NEW YORK - As change permeated every sector of the Phillies last summer, the team's bench coach and pitching coach hatched an idea. Larry Bowa could not believe how quick the infield played at Citizens Bank Park. "Like AstroTurf," he said. Bob McClure heard chatter among his pitchers, and he likened the surface to "playing in a parking lot."
They wanted new grass.
So, when the Phillies step onto the infield Monday afternoon for the home opener, their cleats will graze Kentucky bluegrass. And, the Phillies said, there is a strategy behind the modification.
"It's just fairer," Phillies president Andy MacPhail said.