Tropicana Field's New Carpet

Despite the crappy start, the Rays look good on the field. No, I mean like them standing on it looks good. They put in a new rug! It's hard to call it a rug when so much design went into the grass. They played on synthetic turf from 1998-2001. Then they put in astroturf. That got all gross, as you can see below.

Thats the old, here is the new!

Up close, this grass is ridiculous. THey made it as close to normal grass as they could. Here is what I can tell you about it.An upright fiber has the best aesthetics and playability.

• Fibers that tend to lay over, wear out sooner. The Horseshoe is thicker and stronger, not just at the spine. This creates a more durable field.
• The Horseshoe fiber is made with the "XQ" polymer. It is tough, but not on athletes. The XQ polymer has been used successfully for years around the globe, and when in combination with proper field fiber density and infill height, has never failed. The same cannot be said for the many failures associated with non-QX polymer, "spined" field fields, especially in high UV areas.
• Light is properly reflected, resulting in better looking field, both live an on film.
• Ball roll is similar in performance to natural grass.
• Low slide resistance is assured, eliminating rug burns.
• Footing is uniform and predictable.
• Cleats penetrate and "release" properly for good biomechanical function.

This turf looks good, but is bad luck. 0-5 on it thus far. Yuck.

I have a few London posts coming up!