He makes the Charlotte Knights a winner before the game even starts

You won’t find Matt Parrott’s name on your scorecard or hear his name announced Tuesday night when the Charlotte Knights entertain what’s expected to be a full house for their home opener at Truist Field in uptown.

But Parrott will be every bit as important to the game as any of the Knights’ players or coaching staff.

And he has a couple of awards to show for it.

The Knights, who went 3-3 in a season-opening road trip last week to Norfolk, will entertain the Memphis Redbirds at 6:35 p.m. in a game that team officials hope will mark a return to normalcy after two COVID-affected seasons.

One thing the Knights haven’t had to worry about — before or during COVID-19 — was the condition of their playing field.

Check out the beautiful green turf, with its crisscrossed pattern of cuts across a bed of bermudagrass that’s been overseeded with perennial rye. That’s the handiwork of Parrott and his staff.

Parrott is generally acknowledged as being among the best head groundskeepers in the minor leagues. And he does pretty well at home, too, but more about that later.

In 2017 and 2018, Parrott was named the International League’s Sports Turf Manager of the Year.

Not bad for a guy who wanted to spend his life at the golf course.

“When I finished college,” said Parrott, who grew up near Boone and attended Appalachian State University, “I knew I didn’t want to sit in an office all my life.”

After earning a business degree at ASU, he went to N.C. State for two years and picked up a turf management degree.

“I wanted a career at the golf course,” he said.

But he got a better offer from baseball.

The Maryland-based Bowie Baysox, of the Double-A Eastern League, hired Parrott in 2003 to be their groundskeeper.

“I played a lot of baseball growing up,” Parrott said. “So it wasn’t a new sport to me.”

Parrott decided tending to a baseball playing field would help keep him out of a chair in an office somewhere, and it didn’t take him long to make his mark. In 13 seasons at Bowie, he was named the Eastern League’s groundskeeper of the year three times. In 2011, he won the award for all of Double-A baseball.

The Knights noticed, and they recruited him to Charlotte in 2016 to tend to the field at their new uptown stadium.

As anyone who has battled crabgrass and other weeds in a home lawn knows, it isn’t easy keeping the grass green. And it’s much more difficult doing that in an urban setting, Parrott said.

“There are actually micro-climates in the stadium,” he notes. “And that creates a challenge.”

Basically, what works in left field might not work in right-center. That’s because the tall buildings surrounding the stadium can alter the amount of sunlight, temperature and wind that various parts of the playing field receive.

“Left field will perform one way, while right field performs another way,” Parrott said. “And when a new building goes up, we know there will be changes. We try to prepare for it, but until the building is finished, we never know for sure.”

Parrott and his crew adjust to the changes by altering the watering schedule and adjusting the mixture of grass they grow.

While the tall buildings create challenges, they also can help.

Unlike homeowners, Parrott usually doesn’t have to worry about weeds.

“Our weed pressure is minimal, because the buildings keep us closed in,” he said. Unlike a stadium in a more rural area, there aren’t a lot of weeds and seeds floating in the uptown air.

Parrott, who said the science of sports turf management is constantly changing, added that he realizes fans take a lot of it for granted.

“They expect a nice-looking field when they come to the game, and we work hard to provide it,” he said.

But when something goes wrong, he added, “It can be easy to see. If it’s not nice, the fans will notice it.”

And how does the multi-time turf management winner do with his home lawn.

“I’ve got tall fescue on my lawn,” he says. “And I work at it quite a bit.”

Parrott smiles, then adds, “It looks pretty good.”

A fresh start

For the first time since 2019, the Knights will open their home season with no COVID-related restrictions. The 2020 season was canceled, and Charlotte dealt with attendance restrictions for part of the 2021 campaign.

“I’m encouraged about the groups who are coming back,” Chief Operating Officer Dan Rajkowski said. “We’re seeing more of a corporate response than we had last year. Sponsorships are up, too. They’re not at 2019 levels yet, but they’re a lot better than last year.”

Rajkowski says he has attended a few Charlotte Checkers games recently and is heartened by the big fan turnouts he saw.

“I think we’re getting back toward 2019,” he said. “I’m really hopeful.”

The top players in the Knights’ first six games have been pitcher Kade McClure (1.86 ERA in 9.2 innings pitched); catcher Carlos Perez (.364 batting average with two home runs and seven RBI) and outfielders Mark Payton and Dwight Smith (each hitting .300).

Opening Night at Truist Field

▪ What: Memphis Redbirds vs. Charlotte Knights

▪ When: 6:35 p.m. Tuesday

▪ Promo: Fireworks

▪ Watch: MiLB.tv

▪ Listen: 730 AM

Charlotte Knights 2022 Roster

* — On the MLB 40-man roster.