When he was young, Noah Simmons’ grandfather told him, “Do what you love”. Since that time, Simmons, a 2015 graduate of Portage High School, has done exactly that. He feels right at home and truly loves his job as the Head Groundskeeper for the Gary Southshore Railcats.
Simmons got his start at the young age of 12 working as an Assistant Head Groundskeeper with the Schaumburg Flyers, now the Schaumburg Boomers, of the independent Frontier League. He was able to get the opportunity to work for the Flyers through a family friend who was also employed by the organization.
It took one experience working at a baseball stadium for Simmons to know this is what he wanted to do. “It just felt right,” he said. “After that one experience I knew this was it.”
On coming back to the region to work for the Railcats Simmons said, “I love it here. My family is from here and everywhere is different but this place has a special place in my heart for me.”
Simmons’ life now revolves around baseball, the field, and the Steel Yard, and even when things are stressful he couldn’t be happier.
“People ask me, ‘man, do you ever go to sleep?’ said Simmons. “Really, I don’t! When I do get in bed I think about the next day and what’s going to happen. Is it gonna rain? Is it going to be 100 degrees out? Will the grass be green when I get there? I’m always losing sleep over the weather. It’s been a pretty stressful season with all the rain but I wake up every day wanting to come to work. A lot of people don’t want to go to work and they do it for the paycheck. I just love baseball and I’m here to do it because I love it more than anything.”
Simmons’ job also allows him to oversee all the outside operations in the stadium as well. He looks after the ushers, security, concessions and all of their day to day operations and activities.
“On game day we get here around 8 o’clock in the morning,” Simmons said. “My crew goes up and down the stadium and clean all the stands. We take out all the trash and clean the clubhouses. First thing I do on a normal day is cut the grass and put all the patterns in. We get our infield to the right moisture level. We’ll patch the game mound and the plate. There’s 100 things that will pop up on a game day. Sometimes when it rains the tarp will sit on the field all day or when it’s really hot out we’ll be running irrigation all day. The way it’s been this year all it does is rain.”
“I don’t know how many times this year me and my guys have pulled the tarp,” Simmons continued. “It’s not a fun thing to have to do but my crew is great. I really can’t thank them enough for all they do out here. They’ve worked so hard all year and it shows. In Minor League baseball there aren’t too many days without a game and being a groundskeeper you don’t get many days off. I’m always on the field hedging, regrading, or patching up everything. Some days we’re here from 8am until midnight or 1am sometimes.”
“The job’s not nearly as fun when there aren’t any fans in the seats,” said Simmons. “This year has been special though because there are fans in the seats. That’s who we do this for. There’s a lot more work that goes into a game than people realize and our crew’s been really great all season. I can’t mention them enough.”
Although Simmons is exceptional at keeping the Steel Yard in top shape, don’t ask him to landscape or work in your yard. “I hate yard work!,” he said. “I get asked all the time to landscape for people and I won’t do it; I hate it!”
To check out Simmons’ ‘yard work’ and the great work his crew puts in check out the Gary Southshore Railcats between now and September.