Getting to Know Us...Dave Super
Week 1: Aaron Becker
Week 2: Mike Steinhice
Week 3: Shawn Schoolcraft
Week 4: Brandon Berns
Week 5: David Bledsoe
Editors Note: David Super is one of the longest tenured staff members of the Shorebirds. He has been working on the grounds at Perdue Stadium since 2005. Super is in charge of everything related to the playing field. Some of his daily duties include: mowing, fertilizing, edging, clay repair on all mounds and home plate area, resoding/ overseeding, daily skin maintenance and batting practice setup.
In Super's Own Words
I was born (6/2/83) and raised in Northeast Pennsylvania. I spent my first 18 years living in Dickson City, just outside of Scranton, PA. Once I graduated high school in 2001, I made a 100 mile trip south to Doylestown, PA where I attended Delaware Valley College. I graduated with a Turf Management Bachelor's Degree in the spring of 2005. After a summer of working on the Trenton Thunder grounds crew, I landed my current position as Head Groundskeeper in October of 2005. Since being on Delmarva, I met Kristina, we got married on 9/20/2008, and have a son, Nathan, who was born on 10/4/2009.
Growing up, I played baseball, from tee ball up to senior little league... which was about at the age of 5 up to 15. At that point, I made the transition to golf, where I played all four years in high school. I was also on the golf team in college, but at the time, I considered that to be a chance to play free golf in between classes. I was a golf caddy for seven summers at a local, private country club. I spent my post-freshman and post-sophomore college internships working grounds at a couple of golf courses. I took a baseball route for my final internship after my junior year of college, working for the Trenton Thunder (AA affiliate of the Yankees) in Trenton, NJ. This experience peaked my interest enough, to lean towards a baseball field career with my Turf Management degree.
Just a few more tidbits: I have a younger brother, Bob... him and his wife, Abbey, are the closest family members to us in this area; Kristina, her sister, and her parents lived minutes away from where I attended college, but yet we met on this thing called the Delmarva Peninsula; looking back, I think it took me a long time to figure out what a "Delmarva" was; the best thing that came out of my four years in college were the couple of lifetime friends that I'll always have... and not the piece of paper I got at graduation that is now packed away in a drawer somewhere; I enjoy sports when my favorite teams are winning... the Atlanta Braves, San Francisco 49ers, Phoenix Suns, Pittsburgh Penguins, Syracuse University basketball; I only know just enough about sports to be able to stay in a conversation and compete in fantasy sports leagues; I started skiing around the age of 10... my brother, my dad, and I are headed to Vermont this upcoming winter to tackle the slopes!; not many people know that I read at least 20 minutes everyday and I never listen to the radio when I'm driving alone.
What are you up to in the offseason?
My offseason consists of keeping up with regular on-the-field maintenance. If I did nothing from September through March, everyone would see the poor results of that once the season starts in early April. On days where we venture out to the field, we upgrade and maintain areas that were less than perfect from the year before. Currently, we are perfecting bullpens, home plate and mound clay areas. Early on in the offseason, we continue cutting, we over-seed, re-sod, fertilize. Once the weather gets too unbearable, we do regular equipment maintenance, we put together a maintenance game plan and schedule for the next season, and help out with any other misc. up keep / up grades around and inside the stadium.
Ten Questions With Super...
1) If you could eat dinner with three people, who would they be? Jerry Rice, Abraham Lincoln, and John Sestina; and I'd ask all sorts of questions, to pick the brains of the best, from all areas of life, whether it'd be a) work ethic and commitment with Jerry, b) leadership, people skills, and all sorts of overcoming stories with Lincoln, or c) Mr. Sestina for top, sound financial mentorship; followup question: what would I have at this dinner? Alaskan King Crab Legs.
2) If you inherited a million dollars, what would you do with it? Pay off all of my debt, including the mortgage... the rest of it wouldn't last long, or have any major impact on my family's life, or leave any legacy for our kids, so the remainder would be multiplied through simple investing... then, with that money, we can afford to wake up at the crack of noon instead of the crack of dawn!... and then be able to turn our dreams into reality... some of that includes 3 homes: located in Vermont, Hawaii, and Orlando, with regular trips to the Caribbean, especially Peter Island!
3) Most underrated fantasy baseball player? Ichiro! (yes, he deserves an exclamation point after his name on the back of his jersey) Underrated probably because he's out on the west coast playing games until 2am EST, and he doesn't put up God-like home run numbers, but he always seems to go unnoticed early on in drafts... but the guy consistently puts up a high average, hits, runs, stolen bases... plus, he's just fun to watch!
4) MLB ballpark that you really want to go to? Turner Field, because I'm a Braves fan. Other than that, Wrigley and Fenway because of the history of the ballparks. But, my future includes a trip to every MLB ballpark in one summer. I'll get back to you with what one was the best!
5) Best ballpark playing surface in pro sports? The Angel Stadium of Anaheim. When an All-Star outfielder makes his decision on what team to sign with, and that decision is based on the field conditions, that means you have something special. Torii Hunter was quoted saying, "I love the ballpark. That's definitely one of the reasons why I chose the Angels, the scenery, the sun, the grass ... The grass is perfect. Every time I went there to play (as a Minnesota Twin), the ball never snaked. It's a true bounce."
6) Favorite city in the US? Why? Orlando, Fla...why? Walt Disney World!
7) If you could be anyone in the world, who would you most like to be? Me.
8) Top 5 Sports Moments of all-time?
- 1. 1995 World Series Game 6... Tom Glavine's 8-inning, 1-hit dominance, David Justice's clutch homerun, the Braves win it all!
- 2. 2003 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game... what a great moment!... In Jim Boeheim's 27th season, he led the Orangemen to the first basketball championship in Syracuse history... Syracuse's Hakim Warrick's last second block to win it all... also, GMac's six first-half three-pointers and Carmelo's 20 points helped the cause! In my mind, Scracuse became the first Big East school to be crowned Big 12 champions, b/c they beat Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas en route to the Tournament Title! What a run!
- 3. 1991 World Series... Braves vs. Twins... This was the first baseball games I remember watching. I didn't have a favorite team. I had to choose, Braves or Twins? I chose the Braves. They lost this World Series, in a Game 7 classic, but, I made the right choice... it has been better to be a Braves' fan than a Twins' fan from 1991-2010. This Decision was huge... looking back, I should have had a SportsCenter Special on ESPN to announce it... like LeBron!
- 4. Two game winning hits stick out for me... moments that you remember where you were a) Game 7 of the 2001 World Series... Yankees vs. Diamondbacks... best World Series EVER! The first six games were edge-of-the-seat entertaining! And Game 7 did not disappoint with a thrilling ninth inning capped by Luis Gonzalez's series-winning bloop single that took down the mighty Yankees! b) also, Game 5 of the 1995 ALDS where Edgar Martinez's hit in the bottom of the 11th scored Ken Griffey, Jr. from first base. That game winning run and series clinching run was so electric, that even watching it on TV, it gave you goosebumps as if you were right there in the Kingdome. It also inspired the "Ken Griffey, Jr.'s Winning Run" video game for Super Nintendo!
- 5. Super Bowl XXIX... Steve Young throws a 44 yard touchdown pass to Jerry Rice on the third play of the first drive... game over!
We hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about Dave Super. Check back next week when we introduce you to Assistant General Manager Jimmy Sweet.