Catcher in the Rye Grass

From the Summer 2005 issue of the Scene, The Magazine of St. Ambrose University

Watching the grass grow—it’s the very definition of doing nothing. Except for Andy Duyvejonck, ’99, ’02 MBA, who, as part of his job as director of baseball operations for the Swing of the Quad Cities, heads up the groundskeeping staff at John O’Donnell Stadium in Davenport.

It’s the responsibility of this former Fighting Bees catcher to keep the playing field at JOD up to Major League Baseball specifications. “It’s just like your own front yard, only bigger.” Try three acres of bigger. Yet this is one guy who doesn’t mind people coming onto his turf.

Mixing it up in the infield: Some elements of a MLB-quality ball field can’t be measured. Take the different kinds of clays, from a gumbo clay that makes the pitcher’s mound, to vitrified clay, which is “just a big word for clay that’s cooked.”

Manipulating the clays to produce the right playing surface is a fine art, Duyvejonck says. “You want the ball to bounce and act a certain way.”

Leveling the playing field—literally: In the outfield, his main goal is to level the surface, which he does by mowing two and sometimes three times a day in different directions to get it just right.

“The perfect height at which the ball plays best is 1 3/4 inches,” says Duyvejonck, who has the Swing players, many of whom have played on MLB fields, to satisfy. “They expect the ball to roll at a certain speed. If the grass is scalped, the ball rolls like it’s on a parking lot.”

That’s not the way the ball bounces: In fact, baseballs and their unpredictable habits are Duyvejonck’s number one worry. He’s constantly holding his breath for the next bad hop. “I don’t hear anything until then.”

He’s mindful of how many balls there are on the field each day—both base- and eye-balls. And people. “JOD is a community facility, with youth leagues playing,” as well as being home to the SAU baseball team.

The grass is always greener—and better groomed: Duyvejonck says the hardest part of his job is accepting the fact that the field “will never be perfect.”

Yet he guiltily admits that’s not a problem at his house. “The last thing I want to do when I come home is mow the yard, even when the weeds are brushing my kneecaps.”

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