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Greener pastures at Palacios field
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Posted on Nov 10 2005
After a few weeks of playing on the verdant carpet of the Kan Pacific Baseball Field in Marpi, local hardballers have been getting a taste of what it will be like when they make their eventual return to Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field in Oleai next year.
While it will still be at least a couple of months before the sights and sounds of the American pastime return to the centrally located Beach Road facility, the baby buds have begun to spring through the topsoil to give the long-brown surface sort of a green five-o’clock shadow.
“It looks great. They said that the rain would really help out and you can see that it already has,” said Division of Sports and Recreation director Tony Rogolifoi.
The transformation of the field from a Japanese-style-dirt-only infield to the American-standard-partially-covered-grass infield is an ongoing project designed at getting the local digs ready for the upcoming 2006 Micronesian Games next summer.
The clearing, leveling, and aerating of the field is part of the project’s first phase, and the second will be the spreading of additional grass seeds for a complete sea of green. Once the grass has fully taken root and grown out, the grounds crew will cut out the baselines and the infield base paths.
“It’s going to look just like the Majors,” said Rogolifoi.
Currently, all baseball activities of the Saipan Major League Fall and Masters divisions have been played at the Marpi facility until the end of the year, but Rogolifoi said that he will try to get additional time at the site if necessary.
“We told them we’re starting the seasons in February and we want as early as possible to start selecting players for the Micronesian Games. I think we can request an extension, but I am thinking to use [the Kan Pacific field] as a back up in case it rains,” he said.
