The beautiful infield dirt and natural grass of Arthur P. Ruff Field helps it stand out among many other synthetic turf fields that have taken over high school baseball. The pristine track around Norma and Lamar Hunt family stadium is another beautiful facility that make up the school. However, these facilities do not take care of themselves. A natural grass field is not easy to maintain. Nearly every morning for the past 33 years, Don Denman has spent many long hours meticulously taking care of the athletic fields.
Denman was looking for a job, and did not have much in mind, however a friend reached out to him with an enticing offer.
“A friend told me about this job (at St. Mark’s), I applied and got hired pretty much that day,” Denman said.
When Denman first arrived, he had to take care of multiple natural grass fields, a characteristic that at the time did not stand out, but nowadays sets the school apart from schools with turf baseball fields.
“When I first came here, the athletic fields were natural grass, so I would paint the football field and maintain the fields,” Denman said.
Denman took joy in his daily work, however on special occasions he got to have fun with his work and branch out.
“One of my favorite things we used to do was for homecoming. We used to checkerboard the endzones. That was always a big thing, get the whole crew involved and spend all night doing it,” Denman said.
Although Denman’s job pertained to managing all fields, he took a personal interest in taking care of the baseball field, something he hadn’t done before.
“(Assistant baseball coach) Sam Carpenter helped me a lot,” Denman said. “He gave me a lot of advice, he knew his stuff.”
Although many schools have resorted to a turf baseball field, wour school is one of the few that still have a natural grass field, something Denman takes pride in.
“A lot of schools obviously have turf fields, it’s just that I think the kids really like the natural turf,” Denman said.
The natural grass of Arthur P. Ruff field is a point of pride for not only the maintenance staff, but also the coaches and athletes at the school.
“So many people comment about our field looking so beautiful because almost every other school has moved to turf fields,” Kelly said.
Although Denman knows how special having a natural grass field is, he also knows the struggles that come with it, especially pertaining to weather. This issue became especially prevalent during spring SPC in 2003 when rain storms hit DFW.
“Back years ago, they had SPC playoffs here. Everybody had their fields covered, and we didn’t have a cover for our field, and all the water got on the field,” Denman said. “So I got here in the morning and started (working) on the field. And long story short, we were the only field that was able to play.”
For Denman these moments are the reasons that he continues to work so hard to give marksmen the perfect field.
“I just take pride in (the field). I want these guys to have the best that I can deliver,” Denman said.
And his work does not go unnoticed. Whether the sun is out, or it is pouring rain, Denman always has the field in pristine condition. Even when it rains during the day, Denman does all he can to have the field ready come afternoon.
“We get to play so many games immediately after rain, whether it had rained heavily the night before or sometimes the morning of, simply because he goes out there, not the mud, into the just unplayable field and fixes it,” baseball coach Dennis Kelly said. ”It’s not an easy task. So, he is key to winning for us to some degree.”
Despite what Denman does for the team, the general public often misses all the behind the scenes work that he does. Due to not observing Denman’s dedication, fans and players may be unaware of how pivotal he is to the team.
“Players may drive by a wet field in the morning and assume (a game) will be rained out. (When the field is ready) they might just say, oh, something happened between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. that made the game playable,” Kelly said. “However, sometimes all the people see is the final product, chalked lines, playable field, it’s rigged. It’s in beautiful condition. So simply, (Denman’s effort) probably gets overlooked because if you only see the final product.”
As Denman signs off and heads to retirement, he knows that the all-natural field won’t last forever and can’t be sustained, but he sees future changes as improvements rather than downgrades.
“I know some of the coaches are still pushing for synthetic (turf) in some areas, at least around home plate… (the field) needs work every year. And some things, they can’t provide new equipment for,” Denman said.
Despite Denman’s retirement, even to a first year varsity coach, the work Denman puts in on a day to day basis is invaluable.
“He is underappreciated because (his work) is his love, it’s awesome what he does,” Kelly said. “There is no amount of appreciation I can give him that matches his effort.”