Getting Victory Field ready for game days is labor of love

It's 9 a.m. and the countdown to game time has already begun at Victory Field.

It's more than 10 hours to first pitch for the Indianapolis Indians but dewy grass is getting clipped to just below an inch. Operations is making the rounds, cleaning the stands and touching up the facilities. Workers are scrambling to pick up trash, wipe down seats, re-stock stores, prepare the suites and start food prep.

Each morning starts by putting the stadium back together again.

"I think a lot of people still don't understand and appreciate how our schedule works. We get into a routine," said the Triple A team's assistant general manager, Randy Lewandowski. "It can be a grind, no doubt."

And it's a cycle that the front office goes through 72 times a season for stretches of six to eight days at a time. While the routine can be tiring for the organization, it's one the front office is happy to do in order to maintain a high standard for the product and an overall enjoyable experience for the fans.

Last year, the Indians led all of minor league baseball in in attendance with 637,579 total fans, an average of 8,980 per game. Through 42 games this season, the Tribe's average is 8,848.

"We are a bit unique from a standpoint because we don't control the product on the field," Lewandowski said of the Tribe's division-leading 51-41 record. "That's what's unique to Minor League Baseball. So while we stress to the Pittsburgh Pirates that we want to have a strong team and be competitive, and we have been for the last few years, we know that's not going to be the only thing we can rely on.

"We focus on Victory Field. We pay to maintain and operate the facility ourselves because we want to have that control."

That focus has earned the stadium praise for a great fan experience as well as awards within the league for having the best kept field. The grounds crew received that honor in 2012 and '13.

"It could definitely be compared to a major league field," said Indians outfielder Mel Rojas, whose father, also named Mel, pitched for five teams in the majors over 10 years. "It's nice. I think that's what brings a lot of fans.

"The outfield grass makes it nice (to play on.)"

A team of eight groundskeepers start in the morning and work constantly to keep the Kentucky bluegrass field in top condition.

"We just don't show up and the field looks this good," said head groundskeeper Joey Stevenson. "We literally have four guys working on this from nine in the morning until two in the afternoon, and that's like 30-something man hours on the field just to get it ready for one game."

The grounds crew is not the only group spending numerous hours perfecting the stadium. Ticketing, merchandise, concessions and operations all follow similar timetables to make Victory Field fan friendly.

Everyone has the same game plan in the morning, but following lunch different front office branches switch from recovery to proactive preparations.

For merchandising this involves reorganizing the products in the Big League shop to either showcase the product of the game or highlight items based on the weather, such as hats and sunglasses for sunny days, said merchandise manager Missy Weaver.

Ticketing, which spends most of the day handling sales and calls, shifts focus to accounting for the requests of the 75-plus groups Victory Field plays host to on any given game day.

However, concessions staffers stick to the same output: food. Preparations start mid-morning with the cold items and then shift to hot food, since it takes an hour to cook to temperature, so all stands are ready for the first rush.

Chris Scherrer, general manager of ARAMARK, the company that handles all stadium food preparation, said the cooking is spread out since it will be serving fans until 9 p.m.

All departments will see the game day employees arrive between 4 and 5 p.m. with enough time to have staff meetings, receive shift assignments and be filled in on the day's promotions and event schedule prior to the opening of the gates at 5:30 p.m.

"There are a lot of people moving in different directions," said senior ticket and premium services manager Kerry Vick. "For the most part we like to know what direction everyone is moving in and try not to run into each to other."

At 7:05 p.m. the ballgame begins.

Orchestrated movements, down to the suites' meal delivery time, dominate Lewandowski's "well-oiled machine" of operations for the next three hours. With each detail meticulously planned on the front office's side, it's easy for fans to relax and enjoy the game.

"We genuinely care about our fans and I think that shows in our actions and how we go about things," said Lewandowski.

Midnight sees the end of the work day for Lewandowski and his crew, 15 hours after it started. Stadium lights are turned off and offices are locked up, only to be re-opened in eight hours for the next day's preparation.

But the cycle doesn't bother Lewandowski.

"It becomes a labor of love," he said.