Andrew Lawing \u201913 started playing baseball before he was in kindergarten. He played in AAU tournaments, throughout high school, and in community college. Then he realized his baseball career was winding down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Lawing made it to the majors. Today, he\u2019s working for the Baltimore Orioles as senior manager of field operations, helping manage a crew of seasonal workers and game-day staff to keep the dirt and grass in tip-top shape for every game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He worked his way up to what he calls a \u201ca dream job\u201d after starting as a seasonal worker. When Lawing graduated from NC State in turf grass management, \u201cI wanted that major league experience,\u2019\u2019 he says. \u201cI moved up two days after graduation.\u2019\u2019 In 2016, he got the management job at Camden Yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When an outfielder dives, Lawing is looking for divots.<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Lawing is in charge of making sure the grass is healthy, which often means calculating the right amount and type of fertilizer or fungicide. You\u2019d think he\u2019d have an easy day when the team is out of town. But during a stretch last summer when temperatures climbed into the 90s, he worked 10-hour days keeping the grass cool with frequent sprays of water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Weather is a big issue in Baltimore. \u201cWe\u2019re a half mile from the harbor, and we get these thunderstorms rolling in,\u201d Lawing says. Rain games are a special challenge. The game-day staff is also called the \u201ctarp crew\u201d\u2009\u2014\u2009when it rains, they unroll the massive vinyl canvas (175 feet by 175 feet, weighing more than 2,000 pounds) to protect the infield dirt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On game days, Lawing typically watches from a crew cage at field level. And although he still enjoys the action as a fan, he\u2019s keeping an eye on how the ball is rolling on the grass. \u201cI\u2019m watching the playability,\u2019\u2019 he says. \u201cIf the outfielder dives, are there divots that we need to go out and fix?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So does Lawing have a stellar front lawn? \u201cI live in the city,\u201d he says. \u201cI have a brick patio. We have a couple of potted plants and flowers, but they don\u2019t always stay alive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n
Andrew Lawing \u201913 started playing baseball before he was in kindergarten. He played in AAU tournaments, throughout high school, and in community college. Then he realized his baseball career was winding down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Lawing made it to the majors. Today, he\u2019s working for the Baltimore Orioles as senior manager of field operations, helping manage a crew of seasonal workers and game-day staff to keep the dirt and grass in tip-top shape for every game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He worked his way up to what he calls a \u201ca dream job\u201d after starting as a seasonal worker. When Lawing graduated from NC State in turf grass management, \u201cI wanted that major league experience,\u2019\u2019 he says. \u201cI moved up two days after graduation.\u2019\u2019 In 2016, he got the management job at Camden Yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When an outfielder dives, Lawing is looking for divots.<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Lawing is in charge of making sure the grass is healthy, which often means calculating the right amount and type of fertilizer or fungicide. You\u2019d think he\u2019d have an easy day when the team is out of town. But during a stretch last summer when temperatures climbed into the 90s, he worked 10-hour days keeping the grass cool with frequent sprays of water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Weather is a big issue in Baltimore. \u201cWe\u2019re a half mile from the harbor, and we get these thunderstorms rolling in,\u201d Lawing says. Rain games are a special challenge. The game-day staff is also called the \u201ctarp crew\u201d\u2009\u2014\u2009when it rains, they unroll the massive vinyl canvas (175 feet by 175 feet, weighing more than 2,000 pounds) to protect the infield dirt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On game days, Lawing typically watches from a crew cage at field level. And although he still enjoys the action as a fan, he\u2019s keeping an eye on how the ball is rolling on the grass. \u201cI\u2019m watching the playability,\u2019\u2019 he says. \u201cIf the outfielder dives, are there divots that we need to go out and fix?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So does Lawing have a stellar front lawn? \u201cI live in the city,\u201d he says. \u201cI have a brick patio. We have a couple of potted plants and flowers, but they don\u2019t always stay alive.\u201d<\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Andrew Lawing \u201913 plays a much-needed position for the Baltimore Orioles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":1122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"showAuthor\":true,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"subtitle\":\"Andrew Lawing \u201913 plays a much-needed position for the Baltimore Orioles.\",\"caption\":\"Photograph by Todd Olszewski, team photographer of the Baltimore Orioles.\",\"displayCategoryID\":5}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,9],"tags":[80,109,119,275],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-4755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-class-act","category-stories","tag-andrew-lawing","tag-athletics","tag-baltimore","tag-college-of-natural-resources"],"displayCategory":{"term_id":5,"name":"Best Bets","slug":"best-bets","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":56,"filter":"raw"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4755"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5111,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4755\/revisions\/5111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4755"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=4755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}