LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Baseball is Al Greener's field of dreams. He marvels at the teamwork, the rhythm, the beauty.
"It's still the greatest game that's ever been invented," Greener said.
His love of the game goes beyond the crack of the bat, a dazzling double play or living and dying with his beloved Chicago Cubs.
Greener loves lining the field. He enjoys planting first, second and third base. He finds joy in rolling away the protective screens, all parts of his job as a 60-year-old rookie on the Louisville Bats' grounds crew at Slugger Field. They begin their work several hours before the game and finish more than an hour after the final pitch.
"There's nothing better-looking than the watered down, dark infield with the glistening white bases," Greener said. "I think as far as Americana, the great sports writer Red Smith once wrote the distance between bases at 90 feet is as close as man has ever come to perfection."
That's the way it's always been for Greener. He grew up in Iowa, learning his love for the game from his mother, who learned her love of the game from her father. The generational handoff is another baseball tradition that Greener appreciates.
Greener brought his love of baseball with him from Iowa when he moved here to work in the music department at the University of Louisville nearly 20 years ago. He was born an Iowa Hawkeye fan but grew into a king-sized Louisville fan.
Cardinals'Â fans know why. They remember Greener from his 15 seasons as leader of the U of L pep bands for the men's and women's basketball teams who took him on five trips to the Final Four. Jeff Walz gave him a framed jersey from the women's team last winter.
"I can never thank him enough," Greener said.
Greener also played the organ for Dan McDonnell's baseball team. His specialty went beyond "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Greener had the mind and the wit to match popular songs with situations or the names of players.
"That was just all a blast," Greener said.
Those good times ended in 2021. COVID-19 turned the calendar upside down. It also created economic pressure that resulted in furloughs for members of the athletic department. Greener landed on the furlough list. In 2021, he decided to retire.
"It was kind of hard because it is my life," he said. "I understand there was stuff that was out of my control."
Some retirement.
In March, encouraged by Bats' radio announcer Nick Curran, former Bats radio announcer Matt Andrews, former Bats public relations director Nick Evans and others, Greener cold-called groundskeeper Tod Shafer. He wanted to work on the grounds crew. Greener wanted to build on his connection to baseball.
Shafer told him that lugging hoses and dragging the infield was a job for a 20-year-old. Remember: Greener turned 60 in January.
"That's probably not good," Shafer told him.
But Shafer understood. He is a retired air traffic controller who got involved in taking care of athletic fields at Oldham County High School. Shafer has worked with the Bats for 10 seasons, moving into the role of head groundskeeper in 2022. There are several other older, part-time workers on the crew.
When it comes to baseball, Greener remains a 20-something.
"Al came in, and we hit it off right away," Shafer said. "He loves baseball. That is probably very important. He's a terrific guy. We enjoy having him around. He keeps it fun."
Yes, he does. Greener entertains the crew by playing his keyboard in the maintenance shop beyond the center field wall -- after he sweeps, the floor, of course. He can play the fight song of nearly every college team, especially in the Big Ten. That scored points with Shafer, an Ohio State grad.
"Obviously, my tank is far from empty," Greener said. "I did everything I could to stay involved with the game, whether it be score-keeping or groundskeeping or playing the organ. ... Just being out on the field there is such a labor of love with all the groundskeepers. We have a great camaraderie. The thing I like is we've got a whole group of people that cringe at a blade of grass being out of place."
Understand this: Greener has not surrendered his dream, which is playing the organ in the major leagues. He once drove to Chicago to hand-deliver his resume to the Cubs' office at Wrigley Field. There was an opening. He had a mission.
"People that know me well know I would have slept in a tent underneath the L tracks," Greener said. "I would have done it for nothing."
He did not get the Cubs' job. But he did get the call from the Bats. He's part of a nine-person crew that tries to create the perfect baseball field every night. Most nights he replaces the bases, helps to paint the third- and first-base lines and drags infield protective screens beyond the center field wall.
During games you can usually find Greener behind home plate. If an umpire needs to return to the locker room, Greener has the key to the safe in that room, just in case a ball or bat needs to be confiscated. Otherwise, Greener has the time of his life talking baseball with the major-league scouts that sit on the first-base side of home plate.
"I lost my mother about two months ago, and she was the baseball connoisseur of the family," Greener said. "She grew up and was in high school during the Milwaukee Braves' big run back in 1957. And so you think about all the Hall of Famers on that club.
"So that's what planted the seed in her and then my grandfather was a Cubs' fan from back in the 20s and 30s. ... He could remember Babe Ruth playing at Wrigley Field, you know, so that baseball was in my blood and I just don't think there's any better way to spend the summer."
With hard work, strong friends and taking some risks, Al Greener has found his field of dreams.
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