Bermuda grass at Yankee Stadium. Photo by Ed Yourdon.

I don’t know about you, but I’m alway impressed by the grass at MLB games.  The symmetrical lines and interesting patterns make the turf look like the official flannel shirt of St. Patricks day. In honor of baseball season, I did some digging into what the MLB parks use.

Kentucky Bluegrass

Kentucky Bluegrass is by far the most popular type of grass used in MLB ballparks. Its bright green color, combined with its changeable properties, makes it easy to shape. Basically, Bluegrass is like hair that grows its own styling gel.

Blended Mixes

The second-most common grass type in the old ball game is a blended mix. These typically include ryegrass mixes with Bluegrass. The idea here is that the shortcomings of one grass type are compensated by the strengths of the other varieties.

Bermuda Grass

Bermuda grass is the turf of choice in hotter and drier areas, from Southern California to South Florida. Bermuda grass grips extraordinarily well with cleats because it grows parallel to the ground and grows new roots along the way.

Anomalies

Paspalum is typically seen on golf courses, but there are two ballparks that use this grass as well: Minute Maid Park in Houston and Marlins Parks in Miami. It grows quickly and performs well in warmer climates. Finally, there is one MLB field that uses another substance. I won’t name the ballpark or the substance, but they rhyme with Shmays and Shmashtro Shturf.

Here’s a list of MLB ballparks by grass type.

Bluegrass

Yankee Stadium
Oriole Park
Progressive Field
Angel Stadium
Busch Stadium
Citizens Bank Park
Miller Park (“Lo-Mo” Kentucky bluegrass)
Nationals Park
Citi Field
Comerica Park
U.S. Cellular Field
Target Field
PNC Park (Tuckahoe Bluegrass)
Fenway Park
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Blends

Coors Field (Bluegrass / Ryegrass blend)
Rangers Ballpark (Infield, Hybrid Y2 Zoysiagrass, Outfield, Tifway 419 Bermuda grass)
Safeco Field   (Kentucky Bluegrass / Perennial Ryegrass blend)
Great American Ballpark (Bluegrass blend)
AT & T Park: Sports Turf (blend of five low-growing bluegrass hybrid turf grasses)
Wrigley Field (Merion Bluegrass and some Clover)
Kauffman Stadium (Kentucky Bluegrass / Perennial Ryegrass blend)

Bermuda grass

Dodger Stadium (Santa Ana Bermuda grass)
Turner Field (Hybrid Bermuda grass)
Chase Field  (Bull’s Eye Bermuda grass)
Petco Park (Bull’s Eye Bermuda grass)

Paspalum

Minute Maid Park (Platinum TE Paspalum)
Marlins Park (Platinum TE Paspalum)

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