New turf makes good first impression on Rays

TAMPA, Fla. -- At least after one workout session, the new artificial playing surface at Tropicana Field has earned favorable reviews from Rays players.
Prior to their Grapefruit League game against the Yankees on Sunday at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Rays stopped 20 miles away at their home ballpark in St. Petersburg to test out the Shaw Sports Turf for the first time since it was installed over the past few weeks.
Veteran third baseman Evan Longoria said it looks noticeably different than the AstroTurf that was used beginning in 2011, with its darker-green shade and a lack of black rubber fill-in pellets that gave the old surface more of a washed-out appearance.
"It looks good, it looks new, it looks fresh," Longoria said. "I think it just kind of remains to be seen how it plays. It's hard to really judge based off one ground-ball session and batting-practice session on it. But it's going to freshen up the stadium, for sure. It gives it a nice, new sparkle."
Manager Kevin Cash said he heard positive things from his players following the brief workout. He raved about the job team president Brian Auld and the front office did during the offseason, putting in the time to seek out which field would be best.
This will be the fifth different kind of turf the team has used since coming into the Majors in 1998.
"I think it looks great," Cash said. "I think Brian Auld and that group and everybody, I know they researched everything they could to find what's going to look the best, what's going to play the best. And for being out there for an hour, it looks really good, and the ball seemed very true."
One of the biggest enhancements to the 1.1 million square feet of turf is what can't be seen: A harder foam pad that will sit beneath it, which the Rays hope prevents soreness and other minor injury issues.
"The feel of it felt firmer, but from what the trainers were saying it is like you're walking on an Airex pad last year, and the ankles and stuff like that get sore because of that," first baseman Logan Morrison said. "So I'm sure it will be fine. That's the last part they need to worry about at the Trop, I'm thinking."
For one day, the turf had a passing grade. But Longoria looks forward to seeing how it holds up in a week on Opening Day and beyond.
"I think it's one of those things where you're going to have to play on it and stand on it and run on it for a while to really see if there is any difference between the way it feels after a homestand now, versus before," Longoria said. "But it sounds a little different, I think because of that pad and the way that the surface is constructed now. But again, it felt good taking ground balls on it for the first time. It felt comfortable. It didn't feel too different from what it was before, and I'm excited about it, I guess, if it plays well.
"We might have a different talk three weeks from now, if a couple balls jump up on me."