Click on an image below to see more field pictures!
Helena Brewers
As a total infield re-build in Sept. 2009, this 14 day project took into account the unusual slope running downhill from the outfield to homeplate – a 7 foot drop. The slope also affected the foul territory bullpens requiring a total re-build, also. The Milwaukee Brewers are no longer hesitant in sending their most promising farm prospects to Helena. Cool Sports Turf coordinated the re-construction with two local excavators, City of Helena Public Works, a local irrigation contractor and the front office of the Helena Brewers. Brian Cool remains on call for quality control purposes and to serve in advisement.
Bakersfield Blaze
Cool Sports Turf took on this four-week infield re-build along with bullpen renovation of old, storied Sam Lynn Ballpark, where Don Drysdale learned some of his old tricks. Brian Cool was hands-on with the Blaze front office in totally leveling the infield by eliminating all lip buildup, re-sodding, re-grading the infield skin, and re-dimensioning the basepaths and homeplate area. The irrigation design was altered to accommodate the first actual installation of an infield/foul territory warning track.
Florida Marlins
Brian Cool joined the Spring Training Complex staff in December 1993. Head Groundskeeper Barney Lopas mentored Cool in the fine art of mounds, plates and infield skin. Lopas now maintains one of the finest surfaces in MLB with the LA Angels. In 1997, Cool was asked back as the Head Groundskeeper in order to reestablish the fine standards of all playing surfaces and landscape. Today, this complex serves as the Spring Training home of the Washington Nationals. The complex site is challenging as it adjoins lowland flood planes of the St. Johns River in East Central Florida.
University of Delaware
Joining the Athletic Dept. grounds staff, Brian Cool facilitated the turf renovations of Delaware Stadium, home of Blue Hen football. During his tenure, he turned around the baseball infield of Bob Hannah Stadium by re-configuring the infield dimensions and installing Oriole Park infield mix, which paid dividends by making the infield play very well, even during challenging weather for February home dates. Jim Sherman, at the time, assistant baseball coach commented that after the infield improvements, he never hesitated in taking a recruit out on the field.
Kansas City Royals
Once known as Baseball and Boardwalk, Cool was invited by the head groundskeeper to arrive at the site of Kansas City Royal Spring Training in Jan. 1993 where Cool and a small staff went to work renovating all of the minor league fields as well as Baseball City Stadium. Following the Super Bowl, George Toma arrived on the scene to work and evaluate the situation leading up to the arrival of pitchers and catchers. When first introduced, Toma stated that Cool had a beautiful field in Eugene, OR, with the Eugene Emeralds, but that his infield dirt was h____ s___. Thus, Cool went to work learning what Major League infield dirt is and how to best maintain it.
Richmond Braves
In 1996, Brian Cool was hired to turn around a tired playing surface at The Diamond. Working around a series of three Nor-Easter snow storms prior to the season, Cool re-hauled the turf, the dirt and all bullpens. Virginia Commonwealth baseball was on the field for their first workout on Jan. 22 and the field performed wonderfully throughout the Rams season as well as the Richmond Braves who were led by Jason Schmidt, Andruw Jones, and Jermaine Dye. The Braves organization took real pride in their farm system.
Philadelphia Eagles
Cool Sports Turf was created when the Eagles asked Brian Cool to give them a proposal/scope of work in the maintenance of their two old practice fields outside of Veterans Stadium. Cool and present Eagles’ head groundskeeper, Tony Leonard, provided the best practices and care possible which made the customer very happy as the Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb era began. Cool Sports Turf worked hard to grow the best grass canopy possible and line the fields with bold, white yard lines, hash marks, and numbers. As Jack McCaffrey of the Delaware County Times wrote, “And it may just be the imagination, but under Reid, the Eagles’ practice field outside Veterans Stadium actually looks like a big-league facility, with lush, nicely mown grass and bold, easy-to-see yard markers.”
Eugene Emeralds
As the Bend Rockies radio man described in his Northwest League Travel Guide, “Civic Stadium is a charming old ballpark with the greenest, best-kept field in the league.” This was back in 1993 as Brian Cool was about to be awarded his second consecutive ‘Groundskeeper of the Year’ award as presented by Major League Baseball and the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues. Team President and General Manager Bob Beban provided all the necessary resources (within reason) to make it happen. The soil profile of the stadium built in 1939 was not an easy surface to work on. But with relevant practices and plenty of sweat, the Green Cathedral looked pretty darn good for Short-Season Class A baseball. When Cool, teamed with Wilmington Blue Rocks groundskeeper, Steve Gold, learned ‘good’ baseball infield dirt, mounds and plates, the surface was special.
Middletown Maryland High School
Like many other football field and turf renovations, Cool Sports Turf went to work radically aerating and over-seeding a worn-down playing surface from the prior Fall. Combined with optimal fertilization and quality mowing practices, a fine, resilient surface was produced in a very short period of time. At this time, Cool was introduced to hot, humid summers and high grub infestations and their effect on cool season bluegrass. Cool recalls broadcasting insecticide for grub control on the early evening of Sept. 11, 2001 in which there were no jets in the sky approaching or leaving Washington, DC – a tranquil and odd silence.
Ashland High School
In Feb. 2011, Cool Sports Turf was asked by the Ashland High School Athletic Director to make the existing infield surface safe and playable. The mound was a pile of dirt with grass growing within a couple feet of the rubber with no definable radius. The edges of the basepaths and infield skin were not defined with significant buildups (lips). The same could be said of the plate area and the bases were not positioned correctly. Overall, the infield would be considered a rough sandlot, but that didn’t last long. As Ashland School District Maintenance Director Gary Sisk stated, “We noticed a drastic improvement almost instantly after Brian took over. In fact, a few weeks ago, the Athletic Director told me the JV baseball field looks as good as the varsity field, which is saying a lot. The varsity field is actually a City field maintained by the City and one the community is very proud of. So, Brian took a very poor designed and maintained baseball field and turned it into a very playable field for our students. He did this within the first year.”
