TurfTalk
Texas Rangers To
Utilize Synthetic
Grass Playing
Surface For The New
Globe Life Field
T
he Texas Rangers announced in
January that the club will install
a specially designed synthetic
grass playing surface for the new
Globe Life Field.
The decision to utilize a synthetic
grass playing surface was made after
the Rangers organization completed
almost two years of research to
satisfy the club’s total requirements
for player safely, team performance
and fan experience.
The synthetic grass field will be
provided by Shaw Sports Turf with
installation completed by Texas-
based Paragon Sports Constructors.
The choice to go with Shaw Sports
Turf is rooted in data and supported
by extensive research as it relates to
player safety. Shaw used Globe Life
Park in Arlington’s current natural
grass field as one of the benchmarks
for its ongoing playability study,
conducting a series of tests on that
playing surface in August 2017.
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In addition to the benchmarking
research, Shaw Sports Turf is funding
and participating in a kinesiology
study with Auburn University. This
study’s main goal is to research how
players react on certain surfaces
and then use that data to tune
systems for player safety and optimal
performance.
The goal is to not only have the highest
performing synthetic grass, but
also to have the highest performing
surface for baseball. This research is
based on seven playability metrics
and a patented data analysis tool that
compares system characteristics to
top-level natural grass surfaces. Shaw
Sports Turf’s newest evolution in
baseball, the B1K “Batting a Thousand”
system, is a result of this research.
“From our first visit with the staff at
Shaw Sports Turf, we were clear that a
synthetic grass surface for Globe Life
Field would only be a consideration
if it could deliver the best surface in
Major League Baseball and address the
concerns we had related to impact on
the players,” said Rob Matwick, Rangers
executive vice president of business
operations. "Months of detailed
research that included extensive input
from our Baseball Operations group
from both a health and performance
aspect have resulted in this decision.