TAMPA — For true aficionados, baseball is not played on a glorified carpet.
From the bounce of the ball, to the lack of grass stains on uniforms, artificial turf has yet to match Mother Nature as a playing surface for America’s national pastime.
After a flirtation with artificial turf in the 1970s, ’80s and early ‘90s, that’s the conclusion Major League Baseball reached. Of baseball’s 30 teams, only the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays play on artificial turf and the Canadian team is set to switch to grass in 2018.
The Rays’ chance to convert would come with a new ballpark.