems to work because even visiting players often remark on how nice it is to play in Angel Stadium. Also, when the players vote in major sports publications about which field they consider the most playable, Angel Stadium is always listed in the top three. That?EUR??,,????'???s all the compliment Barney needs. But it doesn?EUR??,,????'???t change what he does. ?EUR??,,????'??Whether it?EUR??,,????'???s 40 people or 40,000 [in the stands], I do the same thing every day,?EUR??,,????'?? he says.

On Game Day, Barney tends the infield while his grounds crew mows the outfield.

On special occasions, Barney will cut an Angel ?EUR??,,????'??A?EUR??,,????'?? into the infield grass with the painstaking detail that has made him one of the best Big League groundskeepers.

Tricky Weather, Picky Turf

Working for the big leagues is more stressful than the minors, Barney admits with a chuckle. ?EUR??,,????'??If you?EUR??,,????'???re working in the minor leagues, enjoy it,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. The pressure doesn?EUR??,,????'???t come from the owner, Arte Moreno, for whom Barney considers it a pleasure to work. Barney puts the pressure on himself. He knows how he wants things to look and sometimes it can be frustrating when the weather is unpredictable. This year is a good example of that since Southern California experienced a much warmer spring than usual. This meant that seeding the grass was trickier. Some days he wasn?EUR??,,????'???t sure whether to seed for a quick-fix, and hope for cooler weather or just go ahead and re-sod heavily played areas. Of course, most folks might not notice anything being wrong about the grass, but to Barney?EUR??,,????'???s practiced eye, even the slightest variation of color presents unique challenges.

Before Barney got the Angels job in 1996, city workers had been tending the field. Needless to say, to Barney?EUR??,,????'???s professional sensibilities, the field needed a lot of work. For one thing, the loamy dirt required constant vigilance. Keeping the dirt moist is one of his highest priorities, a task requiring a good deal of diligence especially during the dry heat of a Southern California summer. So he floods it in the morning, comes back in the afternoon when there?EUR??,,????'???s a shadow, wets it down again and returns after dark to spray it one last time.

Barney Lopas, Head Groundskeeper for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, uses machines like the Smithco Superstar to keep the infield dirt raked to perfection.

Watering the field is made easier with Reelcraft underground hoses.

?EUR??,,????'??I don?EUR??,,????'???t cut corners out here. Whether it?EUR??,,????'???s 40 people or 40,000 [in the stands], I do the same thing every day.?EUR??,,????'??

Every Day is a New Day

It?EUR??,,????'???s a lot of work, but Barney has come to enjoy the routine. During the regular season, Barney is there every day mowing and keeping the dirt moist. But three days before Game Day, he kicks it into high gear. On day one he replaces sod, throws down seed, fertilizes, and aerates the grass. On day two he works the mounds, levels the home plate, uses gauges to check the mounds, and makes sure the warning track is level.

And that, perhaps, is just about as true to the game as he can be.