Here's the dirt on the Blue Jays' reported infield renovation: Work will begin next week on converting what had been cutouts around the bases and home plate into a full-dirt infield around the bases, baselines and home plate.
On Wednesday, the team announced via a press release that the plans — previously only alluded to on Twitter — were officially in motion.
"We are very excited to proceed with this project," Blue Jays VP of business operations Stephen Brooks said. "This will both improve the surface for the players and also enhance the atmosphere of the stadium for our fans."
Understand, this is no small job, though it will be finished in time for the defending AL East champions' home opener April 8 against the Red Sox.
From the team's release:
"Following months of investigation and planning, the work will involve excavation of the cement floor at Rogers Centre in the affected base path and infield areas to a depth of 30.48 cm/12 inches and will impact an area of approximately 1,115 square metres/12,000 square feet. Layers of gravel, sand and clay will be inlayed in the excavated areas to ensure proper moisture content and conditions suitable to a major league playing surface.
"The plan is to have the project complete in time for the beginning of the 2016 season, meaning that the Rogers Centre will join the other 29 venues in baseball with an all-dirt infield. The only other park with artificial turf is Tropicana Field, home of the Rays, and it already has an all-dirt infield. The 28 other stadiums have natural grass and all-dirt infields."
The trade-off: The more dependable bounces offered by a lack of transition between grass and dirt give way to the more traditional design of a major-league infield.
