Living the Big League Dream
By Charlie Vascellaro
When Major League Baseball needed someone who could help get the field at Estadio de Béisbol Monterrey in big league playing condition for this weekend’s Mexico Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, they knew just who to call: veteran Mexican groundskeeper Francisco “Pancho” Tamayo.
Perhaps the most experienced and sought-after baseball groundskeeper in Mexico, for the past 20 years Tamayo worked on baseball fields all over the country: for international tournaments like the Caribbean Series and World Baseball Classic as well as regular season competitions in the Mexican Pacific League and various rookie and summer leagues.
Yet there was a moment almost 20 years ago when it seemed unlikely Tamayo would ever again be the go-to man on the ground for MLB.
Crossing Over
Tamayo lived in the United States for 15 years. He was realizing his own American Dream back in 1998 as he rose from the ranks of golf course greenskeeper in Rio Verde, Arizona to a member of the grounds crew for the Arizona Diamondbacks in the team’s inaugural season at Bank One Ballpark (now known as Chase Field).
Donning a black tuxedo for the Diamondbacks’ first Opening Day on March 31, 1998, Tamayo’s life was unfolding in storybook fashion as he posed for pictures in the Diamondbacks bullpen amidst all the fanfare and festivities. Tamayo continued to work side-by-side with Diamondbacks head groundskeeper Grant Trenbeath for the team’s first two seasons.
In talking with Trenbreath about those years, it’s Tamayo’s work ethic and professionalism that stands out for him and formed the basis of their now 20-year friendship.
“From the very beginning of his time at then Bank One Ballpark, you could tell Pancho loved baseball and he loved working on the field,” said Trenbreath. “Pancho would ask questions about what we were doing to the field and why. “With our games sometimes going late into the evening, Pancho would always stay until the work was all done, even though he had to be up early the next morning to be back at the golf course. And sometimes work late again the following night at the ballpark with us.”
But his dream of tending the grounds of major league ballparks was abruptly interrupted after a routine Mother’s Day visit to his hometown of Alvarenas in Chihuahua, Mexico.
While crossing the border back into the United States at El Paso, Texas, Pancho was told that his visa had expired.
“I had a [green] card with the amnesty program. Immigration gave me a card for work [that was] valid for one year. I had to renew it every year. It was supposed to expire in November of 1999 but they told me it had already expired. I had come down to Hermosillo [in Sonora] with the Diamondbacks in March. When the guy said my card was expired and I said ‘no way!’ I don’t understand why he said it was expired and he never explained. I still have a picture of it,” said Tamayo.
Tamayo was dismayed, disappointed. The immigration official’s decision stood. Tamayo was barred from re-entry to the U.S. He was deemed an illegal entrant who had overstayed his visa.
With nowhere else to go, Tamayo returned to his hometown in Chihuahua where he had formerly lived and worked with his father in the family’s wood shop.
“I was upset and confused for about a week. It happened so fast. I never expected them to send me back like that but then I went back to work in the shop making kitchens,” said Tamayo.
Tending New Grounds
When life dealt Tamayo lemons he decided it was time to make lemonade. He became re-acquainted with a childhood sweetheart, Ana Elia, who lived in the house across the street from his family’s home. The two were married in January of 2000 and are parents to a pair of daughters, Maria Fernanda, 16, and Ana Gabriela, 11. The family lives in the house next door to the home Tamayo grew up in with his family.
(Ana Elia y Álvaro mi papá y María Inés mi mamá y mis hijas María Fernanda y Ana Gabriela)
Although he was no longer able to return to the United States, Tamayo continued to work for the Arizona Diamondbacks when the team played spring training exhibition games at Estadio De Baseball Hector Espino in Hermosillo, Mexico (named for the man who most consider the greatest player in Mexican League history).
“With the Diamondbacks making routine trips down to Hermosillo to play exhibition spring training games, and with the field prep that needed to be done to play those games, it was a natural fit to bring Pancho over to Hermosillo to help prepare the field with myself, as well as help me communicate with the Hermosillo Grounds Crew as my interpreter,” said Trenbreath.
“The infield was bad. I took pictures of the field before and after we worked on it and sent them to Grant [Trenbeath]. He showed them to the general manager of the Hermosillo Naranjeros (the orange pickers) of the Mexican Pacific League and he asked me to come back two or three times a year for the next few years,” said Tamayo, who still tends to the field in Hermosillo for a month each year, from mid-September to mid-October before the MPL’s Opening Day.
Back in Chihuahua, construction began on a new ballpark for the Algodoneros (the cotton pickers) de Delicias in 2003, one of the 10 cities of Chihuahua represented in the Liga Estatal De beisbol Chihuahua.
“I couldn’t get a ticket on Opening Day, the game was sold out,” Tamayo recalled “I waited for a week and came back and went to the game and noticed that no one was taking care of the field. I spoke to the general manager and he said he couldn’t find anyone who knew how to do it, and I told him I used to work for the Diamondbacks and he hired me right then and there.”
Tamayo has worked as head groundskeeper for the Algodoneros every season since 2003. The pre-season starts in February with rounds of qualification tournaments to see who will make the team before the regular season begins in May and runs through September.
Breaking New Ground
When a brand new Hector Espino Estadio De Baseball opened in 2013 and served as the host ballpark for the Caribbean Series, Tamayo was hired to work with Major League Baseball under Chad Olsen, a manager with BrightView Landscape Development.
“We developed a relationship,” said Olsen. “He understood what was going on. We worked on that project and he stayed on and trained their grounds crew and over-seeded the field for the series.”
Olsen’s knowledge and Tamayo’s skill were a good match. “I spent a lot of time with him training him on how to do it and developing agronomic programs. That’s how it started and after that we stayed in contact and when I get work opportunities in Mexico. I always try to get Pancho looped in some way, somehow.”
The pair has since worked together in Culiacan and Mexicali preparing the fields for the 2017 Caribbean Series and World Baseball Classic qualifying rounds.
“In Mexico, as far as baseball is concerned, he is the elite groundskeeper. I have not worked with anyone with his capabilities or knowledge. I would say Pancho has kind of reached the pinnacle in Mexico,” said Olsen adding, “He’s just a good person too.”
A Big League of His Own
Tamayo and Olsen have been working together diligently for the past couple of weeks, arriving early every morning to get the field in Monterrey in shape for the first regular season MLB series to take place in Mexico since 1999.
“It’s nice to work for him. It’s like school for me. It’s like university,” said Tamayo, adding, “I learn new things every time I work for him because every year there is something new to learn.”
Although Tamayo considers himself a student he’s also a teacher and master of his craft.
“He’s (Tamayo) made quite a name for himself in the Mexican Pacific League and the Summer League. I used to get a bunch of calls from different teams wanting assistance and now they go directly to Pancho,” Olsen proudly declared of his protégé.
Twenty years since his first Opening Day with the Diamondbacks, Tamayo may not have found his way back to the major leagues in the States again, but Major League Baseball has found its way back to him.
Featured Inset images: Francisco Tamayo