Week 8- Cody Wales- Burlington Bees

Cody Wales
Monday, May 23, 2011
Burlington Bees

So I had a good weekend, got plenty of rest and then it was time to get back to work. Today I did not have to be in until 3:00pm for a double header Babe Ruth game. During these games I am the man in charge of the field. If I say the field is not able to be played on then the game does not get played. Today, the game is going to be played. The field is in good condition and everything has been running smoothly ever since Tony and I found are rhythm. So we came in today and the only thing we had to do was set up for a game. During little league games they do not take infield or any other practices before the game. We set up for play and they play. So I did my usual chalking and mound preparation and then it was game time. T.J. did not come in today; all he did was leave of a list of things to do while the games were going on. First I had to take care of the nursery behind the fence. I mowed the grass and then set up irrigation so that we could run water back there at any time of the day. After that was complete me and Tony had to split up, he cleaned the office and the shop area while I cleaned the storage building. Things were not so bad since T.J. was not around to give us extra work when we got done. So we knocked out all of the extra work during the first game and got to relax the whole second game. Once the game was over all we did was fix the home plate area and the game mound, cover them up, and get the heck out of there. The games got over around 8:30pm; we were done with all our duties by 9:15pm and able to leave early for once. Usually during a double header we do not get out of the stadium until 11:00pm or later. As I was leaving the field I got a call from the boss man, T.J. He actually had good news for me. He said that tomorrow was suppose to be a nice day and he was going to go play golf, so he gave us the day off. It was nice to get off before 11:00pm and even better that we do not have to report in tomorrow. Time for a little fun during the week!


Cody Wales
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Burlington Bees

T.J. blessed me with another off day. This is becoming my type of job, 4 of the last 5 days off. We got another Babe Ruth double header tomorrow though.


Cody Wales
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Burlington Bees

Well today was suppose to be another Babe Ruth game but due to bad weather the game was banged and we got yet another day off. The Bees come back for another home stand on Friday so I am sure tomorrow is going to be one of those days. I know for a fact that we have a lot of things to get done tomorrow in order for the field to be in shape for play on Friday. Well another off day and another day to catch up on some more rest, thankfully.

Cody Wales
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Burlington Bees

So today began just the way I expected it to, in a rush. I came in at 10:00am knowing that there was a lot to be done today. First thing first is usually for me to mow the infield grass but since it rained a lot this week there was a lot of water standing on the infield dirt. So my first job today was to get the pumps and hose ready to pump off all the water off the infield. Once we got as much of the water as we could off the dirt it was time to start my regular day. I started off mowing the infield. After I mowed I decided to roll it to make the lines look pretty. Today was the first home game of the series so I always try to make it look the best for the first game and let the rest play out on it’s own. After mowing and lines were done I started on the warning track. I got the edger out and started edging. As always after edging was done I had to go back and rake up all the loose grass clippings. After that I got to drag the warning track and make it look nice and pretty. During the first home game of a series the warning track has to look like nobody has stepped on it at all. That is pretty hard when we got people working around the field at all times. Those people do not care about what the field looks like because it is not their job. Well I got it done anyway. Next task on my list was to get the bullpen mounds fix and ready for action. Once I got them finish the players went right into bullpen work and messed them all up again. So that did not last long. Then it was time for my least favorite job before a home stand, painting foul lines. I hate painting foul lines because we do this by hand. That means I have to get on my hands and knees and hand paint them with a paint brush. It takes at least an hour per line. Anyways, I got it all finished and then it was lunch time. A short lunch today but I can not complain because T.J. bought it for me. After lunch we set everything up for the game. No batting practice today because the field was too wet for them to be messing it up before the game. My usual game day routine; chalk the lines, make the game mound look nice, and water the field. The game was over and yet another win, now on to post game routine. I fixed the mound and home plate area then went straight into cleaning bases. Got everything done that I usually do and then it was time to kill the lights. Another day on diamond another sun up sun down view and it was back off to the apartment. We have another game tomorrow and Saturday and then another day of rest!

Cody Wales
Friday, May 27, 2011
Burlington Bees

Well today was just like any other day. It was game day and I had to be in at 10:00am. And just like any other day, I start off by mowing the infield grass. Once I got done mowing I had a little extra time while my partner Tony was still dragging the warning track so I decided to roll the infield and put some pretty line in it again. After I was done rolling Tony had already finished the warning track and began on fixing the bullpen mounds. Luckily by time I got done to help him there were only 3 left to fix. So I guess I was lucky enough to get out of fixing just one of them. Now it was getting closer to my favorite part of the day, lunch. All we had left to do was get everything ready to batting practice. So we got all the mats and bases loaded up in the gator and set up all the screens on the field. Then it was time for lunch. After lunch was over we came back and got right to setting everything up for batting practice. This involves setting up all the mats around home plate area and putting a practice tarp on the game mound that way the pitchers do not mess up the mound too bad before the game. Once everything for batting practice was set up, batting practice began and we started on our side duties. My side duties consist of taking care of the nursery behind the wall and setting up a tournament for some high school games that start next weekend. So I cut and watered the nursery then had to put my brain to work. As a sat in the office trying to make a bracket for this tournament it finally hit me that I still had my bracket book from college. So this made everything much easier for me. I got all the games scheduled and now it was time to call the schools and let them know when they play. By time all this was done batting practice was almost over and I had just enough time to grab a bag of chips and a soda. Then it was time to take all the batting practice equipment down and set up for the game. As always my duties for pregame were the same. I got the baselines chalked and made the game mound look like the pros. I can tell that I’m getting better and better and this stuff. I mean working for T.J. is still the hardest part of the job but other than that, I think I could make a career out of it. Anyways, I finished setting up for the game and then we watered the field. Then it was game time. Well it was another successful win for the team and another good night for me. Now back to the usually post game routine. I fixed the home plate area while Tony fixed the game mound. Once that was done and completed I went straight into cleaning the bases and taking down the flag and scoreboard. We covered the bullpens and got the hell out of there. So for me this was just another day in business and another successful night for the whole organization. Now it is time for some sleep and do it all over again tomorrow.


Cody Wales
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Burlington Bees

After another successful night last night it was just time for another successful day today. I came into work at the usual time, 10:00am. And like always I started off my day with the same list of things to do. So I started off with the infield, got it looking nice and pretty then moved on to the next. Next, I started working on the bullpens and gave Tony the job of rolling the infield. Usually you do not have roll the infield but for one series but since it has been a rainy week it was best to do it again to keep the neatness looking nice. So we got the bullpens fixed and the warning track dragged then it was same ole same ole set up for batting practice. Well this time we decided that we were going to go ahead and set up for batting practice before lunch that way we could relax for a little while and take our lunch at the same time. And that is exactly what we did. After we got batting practice set up we went straight into our lunch. We actually got an hour and a half for lunch today since we were on top of our game. Once we got back from lunch batting practice was still going on so we got to relax for a few more minutes before we had to get back to work. After batting practice we got everything ready for the game and as usual I was still in charge of the same ole tasks. I got the baselines chalked up and in line. I am actually beginning to walk a straight line with this thing now. Hopefully that will help me out better in the long run. After that I got the game mound ready and then watered the field. Then it was game time! Tonight was firework night for the first time this year so I knew after the game it was going to be a long night. Well I was wrong, T.J. told me that that stuff was for the birds so we was not going to have to clean up. We did our regular routine. I fixed the mound and home plate area, put the tarp on the bullpens, cleaned bases, and killed the scoreboard. Once all that stuff was done it was time for our end of the night meeting. We all met back up in the office and killed the light to the field. T.J. finally thanked us for all of our hard work. The only reason he did this though was because I had a talk with him about it and told him that I thought we deserved some more attention and respect towards the field and the work we do. And it actually paid off. Well once again that was another good day and night and now it was time for my one day weekend. We off tomorrow, so I’m out for the night. Night night real world….

Cody Wales
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Burlington Bees

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