Undergraduate Program, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee

Recent Undergraduate News and Happenings

Turfing with the Red Sox
UT student enjoys once-in-a-lifetime experience

For most UT students, summer jobs mean a chance to earn money or gain valuable work experience. Stuart Morris of Memphis did both in a position that makes a baseball fan's heart beat faster. While many youngsters dream of fielding ground balls glancing across the infield at Fenway Park or catching a line drive off the famous Green Monster in left field, Morris spent his summer's 2007 field of dreams experience with the Boston Red Sox.

But for Morris, it's not about the game; it's all about the field. Last winter, the turfgrass management student received a call from David Mellor, the Red Sox groundskeeper. Mellor was reviewing applications for a turf scholarship. He liked what he saw in Morris and called to ask if he was interested in working for him. Morris was, and so he spent a six-month internship as a member of the grounds crew of the 2007 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox. In fact, he was one of just two interns who were able to stay through the Sox' entire championship season. He even got to walk in the ticker-tape parade on October 30.

From the manicured base lines to the intricate mowing patterns to the hand-picked warning track (yes, there is an art to picking peanut shells out of the grass in the outfield), Morris did it all. He was booed when the grounds crew pulled the tarp on the field for a rain delay and cheered when the tarp was removed so play could resume.

If you've ever watched a Red Sox post-season game on TV, you've noticed the Sox infield design and the mowed patterns in the outfield. To a turf guy, the appearance of the field is just as impressive as a David Ortiz home run or a Coco Crisp® center-field catch.

One of his highlights was working security at the "Police" concert. Another was showing Today Show reporter Tiki Barber how to mow Fenway Park into one of its famous patterns. In August, Morris was a featured guest on George Lapides' Sportstime radio program in Memphis . When asked to compare a Red Sox game with Tennessee football, Morris replied, "Both sets of fans are passionate about the game, but there's nothing like 104,000 Vol fans."

While at UT, Stuart was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, the UT NAMA marketing team, and a member of the winning team at the 2007 Student Challenge-Undergraduate Competition for the Sports Turf Manager's Annual Conference and Exhibition. He also served a 2006 summer internship with the Mike Rose Soccer complex in Memphis . Last spring, he worked for UT, maintaining sports fields, including the fields for the Men's Baseball and the College World Series runner-up Women's Softball teams.

Morris graduates in December with a degree in sports turf management. His work plans are uncertain, but southern football fields rank high on his wish list. His parents are both UTK graduates, Lucille Crowder, ('75, business), and James ('76, agricultural economics). -Jim Nunn ('77, animal science)

Learn more about UT's turfgrass science progrram

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Plant Sciences UG Committee Page


College of Agriculture Sciences & Natural Resources Experiment Station Extension Service Institute of Agriculture


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