
The turf came free of charge and it got good reviews from the Toronto Blue Jays last year.
So perhaps the kinks will soon be ironed out. After the first three games of the new season in the Rogers Centre, Jays players and coaches were muttering about the condition of the year-old AstroTurf.
After Friday night’s opener, first baseman Adam Lind said the area he patrols is full of “valleys and mountains on a miniature scale.” A returning coach, who requested anonymity, said the condition of the turf is “the worst I’ve ever seen it.”
The turf, which was installed after a motocross event last week, comes in long rolls. In some areas, the seams are not tightly closed and the surface contains soft and hard spots, the complainants said.
Club president Paul Beeston, who also serves as chief operating officer for the Rogers Centre, said he was surprised when a reporter told him of the complaints.
“We’ll look right into it,” he said. “We want it to be right.”
Beeston also confirmed that the Jays didn’t have to pay for the baseball turf. It came free as part of a promotion the AstroTurf company arranged with Major League Baseball last year.
The Tampa Bay Rays, who play under a dome at Tropicana Field, also received free turf this season under the same deal. FieldTurf, which supplied the previous synthetic surface for both the Jays and Rays, refused the MLB licensing offer that AstroTurf accepted, the St. Petersburg Times reported in February.
http://sports.nationalpost.com/2011/04/ ... blue-jays/