Posted June 19, 2026
Toledo Mud Hens grounds crew prepares field for every pitch
During each Toledo Mud Hens game, members of the turf crew can be seen rushing the field for mid-game touchups. What most fans do not see are the countless hours spent mowing grass, dragging the field, fertilizing the soil, and chalking lines to prepare the field for homestands.
“We have two different types of normal days: homestands and when the team is out of town,” Kyle Leppelmeier, Hens Turf Manager, said. “There can be some pretty long days.”
Leppelmeier said during homestands, the crew clocks in around 9 a.m. and works through the game, staying about one hour afterwards to prepare for the following day. Non-gamedays look different, with employees leaving around 3:30 p.m. or later in the afternoon, depending on the checklist.
These hours can also change if there are postgame fireworks or other activities.
Leppelmeier was the assistant groundskeeper from 2007 to 2011, and after coming back to the Hens, became manager in 2019. The career always “fascinated” Leppelmeier, as he worked on high school athletic fields for the Cincinnati Reds and played baseball at Owens Community College.
“I always had a liking for the industry as a whole,” Leppelmeier said. “I really enjoyed being outside as a kid and mowing my neighbor’s lawns.”
Fifth Third Field uses Kentucky Blue Grass with four cultivars, or varieties, that blend together. Some cultivars help to handle drought, rain, and other forms of weather.
“This is the best way to do it because if a cultivar is struggling, the other two or three cultivars of that grass are usually doing better, so it's like spreading the wealth out,” Leppelmeier said. “Each one of them is kind of designed and has its best characters.”
Behind Leppelmeier, stands about 20 staff members, including high school and college students, and teachers off from school for the summer. Jack Retz, Hens Assistant Turf Manager, marked his first season with the team last year after working for the Indianapolis Indians.
“Everybody does things slightly differently but it’s always the same end goal,” Retz said. “I like to teach and try to include my guys any way that I can because I believe that some of them have the talent to pursue turfgrass management as a career path. I was once in their shoes and know what it’s like to be eager to learn.”
Dealing with quick weather changes is just one way turf crew members learn their craft. On rainy game days, the grounds crew pulls a nearly 200-foot-long tarp across the field to protect the grass, dirt, and chalk lines.
Alex Rodriguez III, full-time seasonal turf crew member, started working for the Hens five years ago and said one of the “not so funny but quite memorable” stories from the job required the tarp.
“The storm popped up directly over top of the stadium,” Rodriguez III said. “Not even five minutes in the breakroom went by and I received a call. My phone wasn't even on speaker, but everyone in the room heard over the phone ‘TARP TARP TARP.’ We all ran like track stars to get out to the field to put the tarp on.”
Weather permitting, the crew takes the field three times throughout the game. Infield maintenance includes raking, changing the bases out, and dragging dirt. Postgame work consists of watering the dirt, cleaning the dugouts, washing bases, and repacking holes.
“It’s truly one of the most rewarding and gratifying jobs that you can have,” Retz said.
The ballpark might be desolate with fans in the winter, but the offseason can be just as busy for Leppelmeier and the rest of the turf team.
“Late fall is when we will do our fertilizer applications, where we are feeding the soil to get the roots as deep as we can going into winter,” Leppelmeier said. “I usually do two to three soil tests a year. The soil test tells me what nutrients are in my soil and what I maybe need to apply more of.”
The hours of hard work and dedication to the field pay off for both the players and staff. Leppelmeier said the presentation of the field and its quality is surveyed by visiting teams and umpires per Minor League Baseball request.
“Most of the time those come back pretty positive and … we get a lot of compliments on the field, which is really cool, and it's a testament to how hard my guys work at it,” Leppelmeier said.