Frederick ballpark gets offseason face-lift

FREDERICK, Md. -- When it opened in 1990, Harry Grove Stadium was state of the art.

The home of the Frederick Keys, Class A Advanced affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, it was ahead of its time in so many ways when it came to Minor League stadium design.

From the open concourse -- which allowed fans to step away from their seats for a hot dog or cold beer without missing the action on the field -- to the carousel and playground perched above right field, it was nearly Jetson-esque compared to its Carolina League counterparts.

Now, 17 years later, it is no longer the new kid on the block when it comes to the eight Carolina League stadiums, though it is by no means a decrepit grande dame either.

Newer parks have been built in Wilmington, Del., Salem, Va., and, the jewel of the league, Myrtle Beach, S.C. But the Keys stadium -- while lacking the bells and whistles (the red brick façade, swimming pool/hot tub party deck or glass-windowed outfield café of some of the newer models) -- is still filled with character, history and, perhaps most important, an enthusiastic and long-standing fan base.

The Keys have also done more than their share this past offseason to make that fanbase more comfortable as well as making its players safer and happier. Certainly the biggest change at Harry Grove Stadium has been the complete replacement of the field during the offseason.

The Keys' last home game of 2006, a playoff showdown against the Kinston Indians, was nearly canceled when heavy rains turned the entire field into a virtual swampland.

The infield and outfield had already been considered the worst in the league for years, despite the efforts of the groundskeepers. Due to long-standing drainage issues, among other problems, it was close to impossible to maintain. Balls would take inexplicable hops in the infield, and the slightest rain would turn the outfield to mud.

Prior to that final game, in a desperate attempt to get the contest in, the Keys ownership rented a helicopter to hover over the field for an hour to dry it, while the groundskeeper and his crew brought in every available bag of Turface to try to repair the infield and the mound.

It worked, but it was touch and go for awhile.

The Keys players who returned to Frederick this season from that 2006 club were ecstatic to see the pristine emerald field when they arrived.

"Everyone had heard about it, so when they saw it when they got here it was more relief than anything else," said Adam Pohl, the Keys' director of public relations as well as their radio voice. "I think they weren't going to believe it until they saw it."

In addition, the club replaced the metal bench seats behind the lower-level box seats from first to third base with brand-new individual-backed reserved seats. (Bleacher bench-style seating is still available beyond the baselines for those who choose.) Other renovations are planned, or at least hoped for, including touchups to the clubhouses, the suites and the pressbox.

Frederick enjoys a unique location in that it's neither a suburb, per se, of either Baltimore or Washington, D.C. However, it is close enough to both cities to serve as home to many folks who commute back and forth, so they can enjoy the city as a fine and affordable place to live, with an historic Old Town, vistas and mountains and open space nearby, and a lot of history within an easy drive.

Despite the fact that there are probably more Washington commuters than Baltimore commuters in the second largest city in Maryland, with a population of just under 60,000, it is very much a Baltimore Orioles stronghold.

And that is very apparent at a Frederick Keys game. The stadium holds 5,400 fans, and when the park is filled, the overriding color scheme is generally very, very orange.

"You don't have to be at this ballpark long, with our grounds crew with their orange shirts and our orange seats, to see what we are," said Pohl, a native of nearby Arlington, Va., and a lifelong Orioles fanatic. "I know we're close to D.C. as well as Baltimore, but more than with any other team I've worked with or gone to, Frederick has a true tie to the Orioles. People are here asking for autographs every night because they know they can see these guys playing in Baltimore one day, and that is so cool."

Of course, it doesn't hurt that the Keys have been an Orioles farm team since their inception, and that the Orioles were one of the first organizations to actively work on setting up a farm system with as many of its Minor League clubs in its own region as possible. (This year, with the addition of Triple-A Norfolk, all of its farm clubs are now within its basic geographic region.)

There is no doubt about it -- Frederick loves its Keys. You can tell from the moment you walk into the seating bowl and see the outfield billboards, three deep all the way around, most of which proudly advertise local businesses.

And if you were wondering for the first six and a half innings of any game whom you were watching, and whom you were watching them with, that question is answered during the seventh-inning stretch.

Instead of the traditional "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," the Keys play an original song written for the team in its first season, called "We're the Frederick Keys." Dig into your pocket and pull out those car keys so you can shake them right along with the thousands of other fans in the stands.

That's not the only song with a local twist. When the "Star Spangled Banner" is sung prior to the first pitch, listen for the traditional Orioles fan cry of "OH!" on "Oh say does that...." The composer of that song, Francis Scott Key, for whom the team is named, is buried in the cemetery across the road from the stadium parking lot.