At 4:50am Friday morning (May 4, 2012), Weather or Not Meteorologist Sully Brown saw rain developing southwest of Kansas City. As the Official Weather Service Provider of the Kansas City Royals, Weather or Not knew that the tarp was off at Kauffman Stadium. Sully immediately gave Head Groundskeeper Trevor Vance his wake-up call. Once Trevor heard that rain and thunderstorms would soak the field before his grounds crew was scheduled to arrive, he made wake-up calls of his own. The field was saved for Friday’s game and practice.
Putting the tarp on the field during humid conditions can weaken the grass. This is why the grounds crew keeps the tarp off as long as possible during home stands. Their goal is twofold: keep the grass plant as strong as possible, and keep the dirt dry because more baseball is played on dirt than grass. On game day, the grounds crew has to have the dirt ready for both teams to practice well before the first pitch. Allowing it to get rained on is not an option.
By 8:30am, the tarp was off, the dirt was dry, the grass had not been smothered and the grounds crew was ready to start their regularly-scheduled day, which likely will not end until close to 11:00pm. Through the night, Weather or Not’s crew of meteorologists will be watching for any possibility of rain that would threaten The K. “Our goal is to let our clients sleep soundly knowing that their business is always on our radar,” says Sara Croke, President of the 26-year-old Weather or Not.
Getting home around midnight the night before, Trevor was prepared for a possible o’Dark 30 wake-up call from Weather or Not. Despite the lack of sleep his crew gets during home stands, Trevor says, “The field comes first.”