What materials were used, or are being used, to construct the 4“ to 6” profile of your infield skinned area? Construction and grading techniques are similar around the country but the materials used to build infield skinned surfaces tend to vary. Quality infield skins are typically built using a local infield soil that has been screened to ¼” to remove debris and usually consisting of approximately 65% sand and 35% clay/silt particles. The top ¼” to ½” of a quality infield skin will also be top dressed and amended with a vitrified clay or calcined clay infield conditioner, or a mixture of the two.

Infield skinned profiles built using an unscreened soil will result in poor and unsafe playing conditions due to the presence of rocks and debris. Infield skins built using a soil with too high of a percentage of sand content will result in loose conditions whereas using a soil with too high of a percentage of clay content will result in highly compacted conditions. An infield skin constructed with crushed aggregates such as crushed brick (brick dust or brick chips), crushed scoria or lava rock, crushed stone, decomposed granite, etc. will typically result in a dry, dusty, and abrasive playing surface that tends to be difficult to maintain. It is our belief that the infield skin should not be constructed using any of these alternative materials.

Infield skinned profiles, whether built with quality infield materials or not, benefit from topdressing and amending with an infield conditioner. Use of an infield conditioner allows a grounds manager to more efficiently manage moisture and enhance safety and playability on the infield skinned profile in a variety of weather conditions. When considering infield conditioners, it is important to note the thermal expansion and cooling process that vitrified clay infield conditioners undergo. The expansion, which occurs at approximately 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, creates pore space as moisture creates channels while escaping the particle. The cooling process, which cools the molten material from approximately 2000 degrees to approximately 300 degrees within minutes, causes the particle to harden into a porous ceramic.

Though the above mentioned alternatives (crushed brick (brick dust or brick chips), crushed scoria or lava rock, crushed stone, decomposed granite and other crushed aggregates) may have been created as a result of extreme temperature, these materials were not fully expanded and probably were not cooled as quickly, thus developing a more fragile to non-existent pore structure. These alternative materials may have a nice appearance on an infield surface but they are typically more angular in particle shape which is abrasive to knees, elbows, uniforms, baseballs, etc. The angular shape of these crushed aggregates also promotes compaction of an infield skin when used instead of an infield conditioner on an otherwise suitable infield soil. The dry and dusty nature of these materials (since they have limited to no pore space available to contain moisture) allows these materials to easily erode by wind or water causing increased lip maintenance and loss of product resulting in increased maintenance time and increased product costs as well as increased costs on other miscellaneous items such as uniforms, baseballs, etc.

As the old adage goes, cheaper is not always better. Initially using cheaper alternatives compared to quality screened infield soils top dressed with quality infield conditioners results in increased maintenance time and ultimately increased overall costs. Materials that require large supplemental applications year after year are not cost effective. A properly managed infield skinned surface constructed of a quality screened infield soil and top dressed/amended with a quality infield conditioner will provide a safe, aesthetically pleasing playing surface that can be played on soon after rainfall (that players don’t mind sliding on).

Brad Garrison
Sales – Diamond Pro
Texas Industries, Inc. – Sports Fields and Horticulture

Brad Garrison is a Diamond Pro sales representative. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Landscape Contracting and Management from Mississippi State University and worked in the landscaping construction industry before joining TXI ES&C in 2005. Brad’s education and experience in landscaping offers a unique understanding of various aspects related to sports field construction and maintenance.

Using vitrified clay to maintain infields
 
Managing moisture on a baseball or softball field’s skinned infield is critical because a wet infield can become unplayable and a dry infield will typically become hard, which makes sliding painful and can lead to dangerous groundballs.  Vitrified clay infield conditioners, such as Diamond Pro Red Infield Conditioner, provide moisture management benefits to a skinned infield. 

In wet situations, an infield conditioner will act as an absorbent layer helping an infield surface dry out more quickly. In dry conditions, an infield conditioner will act as a “mulch” layer helping reduce evaporation of moisture and, because vitrified clay infield conditioner won’t compress or stick to cleats, an infield conditioner will act as a barrier layer between a player’s cleats and the infield soil (infield dirt or infield clay).  Using vitrified clay infield conditioner as an amendment by tilling or nail-dragging into the soil helps improve drainage while also reducing compaction.

Texas Industries, Inc. (TXI) originally developed vitrified clay infield conditioners in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s by topdressing several Texas high school and college skinned baseball infields with rotary kiln lightweight aggregate (expanded shale and clay).  As the story goes, coaches had fewer rainouts and more games were played without postponement.  Finally, vitrified infield conditioners were accepted, and TXI created Diamond Pro. Diamond Pro Red Infield Conditioner was recently used to prepare the skinned infield at Wukesong Baseball Field (site of the 2008 Summer Olympic baseball games in Beijing, China) for exhibition games played between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers in March 2008. 

Photo courtesy of Murray Cook

Because of ever increasing transportation costs, the ability to deliver vitrified clay infield conditioner in bulk is cost efficient compared to bagged products.  Most infield conditioning products, such as calcined clay infield conditioners, are usually packaged in 50 lb. paper bags, which typically require indoor storage space and higher freight costs in addition to the added cost associated with bagging the product.  Vitrified clay infield conditioners, such as Diamond Pro Red Infield Conditioner, can be stored outdoors year round without degradation because they are fired at temperatures exceeding 2000 degrees Fahrenheit and quickly cooled. This process creates an extremely durable ceramic particle that is significantly less susceptible to breakdown compared to other products commonly used to condition infields.  Bagged vitrified clay and calcined clay infield conditioners can be used to supplement the bulk vitrified clay infield conditioner, as necessary, to increase absorption potential of an infield in preparation of, or during, wet situations.

To learn more about vitrified clay infield conditioner products or for “How To” information and coverage charts, check out the Diamond Pro website or feel free to Ask the Pros. 

For an interesting read related to groundskeeping, check out Murray Cook’s Field Blog entitled “Ballparks & Ballfields From Around the World!”.

Brad Garrison
Sales – Diamond Pro
Texas Industries, Inc. - Sports Fields and Horticulture

Brad Garrison is a Diamond Pro sales representative.  He earned a bachelor’s degree in Landscape Contracting and Management from Mississippi State University and worked in the landscaping construction industry before joining TXI ES&C in 2005.  Brad’s education and experience in landscaping offers a unique understanding of various aspects related to sports field construction and maintenance.