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The Pioneer League's Missoula Osprey appear to have taken root in Missoula. With luck, so has the grass on their outfield at Play Ball Park.
The stadium will look pretty much the same this year as it did in its inaugural season last summer. That includes trailer-based restrooms, a plywood pressbox and a few puddles of standing water in the grass.
Wes Spiker, chairman of the nonprofit Play Ball Missoula that built the stadium, said crews would be drilling cores out of the grass and adding sand to improve the water problems. He said a TV camera inspection of the field's drainage system showed no water in the pipes - meaning the soil had too much clay to let the moisture seep through.
"We'll probably be doing that for the next four or five years," Spiker said.
But now that the grass has had a year to become established, the slippery nature of last year's sod should be put to rest, he said.
"We've got a lot of water in the last week, the most since the field was put down," said Matt Ellis, Osprey general manager. "But it's draining better than it was last year, probably because of the (grass) root system that's put down. Last year, the biggest thing was to get the grass to root. Even if we got the water up, the grass was moving around."
The Arizona Diamondbacks will hold a mini-camp for draft picks in Missoula on June 16-18. Fans will be able to watch a northern version of spring training at the camp before the opening exhibition game June 17. The 76-game regular schedule starts June 21 against Helena.
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2005/06/09/news/mtregional/news08.txt
The stadium will look pretty much the same this year as it did in its inaugural season last summer. That includes trailer-based restrooms, a plywood pressbox and a few puddles of standing water in the grass.
Wes Spiker, chairman of the nonprofit Play Ball Missoula that built the stadium, said crews would be drilling cores out of the grass and adding sand to improve the water problems. He said a TV camera inspection of the field's drainage system showed no water in the pipes - meaning the soil had too much clay to let the moisture seep through.
"We'll probably be doing that for the next four or five years," Spiker said.
But now that the grass has had a year to become established, the slippery nature of last year's sod should be put to rest, he said.
"We've got a lot of water in the last week, the most since the field was put down," said Matt Ellis, Osprey general manager. "But it's draining better than it was last year, probably because of the (grass) root system that's put down. Last year, the biggest thing was to get the grass to root. Even if we got the water up, the grass was moving around."
The Arizona Diamondbacks will hold a mini-camp for draft picks in Missoula on June 16-18. Fans will be able to watch a northern version of spring training at the camp before the opening exhibition game June 17. The 76-game regular schedule starts June 21 against Helena.
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2005/06/09/news/mtregional/news08.txt
