Dr. Dirt: A diamond's best friend

By Ben Bromley

You probably don't want him as your neighbor, but you definitely want Craig Schlender building your baseball field.

He doesn't host all-night parties or let his dog run at large. Still, you might not want to live next to him because your lawn will never measure up. He cares for the lawn around his Baraboo home the same way he cares for clients' infields, even using a roller to give the appearance of stripes in the grass.

His lawn is only the tip of the grass blade: Schlender's achievements include helping diamonds in Baraboo and Sauk City earn honors as the state's baseball field of the year; and serving as head groundskeeper for numerous high school, American Legion and college tournaments. He is a diamond's best friend.

In 2002 Schlender helped Milwaukee Brewers groundskeepers decorate the Miller Park infield for Major League Baseball's All-Star Game festivities. More recently, he invented a mound manicuring device the Boston Red Sox staff uses at Fenway Park.

"He's been there when I've needed someone to help me out," said Gary Vanden Berg, the Brewers' head groundskeeper. "I would stack him up against anybody."

Dan Lewison, a Baraboo insurance man who apprenticed under Schlender while working five summers with the city Parks Department, remains awed by Schlender's instincts and insistence on quality. "He was just passionate about making sure things were done the right way," Lewison said. "When you're passionate, like in anything else, you're going to be good at what you do."

Now director of grounds at Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells, Schlender moonlights as a consultant. His clients include high schools and colleges across Wisconsin, and his skill in building level batter's boxes and arcing pitching mounds has earned him the nickname "Dr. Dirt."

"I just love baseball, and I enjoy helping other people make their field better," Schlender said.

Big-league education

Schlender's groundskeeping career started in childhood. His father offered to build a baseball field adjacent to his country store, provided Schlender and his brother maintained it. Perhaps it was that experience mowing the field and clipping dandelions that earned Schlender his job with the city. While working with the Parks Department he

helped lay infield sod at Mary Rountree Evans Field. His love of baseball made him curious about diamond construction and maintenance.

He later became foreman, and sought to improve Mary Rountree and other city diamonds. He contacted the Brewers, who invited him to Milwaukee to learn the craft. Schlender learned the importance of mowing the grass short, fertilizing it and poking holes to aerate it. "In three weeks we had great grass growing," Schlender said.

With that education and plenty of on-the-job training, Schlender cultivated a reputation for quality work. Mary Rountree Evans Field, which has earned state and national honors as the baseball field of the year, sold his services better than any advertisement could. When former Brewers players Mark Loretta and Fernando Vina visited the field to conduct a youth clinic, they said Baraboo's diamond rivals minor league fields. "They just couldn't believe a town this size had a field of that quality," Schlender said.

Soon neighboring communities were calling for help. Just as the Brewers' grounds crew taught Schlender, he shared the secrets of his success with others. His work with the Wisconsin Sports Turf Managers Association helped Schlender secure gigs rebuilding college fields and grooming fields for state high school and Division III college tourneys.

"You get all sorts of training," Schlender said, smiling as he described the long hours a tournament groundskeeper puts in.

Making the All-Star team

Schlender has spent innumerable volunteer hours upgrading Baraboo's diamond and serving as a coach for the American Legion team. His efforts have been rewarded with several brushes with big-league life.

His connections with the Brewers put him on the field at Miller Park for the All-Star Game. He stenciled shooting stars onto the infield dirt, a design seen by millions of television viewers. He got to hobnob with celebrities, players and coaches, and even got to meet wife Liz's favorite player, Baltimore Orioles great Cal Ripken Jr.

"I was just like walking on Cloud Nine," he said. "Just being around that is wonderful,"

Schlender recorded another big-league hit when he invented a 4-inch-square mound "tamper." When pitchers dig in next to the rubber with one foot and land hard with the other, they create holes in the mound. Groundskeepers typically use 8- to 10-inch tampers to pack the dirt back in, but those are too big for the job. Schlender created a smaller tamper out of plate steel designed to fill the holes left by pitchers' spikes. He told former Brewers groundskeeper David Mellor, now director of grounds for the Red Sox, about the device. The world champions bought a half-dozen.

Mellor praised Schlender's work ethic and attention to detail, which give amateurs professional-caliber fields to enjoy. "He helps young people have good experiences playing on those fields," Mellor said.

Awaiting the call

Vanden Berg said Schlender is a major-league talent. He knows the science of groundskeeping, but also has a natural sense for the art of grooming a field. "There's no book that you can go to, to learn those things," Vanden Berg said. "He has a real feel for it."

"He's just really well-respected in the ranks of high schools and colleges in the state," Lewison added. "He just absolutely loves taking care of baseball fields."

Schlender has thought about seeking work in the majors, but he wants to stay in Baraboo. He holds out hope that a millionaire will build a minor league park in the Dells and hire him to build and maintain the field.

"He has learned so much, and he has taken it as far as he can go where he is," Vanden Berg said. "I don't know anyone who doesn't do this for a living who knows more than Craig."

Need a house call from Dr. Dirt?

Contact Ball Diamond Fine Sports Turf by calling Craig Schlender at (608) 434-2504.