Before LSU begins its baseball season in three weeks at Alex Box Stadium, Mark Lee has to play in the dirt.
Lee, assistant director of facilities and grounds, helps oversee the day-to-day operations for taking care of the Alex Box Stadium field.
“Day-to-day consists of anything from growing grass to playing in the dirt,” Lee said. “At its basics it is that simple; My job is to ensure safety and sustainability of the playing surface itself.”
The grounds crew is an integral part of making LSU baseball games look and feel like a different experience when the purple and gold take the field.
As a University undergraduate student, Lee worked for the facilities and grounds department. After graduation Lee worked with the East Baton Rouge Parish Parks and Recreation department.
Lee describes his current job as simply trying to produce a competitive field for play. During the season, Lee said he and his staff will work 75 to 80 hour weeks.
Lee and his staff work closely with both players and coaches to see how they want the field for a particular game. Since so much of the game is played on dirt, Lee interacts with senior second baseman Cole Freeman and senior shortstop Kramer Robertson the most.
“The grass is for the fans,” Lee said. “The dirt is for the players. They will tell me what they like and don’t like specific to the dirt surface game in and game out.”
Mark Honore, a field attendant for the grounds department, works beside Lee doing practice and game prep on the field, which consists of mowing the grass and clay work.
Lee and Honore have their fair share of help with student interns. Honore says they play a huge role in what they do for the crew. Currently the staff consists of five student interns for the spring that are composed of both undergraduates and graduates.
“Whether they’re the guys here with us every day or the student workers who help us with the tarp crew, they are all essential pieces to the puzzle,” Honore said.
Alex Box Stadium, voted No. 1 by Stadium Journey for best college baseball park in country, has been a leader in total attendance for 21 straight seasons.
“We get a behind the scenes look of the inner workings of baseball and the atmosphere,” Honore said. “They say LSU baseball fans are the greatest in the country, and we get to witness that every home game.”
Honore said he knows there is a certain standard at LSU, and it is the crew’s job to make going to an LSU baseball game a fun experience.
“When they come out to the box, they want to have that LSU experience,” Honore said. “Aesthetics is a big part of that, so we focus on how it looks.”
Despite this being his first year back at the University, Lee said the best part of his job has been getting to work closely with his staff.
“My guys will tell you that [with] anything they do, I will get in there and do it with them,” Lee said. “I enjoy the camaraderie of working with my guys. My staff consists of current students; working with them and attempting to mentor them in some way, shape or form is a big part of it.”

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Augustus Stark

An LSU Baseball field crew worker rakes the dirt on the field before the upcoming season on Monday, Jan. 23, 2017 at Alex Box Stadium.