Taking on a new role in turf during the pandemic

Drew Maskey became the director of turf management last summer for the Lake County Captains, the high-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians in Eastlake, Ohio. (Photo: ATN Staff)

When Drew Maskey became the director of turf management last summer for the Lake County Captains, the high-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians in Eastlake, Ohio, he was working for a high-end residential landscaping company on the West side of Cleveland.

Maskey has spent 14 years working as a groundskeeper and was working for the Cleveland Indians when the COVID-19 global pandemic sidelined major and minor league baseball. Last spring, Maskey took a job with a landscaping company to make ends meet. He spent spring 2020 mowing patterns in lawns.

“If there was a tree in the yard, I’d mow a bullseye around it,” he says. “The clients loved it.”

Clearly, his love for groundskeeping was still alive and when the Indians called, he leaped at the chance to get back to the ballpark. “This is my passion,” he says. “In my opinion, there’s no greater job.

Maskey also worked for Camelback Ranch, the spring training home of the Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Papago Sports Complex in Phoenix for the Kansas City Royals and the LG Twins of the Korean Baseball Organization. He was also the head groundskeeper for the Altoona Curve, the double-A affiliate of the Pirates.

He proudly says he’s cut the outfield for the 2019 MLB All-Star Game and built the pitcher’s mound for six Cy Young winners throughout his career: Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia, Clayton Kershaw, Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Shane Bieber.

Drew Maskey, director of turf management, and Matt Hill, assistant groundskeeper, work to get Classic Park ready for the Lake County Captains’ opening day, which is less than a month away. (Photo: ATN Staff)

Once Maskey joined the Captains, he and Matt Hill, assistant groundskeeper, were a team of two working hard to get the Kentucky bluegrass and rye field back in working condition last year. This included rebuilding the mounds, getting the turf back in game-day shape and re-doing the wall pads.

While there was no official minor league season in 2020, Classic Park was the home field for the Indians’ taxi squad. Teams maintained a taxi squad roster of 20 to 25 players activated at any time. Classic Park hosted movie nights and 5K races last season as well.

Drew Maskey, director of turf management, says he makes it a point to end the day with assistant groundskeeper Matt Hill by looking at the field from the main entrance gate. He says it’s important to get a feel for what the fans see. (Photo: Drew Maskey)

As for this year, Maskey and Hill have the ballpark in opening-day conditions about a month ahead and are currently fighting every groundskeeper’s foe: poa annua. With the spring season off to an early start, poa patches have become an annoying presence.

Still, Maskey says he makes a point to walk up to the main entrance with Hill every night to take a look at the field from that all-important fan first-impression perspective.

“My goal is whoever walks through those gates thinks, ‘Wow, the field looks nice,'” he says.

They’re looking ahead to how to best enact MLB’s social distancing protocols this year and in the future. This means longer benches in the dugout, some seating for players in foul territory to accommodate social distancing in the dugout and also adding some tents for players to eat while remaining 6 feet apart. Maskey says they’re making plans to renovate and expand the clubhouse and dugout for future seasons.

“I feel like everyone is going to rush here,” Maskey says of the start of the season.