Players on new Wrigley sod: It's perfect

One by one, as Cubs players ran off the newly sodded outfield following batting practice Friday, you could see it in their faces.

These guys were happy campers.

"It's exactly how Wrigley Field is supposed to be," Daryle Ward said, beaming.

"You see our outfielders out there, and they're smiling at one another saying, 'OK, we feel a little bit better,'" Matt Murton said. "Ninth inning, 1-run ballgame, and a line shot is hit on the ground, you feel a little better about your chances of not making a mistake."

Quite a difference from what the field was just weeks ago. A hole here, a dry patch there; just a sad sod story.

Adam Dunn of the Reds went so far as to compare the surface to a parking lot.

"It was a little bit scary because it just had big divots everywhere, and you might step on it wrong and twist your ankle," Ward said.

"Before, the ball would hit the grass and might explode and skip off the grass or take a funny hop," Murton said. "It's an older playing surface, it's been around forever. It's part of the history of this ballpark.

"It was patchy, it was fast -- you just had to be careful. Thankfully, that's behind us."

After the Cubs' final regular-season home game Sept. 23, head groundskeeper Roger Baird and his crew tore up the entire outfield and parts of foul territory and resodded it all -- a process that took three full days.

And what a difference it's made.

"It is amazing," Murton said. "There's still some hops, but they can't get it perfect in two weeks' time. It's playing a lot more true. A lot of the spots that were dried out and may not have had a lot of thickness to it -- the thickness is back. I think you'll see a truer playing surface in the playoffs.

"They did a tremendous job. It's come together well; you don't see a lot of patches, you don't see lines in the grass. I think the outfielders on both sides will be pleased."