A good day at the ballpark for Bill Deacon is when nobody notices his work.
As the head groundskeeper for the Mets, Deacon said that if something happens and the field is a factor, it’s usually a bad thing. Deacon has spent the last four seasons working with the Mets to ensure the field never becomes a deciding factor in a game.
Deacon was working as an assistant groundskeeper for the San Diego Padres when the Mets called and asked if he would be interested in interviewing with the Mets.
“I was excited,” he said about the phone call.
While a student at Penn State, Deacon also did an internship with the Dodgers, which is when he decided he definitely wanted to work in baseball.
Deacon explained that he is responsible for anything inside the wall pads in the playing area, as well as managing the union staff and doing some equipment maintenance. His team has to take care of the mounds and home plate and do the mowing. He also said they spend a lot of time working on the infield dirt.
Other times, Deacon’s crew might have to water the grass and warning track or clean the dugout. During the games, the crewmembers on the field do the third and sixth inning drags and various odds and ends, while Deacon said he uses the time to catch up on paperwork.
On non-game days, Deacon said that activities of the grounds crew vary depending on how long the team will be away. This could involve an aerification process for the field, resodding, fertilizing, fixing spots on the dirt, or checking spots on the mounds. Deacon explained that, if the team is going to be away for a long period, more work will be done on the grass, whereas if it’s a short period it will be just cutting the grass and touching up the dirt edges.
Deacon said that a couple times a year the grounds crew teaches children about the kind of work they do. He said they usually seem surprised at how hard it is.
The biggest challenge of Deacon’s job involves events other than the game that take place on the field. He said that if the field does not have time to recover, then it is harder to keep it in shape. He also said that the weather is always a challenging factor.
Deacon’s favorite part of the job is “when a game goes according to plan” and “the field doesn’t play into it.” He also said that the most satisfying part is taking care of the infield dirt, since that is where most of the game is played.
As Citi Field was being built, Deacon was active in the process and involved in some of the planning and materials selection. He said that during the construction period he was at the stadium every day.
“It was a very good experience,” Deacon said. “It gives a better understanding too, if you have a problem in the future.”
