Why a Pennsylvania Dirt Farm Supplies Most MLB Teams’ Infields | WSJ A to B

Duraedge Products, Inc. creates infield mixes for 26 out of 30 Major League Baseball stadiums, including the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. Their key ingredient: Pittsburgh red bed claystone. Excavators will mine and process approximately 30,000 tons of clay over the course of a year for Duraedge; then the company mixes it with silt and sand to create infield mix. But how does the clay get from mine to the MLB ballpark?
WSJ explains how a single dirt farm in Pennsylvania takes clay and turns it into infield mix used in MLB stadiums.
Additional camera work by Nikki Walker, Amber Bragdon, and Kaitlyn Wang.
0:00 Infield mix
0:46 What makes this clay special
1:46 Processing facility
3:35 Baseball stadiums
#MLB #Logistics #WSJ

[@toastnjam7384]

Never occurred to me that infield dirt had to have special qualities and mostly came from one place. I knew that Baseball rubbing mud came from one place in New Jersey.

[@damienirvin777]

The MLB wants a good, consistent, infield surface. The only way to get that is to source it from one place, it makes sense.

[@copeyano718]

Baseball is full of cults. Some teams will request they bats to be made an X day of the week and not the other. Player will wear same equipment for years or same underwear from previous game if they had a good game.

[@civlyzed]

@@copeyano718 isn't that superstitions, not cults?

[@tristanp5605]

⁠​⁠@@copeyano718thats called superstitions not cult

[@user-re3fd6jl5k]

If I worked at that dirt farm, I’d be in awe everyday that someday the rocks of dirt I touch would seen be on the biggest stage.

[@Dfgbuiiyyyybb]

Fascinating I didn’t know that so much goes into an infield

[@tylermiller8142]

Awesome coverage! Good knowledge with no agenda 🙏

[@heavyizthacrown-5842]

Great video WSJ.

[@hughjaass3787]

I've played many games on your Infield Dirt (mostly AA, & AAA, but many at Citi, Atl, LA Fenway, Yankee, Wrigley, & others) Sir, and I can only say, "BRAVO" 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 THANK YOU!

[@marshallarnold-ep7nn]

Notice how no one asked him where he played?

[@user-er3ri6sc3j]

So you have been an infielder. Only four positions, first ,second, shortstop, third. I wonder home plate and pitchers mound get the same treatment.

[@JGunit]

So cool seeing this. Done business with them for a ND. field

[@paulsipler6124]

Used to haul out of this location and bring it back easy never knew the work that went into it

[@nopelindoputraperkasa5869]

Thanks for sharing the latest information Very useful and helpful..🇲🇨🌼❤️⚒️⛏️✋👍👍

[@fortunatejeremy]

As a rec league slo-pitch player, I wish I could play on this quality of a field. He'll, even half as good. Actually I'd be happy with a quarter as good. Scratch that. A tenth as good. Screw that - no gopher holes would be nice.

[@NowThatsALongBall]

As someone who’s entire career has been based on excavating, this was awesome.

[@crispysocksss]

Do you or your loved ones have mesothelioma?

[@Astr0b0y8]

So cool. But that color is what gets me. Love the red

[@vitaly6312]

This video is more interesting to watch than a baseball game.

[@user-ob5rg6ne6l]

Interesting sports engineering ❤

[@TacoTot]

What I tell my haters 3:20

[@adampalmer5399]

When I was in high school in 2001-04 we had the nicest field in the whole county that spanned about 7 county’s & they went with brick dust which was what a lot of nicer high schools did & it was great for not getting rained out because it would soak it up quick but sliding on that stuff would leave major strawberries!🤣💯

[@velmer21]

Looks like a episode from gold mine. Parker Schnabel got his hands in this as well. You got your gold grates set right?

[@jeremycummings6702]

We have Red Clay here in Southern Utah too. Some of it is right at the surface!!!!

[@goldwinger5434]

I live in Pittsburgh and my whole yard is red clay.

[@OpinionatedPeach]

@@goldwinger5434yeah this is that state.

[@BachBeethovenBerg]

Give new meaning to the phrase "cheaper than dirt."

[@mc88dx]

I wonder which mlb teams don't use them and who they buy from instead.

[@Ea-Nasir_Copper_Co]

I’d guess Tampa due to the Trop having a fixed roof, and Toronto because of Skydome's retractable roof and artificial turf. The other two...maybe Miami and Milwaukee?

[@C8mon]

I know for sure the Blue Jays get theirs from a quarry in Ontario.

[@dreams2reality410]

Amazing

[@kwatai9298]

respect !!!

[@WortmanExpress-ey1vj]

Sick

[@dannyfisher4457]

Thanks, will show dad too

[@kab6754]

I didn't even know or consider something like this when it's extremely obvious

[@cruch8508]

i like how the made it sound like their clays got magical properties that no where else has it. good marketing selling dirt for a premium for no reason at all

[@Gel-Man]

KZbin is so good

[@biglogdogg]

Why do all news organizations think all heavy equipment is a “bulldozer”? Hahahaha

[@jefersonzunino3091]

The dirt guy, 😂

[@shiiviie]

2:29 thought that was keef

[@oeao2841]

Who are the 4 teams that dont use that dirt?

[@nonamedpleb]

Funny they call it "Dirt Farm" like they grow the clay. It's a mine.

[@damienirvin777]

I'd say it's a reference to baseball, with minor leagues being called a farm system.

[@OpinionatedPeach]

It’s a quarry

[@SawMan247]

@ 3:19

[@TeeJay_757]

Add a sluice box and you basically got a gold mine there

[@ItsBugsy]

yay the environment

[@julianbelfrage8768]

Waters not an element its a molecule... just saying.

[@Jimmy_Moon]

Dear Grant McKnight. I can't believe you've not thought of this (@ 3:02) for promotion. You should learn to juggle your product. Practice everyday, video a short clip of the practice to upload and get others involved. Then at a baseball game... perform!

[@bigbuilder10]

Water isn’t an element

[@robdwilk]

go phillies

[@danedawg100]

Tell your editor to fix his audio settings. I don’t feel like being ear r*p*d becuse he didn’t equalize.

[@zhaneranger]

This is more mining then farming.

[@mikeibanez]

26 out of 30 is 86.666… so 87% would have been more apt in the title

[@beachgal2023]

What PA politician had a hand in this company's contract? Dirty money trail for sure.

[@seanwebb605]

Now I feel bad about being a baseball fan.

[@derekbentley334]

Why irrigation? Ohio River Pipeline Western droughts/ Mississippi flooding With hydro power production in between REPLACING COAL AND NUCLEAR POWER AND FUSION

[@user-jz7ny1qc6j]

Is it because Pennsylvania has a lot of dirt?

[@AzrinSunbae]

🇲🇾🇲🇾🇲🇾

[@59Fif]

Idk why but its odd that its one spot in this whole country that is ran by one company like nah sumn little fishy🧐 but anyway GN

[@hong-enlin4651]

新竹棒球場林志堅表示..............

[@bigbrotherisasob]

The composition of the soil/dirt like this is all over the Ohio and western Pennsylvania area.

[@cliffordcarrier4608]

The reference to the number of years that it took to grow this dirt is suspect.

[@OpinionatedPeach]

Amen. Then they show layers immediately after which I have a book that dates it closer to 6000 years. Even if u don’t agree to that part I’m glad u caught the 300 million casual years

[@tjtampa214]

Baseball Joe Dirt.

[@simmonsmb411]

Water is a compound not an element.

[@tsmall07]

Dirt farm... Otherwise known as a mine... And not every big yellow piece of equipment is a bull dozer.

[@OpinionatedPeach]

Quarry

[@tsmall07]

@@OpinionatedPeach A quarry is a type of mine. Nice pedantry though

[@goldwinger5434]

It's dirt for a field to play a children's game.

[@codymoe4986]

Played by adults that will always make more money than you, regardless of how hard you work... Hope that helped soothe your butthurt....

[@seanmark8765]

first

[@gadaadhoon]

Dirt farm? You mean mine?

[@derekbentley334]

GDP creation by a inks design change on standard circulating moneys currency. FOREVER GDP

[@davewear1361]

But yet the players still get errors even without the ball hops that you got as kids on the old ball diamonds at home.

[@taylorhorner1065]

Well yeah it's baseball and the players are human.

[@OpinionatedPeach]

Us kids weren’t fielding 110 mph lasers

[@devonsuarez]

Presto Whamo

[@ChrisDerkatch]

LGM

[@josephzakrzewski9520]

It should be against the law to use artificial turf as dirt.

[@sdsmt99]

Lighten up Francis.

[@chuckinhouston9952]

Baseball should be played on a grass field, during the day, and with wooden bats, as the Lord intended.

[@chuckinhouston9952]

@@sdsmt99cute!

[@josephzakrzewski9520]

Haha even when the Christ Jesus spoke of the four soils, He didn't speak of plastic dirt. At least we still have the crack of the bat.@@chuckinhouston9952

[@marshallarnold-ep7nn]

Amen.

[@derekbentley334]

Black dirt pure soil bottomless

[@ericwieboldt7042]

I love how this guy tries to complicate mixing two materials. You dont have to tey and justify your job to us guy

[@Jay-py1ow]

“300 million years ago” …yeah you lost me after you said that lol

[@thewhiteknight02]

Dirt farm.

[@443DM]

Why was I watching this? I don't even like baseball

[@oeao2841]

Now I hope my Braves don't use this dirt

[@marshallarnold-ep7nn]

They don't.

[@CatholicGaming]

Why?

[@marshallarnold-ep7nn]

@@CatholicGaming Teams use dirt unique to their region. If they didn't, it would harm the grass surrounding the infield. Back in the 1980s, most teams used anything they got. If you look at old video footage, you can see that over time, the grass around the infield ended up dead or destroyed. The Atlanta Braves use a specialty mix. If you look at video from Turner Field and Trust Park, you can see that their infield dirt is a darker color than most MLB stadiums.

[@brandonmann561]

@@marshallarnold-ep7nn​ That would be false. In San Diego, we use this mix. Not saying that I know what Atlanta uses, but your reasoning behind why it's different is wrong. While clay will kill grass, it should be vacuumed or thrown back to the skin during postgame maintenance. If done correctly where the grass is grown, what species, or cultivar is irrelevant. Coloration is dependent on what color/mix of turface you throw over the skin. To answer the question of why they do or don't is just down to preference. Some guys have the stuff they like and most like this stuff. Not coming after you at all, just wanted to give out some free knowledge.

[@oeao2841]

Cus theyre an NL East rival 😂​@CatholicGaming

[@kevintyrrell7409]

Why can't they just use regular dirt? I don't feel like that was explained well. Is it implied that regular dirt wouldn't have the 'ball bounce' effect? People have been playing baseball on random dirt fields for hundreds of years without having problems, so I don't see the issue.

[@sdsmt99]

It was explained at the beginning and end of the video. Reaction to weather, consistency of play, ease of maintenance.

[@OpinionatedPeach]

I still play. I slide on natural dirt. It sucks really bad.

[@auro1986]

why? they are mining something there that they don't want to tell

[@NatureOfRealityRadio]

Baseball is meant to be played on grass, not synthetic turf.

[@chuckinhouston9952]

As the Lord intended.

[@effend446]

Good luck with that in hot weather cities like Arlington, Tampa, Miami, and Phoenix. Chase Field in Phoenix used to have grass. Eventually, it became too expensive to open/close the roof, maintain the grass, and the HVAC off/on (to ensure the fans are comfortable) on a daily basis.

[@stevebabiak6997]

@@effend446 - there is some new soccer stadium IIRC in a South American country where the entire field of grass is in sections, that they mechanically sink below the playing level and stack section on top of section. The sections have special lighting on their undersides to support the grass, and I guess there is some type of watering / irrigation system too. Crazy what they will do to have grass in an enclosed playing area.

[@relentlessmadman]

Playing in the rain???????? owners spend money, to facilitate making players play in the rain???? owners also hold citys hostage to gget subsidised stadiums! I love Baseball but this kinda sucks!

[@halleradam]

Glad to know we taxpayers fund stadium construction so that for-profit ball teams can spend on special dirt.

[@OpinionatedPeach]

No u fund the business. The business hires a guy to make decisions. This business is a booming one.

[@skinnywaterboys6108]

What a waste!!

[@snipz127]

Just like you boating on the water. What a waste fuel and co2 emissions

[@redwoodc-3025]

All of this is much needed so a bunch of millionaires can hit a little white ball around....

[@02nupe]

yet no complaints on the billionaire owners who make it happen and get paid & don't even play......

[@marshallarnold-ep7nn]

It's not the millionaires fault that you are not a millionaire.

[@Susanp195]

I'm favored regardless of how bad it gets on the economy, After withdrawing $64k from my investments last week. Investments has been a good thing to do, definitely it helps a lot.

[@benv9711]

The absurdity that goes into sports. No wonder American kids do so badly in schools

[@mariacheebandidos7183]

American kids / Americans, are smartest, hardest working, most inventive / innovative, most productive, ... people on earth. that is why almost everything that the rest of the world uses and depends on, is an American invention / innovation. maybe stop believing propaganda and clickbaity lazy takes and use your head / brain

[@bigbrotherisasob]

A Dirt farm. Hmmm.....