Basic Steps for planning a Baseball Field

By MC

There are many steps to developing a baseball field and for it to be successful the site will require research. It’s important to have input from all parties that will be involved with the field(s) development. The following are all very important components of the playing field that should be reviewed and discussed with all of the users. Before you move forward with these specifics, you should consider the following field development issues. They will help you define your goals in developing the field that best suits your budget and your needs.

• Issues to consider when choosing a site for your baseball field?
• Location of the area within a city, farm land, city owned land
• Field Orientation- Is the sun going to set in the wrong part of the field?
• Accessibility
• Convenience for players and public
• Transportation issues
• Parking
• Safety of players and guests
• Multi purpose use considerations
• Opportunityfor future growth
• For what age group or classification will this field or fields be used by?
• How often will they be used and during what time of year
• Type of construction. High performance or Recreational
• Who is going to maintain the field?
• Value engineering
• Cost of development –Design services
• Value Engineering (Again)
• Cost of maintenance
• Is the facility to be used for high level play?
• Field Lighting and at what level.
• Dugouts, fencing, batters eyes etc…
• Topography of the existing areas
• Natural drainage of the area
• Amount of grading and fill necessary
• Soil of the area (the foundation subsoil and surface topsoil)
• Have they completed an soil borings to evaluate sub soil conditions
• Condition of existing turf
• Utilities, Electricity , Sewage
• Stormwater issues and flood plain concerns.
• Construction Time Line — When do you plan to have the field used for play?
• Location of the area — Community, downtown, etc…
• Accessibility for public, deliveries etc.
• Transportation issues- traffic bus schedules, train etc..
• Hotels- what is the closest and can they provide your needs for tournaments
• Synthetic or Natural turf
• Safety

Be sure to reach out to MLB reources for additonal materials to help with your baseball field development. There are a lot of sources on the internet some that are accurate and some that are not.