A quick note of clarification to the Cardinals Diaspora (and every baseball writer who attributes injuries to the state of Toronto's artificial turf): It's not Astroturf. It hasn't been for several years, and Troy Glaus never played an inning on Astroturf as a Blue Jay.We've actually had the opportunity to scamper and jump and slide on FieldTurf (which was installed in 2005 at SkyDome/Rogers Centre), and it is no worse that the natural grass surfaces or the dirt cutout in most baseball stadia. So don't go thinking that Glaus' joints are suddenly going to regenerate because of the healing powers of Busch Stadium grass.
It wasn't the playing surface that caused Glaus' injuries, but rather, his Lurch-like physique.
UPDATE: Let's throw the Sporting News' Sean Deveney under the bus while we're at it, as he notes in his latest blog posting that the turf "exacerbated" Glaus' foot problems.
I personally believe that the Turf situation is valid reasoning. As much as the graphics and powerpoints look good in comparing FieldTurf with Natural grass, there is in fact, a performance difference between the two.
ReplyDeleteHaving played on each, I can certainly see how someone that is sensitive can be aggravated by FieldTurf rather than Natural grass.
As well, most recently, BMO's FieldTurf (which at least looks to be better quality than the crackhead patching over at the 'Dome) was dissed by David Beckham, so this whole FieldTurf argument is valid among all FieldTurf users. Because whatever David Beckham says or does, we must agree and follow.
I still would prefer O-Dawg & Delgado over Rolen though. Maybe a playoff berth will change that thought.
Glaus slugged 130 points better on grass than on turf this year. It clearly had some effect.
ReplyDeleteOooh, aaah! 130 points!
ReplyDeleteIt's a pretty small sample size, so we don't read that much into it: the difference being that he hit four extra homers and one fewer double on the road...there's your 130 points of slugging percentage.
And the last time we checked, there isn't turf in the batters box.
And another thing:
ReplyDeleteGlaus slugged 80 points higher on turf than on grass the year before.
If your notion is that his slugging goes down because he doesn't want to wreck his knees on the turf, then you should know that for his career, Glaus hits a double once every 18.32 ABs on turf, and once every 18.64 ABs on grass.
So let's be a little more judicious about saying that something "clearly had an affect".
And David Beckham is a panty waisted nancyboy who is used to playing football in the mud of soggy England.
I always find the grass/ turf debate to be an excuse to dismiss the Roger's Centre, the city of Toronto and even all of Canada. But I'm a little sensitive.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it's better than the carpet they used to have, but there's still a whole lot of unforgiving cement under there. I don't really know, to be honest. If JP sold the deal on the turf factor, fine by me.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if you look at the diagram, it looks a whole lot like a thin layer of topsoil resting on cement. Nice, but not quite the same.
ReplyDeleteI shoot much better in putt-putt when playing on real grass than on artificial turf. It clearly makes a difference
ReplyDeleteWho cares about the friggin turf! Rolan is exactly what the Jays needed to give the team and it's fans a good feeling for this year. I'm a little more optimistic now. It sucked watching Glaus run around like he did. Screw the turf. God!!
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