So if you follow me on twitter, you may notice that I’m a San Diego Padres fan. I purchased a 21 game package for this season and I’m doing my best to catch a game whenever I can. They may not be the best team in baseball, but they are my local team, and I’ve enjoy rooting for them.
Early in the season, I saw an article about the head groundskeeper for the Padres, Luke Yoder. He has one of the most interesting Twitter feeds out there @luke_yoder where he profiles ongoing projects at Petco Park, gives recognition to other groundskeeping teams (a lot of love for the Colorado Rockies crew during the freak May snowstorms), and even shares interesting pieces like the bullpen pepper garden.
During home stays, you can see how much the crew does, but you really see how much they do the second the Padres leave for a road series. That’s when the groundskeeping crew goes into overdrive, taking on projects like replacing irrigation, providing additional care to the pitchers mound, or even planting new plants around the park. Mr. Yoder will post pictures detailing these projects while often giving accolades to his crew. He obviously loves his job and if you’ve had the chance to visit the beautiful Petco Park, you also know he’s very good at it.
Yet most Padres fan don’t know his name.
They show up to the game and look at the nine names in the starting lineup. They may know a few others on the roster, but that’s about it.
And yet Mr. Yoder is one of many behind the scenes making everything happen.
I think it’s why I like the twitter feed so much. It makes me appreciate the ballpark that much more and I’ve even spotted some of the newest plants as I walk around the area.
So why this post?
I know many of my readers are busy attending national conventions for their respective organizations (or just coming back from them).
Yes, there will be national officers throughout the event.
Yes, there will be speakers like me on stage or in a workshop session.
But for each of them, there are hundreds of others.
The hotel staff (banquet, housekeeping, front desk, etc.) . The production crew (sound, lighting, camera operators, etc). The national office staff.
The list goes on and on.
These are the people who make these events run so smoothly and give us our “field” to play on. Be sure to thank them.
When you return to your schools, be sure to thank your own “groundskeeping crew.”
And if you happen to catch a game at Petco Park, take an extra chance to breathe in its beauty. You have Luke Yoder and his crew to thank for that.