The Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees grounds crew is helping spruce up a little league field in Moosic
It is familiar work, in an unfamiliar location. Members of the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees staff and grounds crew are fixing up the field used by the Moosic Little League.
The project is headed by Yankees head grounds keeper Steve Horn.
"Make things more playable, more safe, a lot of "mores" In it, and our whole front office is out today, along with other volunteers, trying to make this ballpark into a miniature PNC Field," said Horn.
The big PNC Field is undergoing a year-long renovation project, one that has the Yankees on the road for the entire 2012 season.
At the little league level, Horn and his team found a lot wrong. The bases were crooked, infield lines were off, and the pitchers mound was sub standard, according to Moosic Little League President Ron Sompel.
The actual physical labor from the Yankees staff here lasts for only one day, but the team said its commitment to the Moosic Little League goes far beyond that.
The little league gets a written copy of a plan to keep the field in top shape, and that's not all.
"They're going to teach us how to take care and maintain the grass portion and the infield portion, how to rake it between games and how to maintain it," Sompel said
The Yankees do get something out of this too, satisfaction from helping an organization that needs it, and a reminder to fans the Yankees will be back.
"It's a community effort to let people know we're still here and we care not only about the big guys, but the little guys, too," Horn added.
The Yankees said they intend to help one little league program in Lackawanna County, and one in Luzerne County, every season.