What do you think about the job they did?

When it comes to tarping a sports field, for baseball or another sport, one of two approaches is essentially used: Go with a baseball diamond-shaped tarp or use large standard tarps to cover the area. But, as you likely know from reading this blog, a tarp does not protect an area on its own. Rather, it needs to be held down. In some cases, baseball diamond-shaped tarps are weighted at the edges; this way, the tarp stays down once applied, the grounds crew doesn’t need to spend additional time weighing down the edges, and the entire job takes just a few minutes. Does it look like the grounds crew for the Royals had a weighted tarp? If you can’t tell, notice the edges of the material flying up just a few seconds after the tarp is properly rolled out.

Why go through this whole ordeal of tarping the field? Won’t the ground just dry? Yes, it will eventually, but that could take a few days, during which the team could be practicing or playing a game. In fact, if the field becomes mud after a rainstorm, the team may even need to cancel home games. This, however, doesn’t just apply to professional teams; high school teams, too, need to change scheduling or practice areas if their field becomes muddy.

No matter the type used, a baseball tarp is made out of heavy-duty polyethylene and treated to be UV resistant and waterproof. Once the tarp is put in place and secured on a sports field, the material prevents the rain from getting to the ground.

No matter if a team is professional like the Twins or is your local little league, a season can find itself derailed by canceled games once rain shows up. Not covering the field with a tarp makes the grass muddy and the field unplayable. While the home team waits for its field to dry from the rain, they end up missing games and practices. Instead, having a few large tarps on hand, or a baseball field tarp, is necessary when rain is approaching. At the first sign of rain, have the grounds crew or the team add the tarp over the field and then add weights, such as bricks, cinder blocks, or chains, to keep the material in place.

While general large tarps can cover a baseball field, many manufacturers of the polyethylene material have specialized baseball tarps in the shape of a diamond. When rain approaches, this tarp is rolled out on top of the ground and secured. Some of these baseball tarps are even equipped with chains around the edges, so, once rolled out, they stay in place and need no additional weight. Made from heavy-duty polyethylene, the tarp prevents the water from reaching the baseball diamond. Additional tarps can be placed over seating areas around the field.

Although a tarp won’t protect a building from major hurricane damage, a tarp can protect a sports field from water damage resulting from heavy rains. In fact, specifically for baseball fields tarps have been used by little league, school, and major league teams to protect the baseball field in case of rain. Without proper protection, a baseball field, or any other grass sports field, can become muddy and unplayable for several days until the ground hardens again. To protect any more games from getting canceled due to rain, a tarp can be used to cover the sports field and protect it from damage.

As this is a common problem for baseball fields, special baseball tarps have been developed to be put quickly over a baseball field in case of rain. A baseball tarp is shaped specifically like a baseball diamond and can be rolled out quickly at the first sign of rain. While baseball tarps have been used for several years, only recently have baseball field tarps been equipped with chains or other weights around the edges to keep the tarp down without sandbags. These newer baseball field tarps can be rolled onto the field and will stay in place because of the weights or chains along the edges. In terms of timing, older baseball field tarps needing sandbags to keep them in place could be set in fifteen to twenty minutes, while newer baseball field tarps can be set and start protecting the field in less than five minutes.

Other sports fields, including football and soccer fields, can be protected with tarps, as well. Although tarps aren’t specifically designed to fit football or soccer fields, larger tarps can be used to cover parts of a large sports field and can be held in place by sandbags.