Field of Dreams, Field of Dirt

Today I'm taking the afternoon off to see a baseball game. Right now, the groundskeepers are at work readying the field of play. And that means their inner geologist is on hand as they assess the carefully blended sediment product that is ballfield dirt. No ordinary soil allows players to maintain control of their bodies as they run, field, slide and fall without injury to themselves or each other. And the umpires are ordering up their supplies of rubbing mud—a special natural silt used to gently rough up the slick leather of a new ball before each game. I've got all the dirt in this article.