It is always fun as a baseball fan to have connections with people in different areas of baseball and to hear about what they get to experience. My biggest connection to the 2012 World Series Giants is a member of the grounds crew for the Giants. Drew Rountree was the Head Grounds Keeper for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in 2011 and was ‘promoted’ to the Giants in September of 2011. The grounds crew often gets overlooked, and is one of the baseball jobs that I listed in my Under Appreciated Jobs in Baseball Series. The Grounds crew works long hours and rarely gets any recognition unless something on the field goes wrong. That is why the Grounds Crew being my 2nd most under appreciate job, but today I want to give a shout out to an amazing job by the Giants Grounds crew. Congratulations! Plus a special shout out to Drew Rountree who was a ton of fun to work with during his time with the Volcanoes.
Standing L to R: Jackie Zink, Tony Martinelli, Josh Warstler, Greg Elliott, Christian Buono, Robert Fairbank, Johnny Franco, Daniel Hildreth, Cass Mulholland
One half standing middle right, Francisco Vega.
Kneeling: Mark Beers, Eddie Bello, Brian Goodrich, and yours truly, Drew Rountree.
HEY! I know that Drew kid. He did a heck of a job in Salem/Keizer. Congrats Drew!
Since the Giants won the World Series, and Drew was on the Grounds Crew, and we know Drew, we therefore must be famous like the Giants. Okay maybe not but Drew was great during his time in Salem.
Hey! Do the ground crew get a ring?
I believe they do. I’m pretty sure that most all of the Giants full time year round employees get rings. I know that the owners of the minor league affiliates get rings, all of the coaches in the minor league system get rings and the video guys in the minor leagues get rings. I will try and contact Drew with the Giants grounds crew and ask him.
[…] 5. San Francisco Giants Ground Crew Shout Out […]
How do you get a grounds crew job with the SF Giants? Do you start at the minor league level? I’ve never come across a way to apply on their website.
The individual that I know who worked for the SF Giants grounds crew got there because he worked for one of their minor league affiliates first. He also did an internship with another major league team to build up his experience.