Repairing an Old Field

It doesn't matter how sloped it is, you can keep applying sand and eventually you'll raise it. The only trick is to make sure it gets "feathered". I.e. the low spots get lots and the high get none.

My guess is you probably have a 1-2% slope, probably 1%. That means 2nd base, if that's reall the high spot will be about 16-18" above the low spot, which means the pitchers mound base is probably about 6-10" above the plate. If that's the case and you get lucky, you'll be able to cut that slope in half in one year.

Raising the plate, even if its set in concrete is no big deal, and if it hasn't been replaced in a long time, it should probably be done anyway. I just put a really neat plate in and it was the easiest one I've ever done. it comes built in to a box that's at least 6 inches deep and weighs about 20 pounds. All you have to do is dig the hole, level the bottom, set the plate and fill it in.

If there's cement under the one that's there, either dig up the whole thing and reuse or discard it. There shouldn't be more than a half sack or so of concrete there. At any rate, all you'll be doing is raising it a few inches. Its ok to have the plate a little high if you plan on eventually raising everything around it. but, you don't want to raise it so much people trip over it.

Ya know, the alternative to reducing the slope is biting the bullet and bringin' on the heavy equipment. That will probably be much quicker, but I hate to think of the cost! Trying to re-grade a field with a hump in the middle would mean literally half of the OF, all of the IF would have to be redone.

Also, since the grade would drop, almost all of the infield dirt would have to be replaced, the pegs reset, the mound rebuilt, the sprinklers torn our and replaced not to mention all of the little things that will need to be done. now we're talking about some major hard work and expense!

If you can find a Daddy Warbucks to pick up the tab, I guess that might be the way to go because in essence, you're rebuilding the entire field. the reason I like to see fields "refurbished" is that the people usually see first hand what went wrong in the first place and are much more careful after that.

I don't know how much sand costs there, but you it shouldn't take more than 10 yds each time you top dress, and as the field gets more level, it should take less each time. If you try, its usually fairly easy to get someone to donate materials, especially sand. Go begging the local concrete supplier and other local construction people as well as the material supplier. Unless you get obnoxious, you should be able to beat somebody out of a truckload or two of sand.

All the rest is just sand and wheel barrows, or if you're really lucky, you might find someone with a front end loader you can use. The really nice thing about using sand to raise it is it doesn't need to be done all at once! If someone just put down a wheelbarrow or two every day and dragged it in so there were no real humps, that's something than can be done on an ongoing basis.

If nothing else, look at it this way. If all you do is get rid of the lips and begin to fertilize and top dress regularly, the field will definitely be much improved, so how can you really lose?