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Is the award made of recycled tires?
2008-12-09 11:26
by Bob Timmermann

A press release from the good people of FieldTurf (via MarketWatch) lists the winners of the 2008 FieldTurf Baseball Awards.

There were four awards:

  • MLB Team of the Year - Tampa Bay Rays
  • NCAA Division I-A Coach of the Year - Mike Batesole of Fresno State
  • NCAA Division I-AA Coach of the Year - Ed Servais of Creighton
  • NCAA Team of the Year - Fresno State

So, why did Tampa Bay win instead of Philadelphia? Perhaps this explains it (emphasis mine):

TAMPA BAY RAYS (MLB) -- Without a doubt, the success story of the year, the Tampa Bay Rays went from a last place finish in 2007 to first place atop the toughest division in baseball. The Rays rode their 2008 regular season success all the way to the World Series. They hosted games 1 and 2 of the first World Series to ever be played on an infilled turf baseball field at Tropicana (FieldTurf).

Fresno State won the College World Series, so I can see why its coach and team were honored, even though the Bulldogs play on a grass field.

I'm not sure how you qualify for NCAA Division I-AA in baseball as there is no such classification. The NCAA just uses Division I, II, and III. The Division II champ last year was Mount Olive and the Division III champ was Trinity of Connecticut.

Creighton does use a FieldTurf field for some of its games.

 

Comments
2008-12-09 14:28:31
1.   bobsbrother
It's possible they define I-AA as Division I schools that don't play Division I football. DI basketball schools that don't play football are considered Division I-AAA.
2008-12-09 15:29:22
2.   Bob Timmermann
Creighton finished 37-21 last season and didn't make the NCAA tournament, so I don't see what the big deal was.

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