Baseball Field Maintenance Checklist

Here are the six baseball field maintenance tools you need to take care of any ballfield. We call it "The baseball field maintenance checklist":

1. Dry Line Markers: Put down crisp field chalk lines — and buy field chalk if you're out.
2. Batter's Box Templates: Layout exact batter's boxes.
3. Field Lining Tools: Line a field where no baseball diamond exists.
4. Field Rakes: Clean debris and even out the infield.
5. Drag Mats: Flatten and smooth the infield for truer hops.
6. Irrigation equipment: Moisten the field to keep it in top shape.

Sure, there's more to it than that, but these are the tools of the trade. And we'll look at each one in-depth to see how they're essential elements for proper baseball field maintenance. So, let's plant our cleats in the dirt, take a few practice swings and learn everything we need to know about taking care of a baseball or softball field, plus where to get the best baseball field maintenance equipment.

Dry Line Markers

Ever wonder how they get those white lines so straight? By using high-quality dry line field markers with a guide stripe. Similar to planting grass seed, the dry line marker has an agitator to lay the field chalk down. Adjustable to two-inch or four-inch lines, an all-steel dry line marker chalks your infield dirt and outfield grass to perfection. Avoid spills and messes with our selection of dry line markers.

Batter's Box Templates

Where would the game be without the batter's box? And how can you draw the lines without batter's box templates? Available in 3' X 7' softball, 3' X 6' youth or 4' X 6' baseball sizes and in foldable aluminum frames or fully adjustable versions, these lightweight aluminum templates are perfect when you have to handle baseball field maintenance for multiple diamonds. Our one-inch galvanized steel frames are available in softball, baseball and adjustable templates. If you have a batting cage, lay down the templates there to keep players fresh and locked-in.

Field Lining Tools

If you're not on a traditional baseball field or a dirt softball infield, you need different field lining equipment options. One of our baseball field maintenance tips is to line the grass, dirt or pavement with athletic field marking paint in bright primary colors and basic white. You can paint by hand or, better yet, buy an athletic field striper. Holding multiple cans and easy to use with fingertip on-off lever, an excellent athletic field striper comes in handy and travels anywhere you do. You may need a baseball layout system with anchors and a guide string to permanently locate the precise measurements required to mark your lines. A cool feature is once you have the anchors in place, they stay put, so you can repaint as needed without measuring again.

Field Rakes

Removal of ruts, divots and debris only scratches the surface of what baseball field rakes can do. Keep an assortment of rakes, a sifting shovel, a tamp and a cocoa mop packed into your storage area for proper baseball facility maintenance. You should probably add a drag broom for quick touch-up work around the bags between innings. Smaller drag brooms and cocoa mats make great youth baseball equipment for the maintenance tech.

Drag Mats

When you're ready for a professional finish on the infield, drag mats come to the rescue. Here's another of our favorite baseball field maintenance tips: think of a baseball or softball infield like a wood piece that needs sanding and finishing to be smooth and ready to use. A nail drag does the hard digging to aerate and sift the dirt for debris, much like coarse sandpaper begins to smooth the wood. You can also use a wide bolt drag to do the same work. Next comes the metal Monster Mat with a drag bar to begin the finishing process like semi-coarse sandpaper gets the wood almost ready. Last, use a cocoa mat drag to polish the gorgeous infield like fine-grit sandpaper preps the wood for staining.

Irrigation Equipment

You don't want dust kicked up every time an infielder moves or a pitcher steps into his pitch. You need water — irrigation to keep the dirt just moist enough to prevent this. Keep several baseball field water hoses on hand with professional-grade nozzles. But the reverse is also true: You may need to pump water out after a major storm or flooding, so the Diamond Pump is another critical item to keep. Pumping out twenty gallons of water per minute with a built-in filter to keep debris from being sucked in is one of those baseball field maintenance tools you don't want to leave in the truck. And be sure you have a full stock of puddle pillows that work to soak up excess water. Great for those spring thunderstorms.

Baseball Field Maintenance Checklist — Get One, Use It

A baseball field maintenance checklist is something you should always have on hand, but it can't help you if you leave it in the shed hanging on a clipboard. Make your own checklist — feel free to follow this one for ideas — and then put it into practice. So when baseball, softball, T-Ball, little league or wiffleball starts, you know the field will be ready. Any baseball field inspection checklist you make may differ from this one, just as your field maintenance needs may be different from those covered here.