Astroturf in baseball

[ltjets21]

When baseball was played on astroturf what kind of footwear was worn by players? It would be hard to run on the base lines with cleats but turf shoes wouldn't give you enough footing in the batters box.

[phutmasterflex]

[Sport]

^ really helpful picture there. Glad this question got answered so succinctly.

The players generally wore small molded cleats like you'd see on little leaguers, but some guys just wore their regular baseball spikes

[TheOldRoman]

I have heard that pitchers always wore metal spikes on astroturf because it gave them better traction on the mound, but since the other players rarely touched dirt, they mostly wore turf shoes.

You know, I've thought about this before. Metal cleats don't dig into the dirt unless it's really wet. So when a guy's batting, he essentially is just stepping on those 8 or so cleats, and the bottom of the shoes are never touching the ground. Well, wouldn't those few tiny metal edges make runners more likely to slip and fall? I can understand what they do on grass, but I can't see how they would give better traction on the infield.

[LETSGOBLUEBEATMSU]

[BigBubba]

A pic of José Bautista from 2010 or 2011...

He's wearing cleats, though they're the rubber "stub" type, not metal cleats (or is he?). Now one from this year...

He's wearing Reebok ZigTech shoes with added metal spikes. And one from Spring Training this year...

Same shoes, even though he's playing on grass. So he doesn't have a different pair of shoes for home and road games.

[Sport]

I have heard that pitchers always wore metal spikes on astroturf because it gave them better traction on the mound, but since the other players rarely touched dirt, they mostly wore turf shoes.

You know, I've thought about this before. Metal cleats don't dig into the dirt unless it's really wet. So when a guy's batting, he essentially is just stepping on those 8 or so cleats, and the bottom of the shoes are never touching the ground. Well, wouldn't those few tiny metal edges make runners more likely to slip and fall? I can understand what they do on grass, but I can't see how they would give better traction on the infield.

Metal spikes dig into the dirt regardless of whether it's wet or dry so the bottom of your shoes actually do touch the ground. They're far better for traction than rubber cleats on the dirt and I immediately could tell a difference when I got to the age when metal spike were allowed.

Unless I'm not understanding what you're saying.

[BBTV]

Some of you are confusing the next-gen Field Turf or NexTurf with old Astroturf. You can wear regular molded cleats on Field Turf (maybe even metal - not sure) but you wouldn't do that on Astroturf.

Back in the day, they wore shoes with a million little "nipples" on the sole. Later, the grips got a little more stylized.

[LETSGOBLUEBEATMSU]

Some of you are confusing the next-gen Field Turf or NexTurf with old Astroturf. You can wear regular molded cleats on Field Turf (maybe even metal - not sure) but you wouldn't do that on Astroturf.

Back in the day, they wore shoes with a million little "nipples" on the sole. Later, the grips got a little more stylized.

Not metal you would shred it to pieces

[TheOldRoman]

I have heard that pitchers always wore metal spikes on astroturf because it gave them better traction on the mound, but since the other players rarely touched dirt, they mostly wore turf shoes.

You know, I've thought about this before. Metal cleats don't dig into the dirt unless it's really wet. So when a guy's batting, he essentially is just stepping on those 8 or so cleats, and the bottom of the shoes are never touching the ground. Well, wouldn't those few tiny metal edges make runners more likely to slip and fall? I can understand what they do on grass, but I can't see how they would give better traction on the infield.

Metal spikes dig into the dirt regardless of whether it's wet or dry so the bottom of your shoes actually do touch the ground. They're far better for traction than rubber cleats on the dirt and I immediately could tell a difference when I got to the age when metal spike were allowed.

Unless I'm not understanding what you're saying.

No, I think you understood what I was saying. I just didn't think the thin, rectangular-shaped metal cleats would actual sink into hard dirt. I had only used molded cleats when I played in little league, and even then, I seem to remember the cleats "standing on top" of the dirt.

[jojotarantino]

Some of you are confusing the next-gen Field Turf or NexTurf with old Astroturf. You can wear regular molded cleats on Field Turf (maybe even metal - not sure) but you wouldn't do that on Astroturf.

Back in the day, they wore shoes with a million little "nipples" on the sole. Later, the grips got a little more stylized.

Not metal you would shred it to pieces

Metal spikes are frequently worn on the new style of artificial turf. It doesn't tear it up at all.

[LETSGOBLUEBEATMSU]

Some of you are confusing the next-gen Field Turf or NexTurf with old Astroturf. You can wear regular molded cleats on Field Turf (maybe even metal - not sure) but you wouldn't do that on Astroturf.

Back in the day, they wore shoes with a million little "nipples" on the sole. Later, the grips got a little more stylized.

Not metal you would shred it to pieces

Metal spikes are frequently worn on the new style of artificial turf. It doesn't tear it up at all.

My bad I thought you ment old school

[phutmasterflex]

Yeah, just simply use Google image Ken Griffey Jr. He wore a variety of different shoes during his early Mariners days.

[McCall]

I have heard that pitchers always wore metal spikes on astroturf because it gave them better traction on the mound, but since the other players rarely touched dirt, they mostly wore turf shoes.

You know, I've thought about this before. Metal cleats don't dig into the dirt unless it's really wet. So when a guy's batting, he essentially is just stepping on those 8 or so cleats, and the bottom of the shoes are never touching the ground. Well, wouldn't those few tiny metal edges make runners more likely to slip and fall? I can understand what they do on grass, but I can't see how they would give better traction on the infield.

Metal spikes dig into the dirt regardless of whether it's wet or dry so the bottom of your shoes actually do touch the ground. They're far better for traction than rubber cleats on the dirt and I immediately could tell a difference when I got to the age when metal spike were allowed.

Unless I'm not understanding what you're saying.

No, I think you understood what I was saying. I just didn't think the thin, rectangular-shaped metal cleats would actual sink into hard dirt. I had only used molded cleats when I played in little league, and even then, I seem to remember the cleats "standing on top" of the dirt.

Well yeah, molded cleats aren't gonna dig into the dirt but metal would. Besides in MLB they water the field a few times a game in between innings. It's not as solid as one may think.

[PhantomDreamer]

Some of you are confusing the next-gen Field Turf or NexTurf with old Astroturf. You can wear regular molded cleats on Field Turf (maybe even metal - not sure) but you wouldn't do that on Astroturf.

Back in the day, they wore shoes with a million little "nipples" on the sole. Later, the grips got a little more stylized.

The new generation of American made AstroTurf! A new field sponsored by the Nationals in SE DC. Since this is a youth field, there will probably not be any metal spikes worn on it.