Mark Bennett
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
When hundreds of people kept flowing into Bob Warn Field, night after night, Marty Hendricks knew his hometown had pulled off something special.
As the Terre Haute Rex games unfold, Hendricks walks around the ballpark at First and Locust streets. He and his three-man grounds crew keep the diamond — with its mix of artificial turf and grass, and clay — ready.
In the first season of professionally organized baseball in Terre Haute since 1956, fans have come to know the Rex field manager’s face.
He’ll tour the stadium “and have a half-dozen families speak to me by name,” Hendricks said. “That’s when I felt comfortable that these people feel like they’re part of the Rex family.”
That connection is cultivated, so to speak, in the fifth inning of every game. That’s when one youngster from the crowd gets to ride onto the diamond aboard a Gator to help “Rake the Mound with Marty.” “That’s the highlight of the night,” Hendricks said, smiling. “After that, it’s like, the dad’s yelling, ‘Hey, Marty,’ and the wife’s hollering at you, and all because you let their kid ride around in the Gator.”
Hendricks understands a fan’s perspective. The 50-year-old Terre Haute native, his wife, Abby, and their daughter, Samantha, sit courtside at Indiana State University basketball games in the winter. When the weather turns warmer, Hendricks can be found tending to athletic fields around the city and county.
His company, Vigo Landscaping, cares for ISU’s soccer and softball fields, as well as the Lavern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, a variety of Little League ballparks, the Terre Haute Men’s Senior Baseball League park, and the Vigo County Youth Soccer Association fields.
Earlier this year, when the ISU Foundation announced its intention to launch a franchise in the Prospect League — a summer circuit for promising college players — foundation president Gene Crume and Rex general manager Roland Shelton asked Hendricks to handle the groundskeeping for the new Terre Haute ballclub.
“We thought that would be fun, to try it,” Hendricks said.
It also brought a few anxious moments as the team’s debut weekend unfolded June 3-5. The expectations of a playing field by players, coaches and fans in an established league provided some pressure for Hendricks and his crew, which includes Brandon Mattox, Kyle McFadden and George Knezevich, especially with a capacity crowd of 1,300 at Bob Warn Field on opening night. A thundershower 30 minutes before game time added to the drama for the groundskeepers.
“The crowd is full and you’re hoping the guy pitching — a new guy from Los Angeles — doesn’t twist his ankle,” Hendricks said.
The game turned out to be a thriller, but because of the two teams’ play. The Rex lost 5-2 to the visiting Springfield Sliders in 10 innings.
Pregame nerves were “probably more overkill” than necessity, Hendricks said. “Now, it’s a matter of coming in and making sure everything is in the right place at the right time.”
He’s developed a minute-by-minute to-do list. For example, the optimum time to spray water on the pitching mound is at 7:06 p.m., four minutes before the ump yells, “Play ball.” The crew also removes tarps from the bullpens, removes nets after batting practice, pulls up the bases and gives them a coat of spray paint, and drags the all-artificial-turf infield with a piece of similar turf to spread the synthetic granules (simulated dirt) in the carpet and reduce static electricity.
A franchise’s inaugural season comes with a learning curve, said Shelton, who came to the Rex and the ISU Foundation from Kansas City, Kan.
“We’re learning something every day on managing a baseball team and a facility,” Shelton said. Hendricks, he added, “does a solid job out on the field.”
One prime pregame task for Hendricks and the grounds crew is fine-tuning the pitching mound.
“It’s amazing,” Hendricks said, “they can root out 40 pounds of mound clay in a game.”
They use a mix of mound clay — culled from the earth in Southern states — and red granules that are “mainly for looks,” Hendricks said. The consistency of the clay “is about like clay when you were in the sixth grade making an ashtray for your dad.”
While Bob Warn Field has an artificial infield surface, the outfield is natural grass. So, Hendricks’ crew mows that area on the afternoon before each game. They also freshen the paint on the foul lines, inspect the outfield for divots and mole holes, and make sure the irrigation system’s sprinkler heads are properly locked down.
Once the games begin, the crew stands ready to cover the dirt portions of the infield if rain falls. Even then, the synthetic surface drains quickly “and 15 minutes later, we’re playing ball again,” Hendricks said.
“Most of our work comes before and after,” Mattox added. “Unless it rains, we get to enjoy the baseball games.”
Baseball was a big part of Mattox’s youth. The 24-year-old, who joined Hendricks’ company nine years ago, played baseball from T-ball through high school while growing up in Clay City. He appreciates the caliber of play in the Prospect League. “There’s been some good players come through Terre Haute,” Mattox said of the 2010 season.
Terre Haute seems to appreciate it, too, he said.
“There’s been a pretty good range of everybody,” Mattox said of the Rex fan base. “I’ve seen 80-year-old couples sitting up in the stands.”
The team has restored something that hasn’t been heard in Terre Haute since the town’s last professional minor league franchise folded in July 1956. “I hear them talking about [the baseball team] all the time — people around town. The old guys in the coffee shop give me lots of help on Sunday mornings,” Hendricks said, with a chuckle.
Most of them are regulars at the ballpark.
“What’s nice is seeing the average worker here,” Hendricks said. “You’ll see him, his wife and kids, and they’ll be here every game.”
Mark Bennett can be reached at (812) 231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.
