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A new artificial turf surface at the Oakland Athletics' temporary home in Sacramento, California, will have a hydration element because of summer heat at the open-air ballpark.
“We think that’s the best that we can do in terms of playing surface in the heat,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday.
Sutter Health Park's field will be changed from grass to synthetic before the A's move there for the 2025-27 seasons ahead of an intended relocation to a new fixed-roof ballpark planned to open in Las Vegas for 2028.
Daily highs in Sacramento from July 1-9 averaged 106 (41 Celsius) and similar temperatures are forecast from Sunday through July 25. Temperatures in the past have reached 115 degrees (46 Celsius), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Oakland will share the ballpark with the San Francisco Giants' Triple-A River Cats, necessitating up to 153 regular-season games over 186 days. Murray Cook, MLB’s field and stadium consultant, has worked on the surface selection process with the Major League Baseball Players Association.
“The vast, vast majority of the games can be played at night when it’s cooler,” Manfred told the Baseball Writers' Association of America. ”We picked the playing surface in consultation with the MLBPA and Murray Cook, and it has a specific hydration component to it in terms of water being added to it to cool the surface."
MLB said choosing the underlying infrastructure beneath the turf was still in the process of being finalized.
Five of MLB’s 30 ballparks currently have artificial turf, four with retractable roofs and the Tampa Bay Rays’ Tropicana Field with a fixed dome. Outdoor stadiums with artificial turf led to extremely high field temperatures from the early 1970s to the mid-1990s. Former Cardinals third baseman Keith Hernandez in 2010 recalled the surface temperature in St. Louis reaching 148 (64 Celsius), causing the cleats of outfielder Reggie Smith to melt.
A new home clubhouse is being planned for behind home plate but the visiting clubhouse will remain beyond the outfield. An outfield clubhouse was famously at the Polo Grounds, home of the New York Giants and Mets.
“Obviously, we have no control over where the league decides to to play games or put teams,” players' association head Tony Clark told the BBWAA, speaking before Manfred. “At the point in time they make that determination is when we lean in to ensure the health and safety and well-being of the players that are going to play there. Obviously, there’s been a lot of dialogue of late about the warmth and the time of day and the scheduling.”
Oakland's lease at the Coliseum expires after this season, and the A's announced in the spring of 2023 their intent to move to Las Vegas. Nevada's government last year granted $380 million in public financing and MLB owners approved the move in November.
Led by managing partner John Fisher, the A's will have to arrange additional financing for the ballpark.
A meeting of the Las Vegas Stadium Authority Board is scheduled for Thursday and supplemental financing could be discussed. The A's asked that a non-relocation agreement include a provision for up to eight home games a year to be played elsewhere — MLB picks teams for international events at special U.S. sites such as the Field of Dreams location in Iowa.
“I talk to John regularly. I am comfortable with the progress they’ve made with respect to the construction of the stadium in Las Vegas and his ability to put together the financing necessary to get that stadium constructed,” Manfred said.
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao faces a possible recall election in November. Manfred said her status would not impact a move.
“Our Oakland decisions have been made and what happens politically in Oakland is between the citizens of Oakland and their elected officials,” he said.
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AP Sports Writer Mark Anderson in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
