Ben Hartman: The Unsung Hero of the Wichita Wind Surge

[Theodore Tollefson]

Get to know Ben Hartman, the head grounds keeper of the Wichita Wind Surge

Image courtesy of Tim Grubbs, Wichita Wind Surge

Wichita – Walking into any ballpark in America, what are some sights, sounds, and smells that commonly catch people’s attention? 

Hot dogs grilling at every concession stand, ushers, offering programs, the crack of a player's bat during batting practice, and the smell of the freshly cut grass on the field that’ll showcase teams we come to cheer for and root against. 

Perhaps not at the top of our minds are the people behind the scenes at the ballpark maintaining the landscape we have come to love.

Ben Hartman is the head groundskeeper for the Wichita Wind Surge, the Minnesota Twins Double-A affiliate. He’s been with the team all three seasons and was recently minted the Texas League Head Groundskeeper of the Year for the second consecutive season.

“My office is a baseball field,” Hartman said. “I think that's pretty sweet, and not too many people can say that.”

Determined by managers, players, and executives in the league, Hartman greatly appreciated the recognition, but it's far from why he's in this profession. 

“It's really humbling to get recognized for the hard work. We don't do this for the recognition though. We do this because we take pride in our job and want to be the best at what we do,” said Hartman. 

Hartman grew up a half hour north of the Kansas City Royals home ballpark in Smithsville, Missouri, a town of around 10,000 people per the 2020 U.S. Census. His first job ever was groundskeeping at a local golf course at 15 years old. By the end of his first week there, Hartman was in love with what he did for work every day. 

“That first day, I got that job, I ran home and said, ‘This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.’ Then through the combination of working golf courses and baseball, I come to realize that I could make a living maintaining baseball fields,” Hartman said. 

The focus and determination to become a groundskeeper carried with him the rest of high school. Hartman was fortunate enough to find a college with a turf management major at Iowa Central Community College. There, Hartman continued the pursuit of his dream job while serving as the Iowa Central Tritons bullpen catcher. 

“I always joke about it. I said I played baseball, but I got one mercy at bat as the bullpen catcher. But I still had fun nonetheless,” recalled Hartman. 

While being a member of the Tritons clubhouse, Hartman and his teammates always maintained the home field after the games and giving him the real-time practice for the career path he was pursuing. Most often, Hartman would be working on the field for two hours at a time. 

After completing his degree in 2017, Hartman returned to the Kansas City area, working with the American Association’s Kansas City T-Bones, now known as the Monarchs. When he had the downtime, he continued surfing the web for future opportunities; one he just happened to stumble upon was a fall internship with the Houston Astros grounds crew. A few weeks later, he got the offer and accepted it. 

September is a daunting time for anyone to join a Major League Baseball team. Let alone the 2017 Houston Astros. A metropolitan area still recovering from Hurricane Harvey’s landfall, the Astros playing at a neutral site because of it, and unbeknownst to many, the biggest cheating scandal in baseball of the last decade was occurring. 

“I'm 20 years old and little did I know how good the Astros were. And I know it's the 2017 year, it's the cheating year, but it was so cool for me to get thrown right into playoffs and World Series,” Hartman said. 

The internship with the Astros during the run to their first World Series was a whirlwind for Hartman, but there wasn’t a task he couldn’t meet. He enjoyed all he did and ask the Astros head groundskeeper, Izzy Hinojosa, if he could stay on for the 2018 season. Hinojosa obliged. 

Hartman attributes Hinjosa’s mentorship during his internship and the 2018 season spent on the Astros grounds crew as an excellent molding into the head groundkeeper he is today. 

“I love the guy to death,” complimented Hartman. “He knew what I wanted to do and he really pushed me hard to the point where some of the other employees were like, holy cow, we've never seen him do this or anybody else. But I'm so glad he did it.”

The 2018 season with the Astros helped Hartman discover his limits and his next opportunity. He was ready to move up in role and ranking in his career. An opportunity opened up with the Texas Rangers Triple A affiliate Round Rock Express for an assistant groundskeeper. 

“I applied at like 9am and got a call at like three and afternoon. So it was pretty quick turnaround. But went up, did an interview and ended up getting the job,” Hartman said.

Hartman was placed under the mentorship of Nick Roedilski, the Express’s head groundskeeper. Roedilski was impressed with Hartman’s skills from the get-go of the 2019 Express season; he knew he had the right man working alongside him.

“I think he already had it as far as how he knew what the field should be; maintaining the mound, maintaining the infield, and he had a really good idea with that,” Roedilski said. “I think the only thing that we kind of fine tune a little bit was just more of the details.”

The pair worked on fine-tuning details with transition edges from infield dirt to outfield grass, balancing conditioner, and the best details to take care of following a game’s end. Their tag team efforts paved the way for a great season in 2019. Roedilski knew he had the right guy in Hartman. 

“He's the type of kid that when he left here, he knew that he had to step it up a little bit more for him to be successful. And that's what he did. He definitely put the time in to make sure that his field and his reputation is one of the best that there could be so very hard worker, very smart,” Roedilski said. 

Hartman was one of many people whose workload was reduced in 2020 due to COVID-19 lockdowns. But once those lockdown restrictions lifted, collegiate baseball and other events returned in Texas, giving him more opportunities to maintain the field.

Like many others in his life, Hartman’s journey to Wichita was a quick turnaround. 

“March of 2021 rolls around and Nick, comes up to me and goes, ‘What do you think of Wichita?’ I said, I saw it, but I wasn't gonna apply because quite frankly, I didn't think I was ready for a head job. I was only 24 at the time.”

He did apply, going for an interview on a Monday morning, and getting the offer to the Wind Surge’s head groundskeeper 90 minutes later. And the rest is history. 

One reason Hartman attributes the success and recognition he’s received is through the player perspective he gained from his high school and JUCO days. 

“That really helps us be successful. All the pitchers know that I go up to him after starts and relieves, how was the mound? Most of the time, it's the mound is perfect. But they also know to not be afraid to tell me if, let's say it was a little soft, or, you know, or a little too firm,” said Hartman.

The same sort of relationship can be said between the Wind Surge catchers and infielders when it comes to communication and maintaining the field. The outfielders, though, as Hartman jokes, “I just tell all the outfielders to get off the grass and they give me crap for that.”

With his third season concluded with Wichita, Hartman looks forward to keeping things the same in 2024. And if more recognition comes, he’ll take it, but being a humble groundskeeper who does what he loves, he can’t wait to get back to the ballpark for another season of baseball. 

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[RedLeg44]

Thank you, It is so cool to see stories like this! So many people love the game and there are many ways to be connected to it. For any team it takes dedicated and passionate people working hard to make it something everyone can be proud of.

[Jocko87]

Wichita is a great place to watch a game and its always immaculate.  I hadn't heard he won the award, good for him.  Its a tough region for summer grass sometimes.

[Cory Engelhardt]

This was awesome! Great story and thank you for sharing it

[Thiéres Rabelo]

Lovely story!

[AceWrigley]

I've got nothing but respect for a hard working man.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

Bravo!  Here's to the guys that make it all possible, in every way!

 

[Doctor Wu]

Cool idea for an article! Well written and full of fun anecdotes and quotes. Gives us a different and interesting look at this game that we all love. More please!

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Theodore, I really enjoyed this article. Thank you. I hope to see more articles like this in the future.