Mansfield Stadium undergoes makeover New sod being put down at ballpark

BANGOR – Less than 12 hours removed from hosting the state American Legion baseball tournament, the Shawn T. Mansfield Stadium already was undergoing an extreme landscaping makeover in preparation for the 2005 Senior League World Series.

Much of that makeover won’t be visible to the naked eye when the games begin this weekend, because it involves an assortment of inside-landscaping devices designed to provide the best possible playing surface while maximizing its visual appeal for fans of participating teams from Maine to Georgia – the former Russian republic, that is.

“The field’s in the same condition it’s been every year for the World Series,” said volunteer field director Ron St. Pierre. “One thing we’ve discovered over the years is that if we put a lot of fertilizer on it about two weeks before the tournament, we get a stronger grass. The fertilizer feeds the grass right away, and then we water it a lot.

“Then come Thursday, we’ll put an application of a mixture of iron and phosphate that will green it up, but won’t make it grow.”

That existing grass – which will be cut to 1 1/2 inches in the infield and 2 1/2 inches in the outfield for the SLWS – has been supplemented by 600 square feet of new sod that has been strategically placed and nurtured to blend in seamlessly before host Bangor squares off against the Canadian champion at noon Sunday in the opening game of the fourth SLWS to be held in Bangor.

“We’ve had well over 165 games here already this summer, probably closer to 170, and that’s worn out the corners of the infield and in front of the pitcher’s mound and in front of home plate,” St. Pierre said. “That’s all been replaced, and we’ve replaced the sod around the batting cage area, too, because that gets worn out during the season.”

Twenty cases of paint have been ordered to paint logos on the field, among them the Senior League World Series and Mansfield Stadium logos.

“We’ll start painting them Friday and finish them up Saturday, and then we have to paint them every two days afterward,” St. Pierre said. “It’s not because the grass grows, the logos just tend to wear off because of people running on them.”

A 3/4-inch to 1-inch layer of Turface, a sports field conditioner, will be applied on top of the dirt areas of the field, a task that will involve spreading 4 tons of the material.

“It will make [the infield dirt] a darker color so it should contrast better with the grass,” St. Pierre said. “It should make it really attractive.”

Other projects to be completed by the weekend include the installation of new stadium railings along the access aisles to the seats, work on the sprinkler heads that water the field, and a new coat of paint for the player benches and the dugouts.

“We’re just sprucing everything up for the guests,” St. Pierre said.

St. Pierre estimates $15,000 to $20,000 will be spent to get Mansfield Stadium ready for the SLWS, with the stadium railings the primary expense at about $11,000. All that money is raised through concessions sales and gate receipts at the stadium throughout the year.

“The lease we [Bangor Baseball-Softball Inc., part of the Bangor West Side Little League] have with the city until 2022 states that funds raised here will be put back into the ballpark,” said St. Pierre.

“That’s why we can keep this ballpark the way it looks because we turn around the $20,000 or $25,000 that [Bangor Baseball-Softball Inc. president] Dave Mansfield will make from concessions and at the gate and put it back into the facility.

“By next spring we’ll be down to $1,000 or $2,000 in that fund, and then we’ll start all over.”

SLWS NOTEBOOK: This year’s opening ceremony will be held Saturday evening, Aug. 13, at Mansfield Stadium following an exhibition softball game featuring The King and His Court. Admission to the exhibition game and opening ceremony is free. … The tourney schedule includes four-game days of pool play from Sunday through Thursday, followed by the semifinals Friday and the championship game and all-star game Saturday, Aug. 20. … All-tourney passes and day passes for the SLWS will be available beginning Thursday at Mansfield Stadium.