Issue No. 641 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting reminds you that today is MLB opening day in Tokyo! And perfectly timed, here’s my review of the 80-year career of “The Sodfather”—a legend in MLB and the NFL. Plus, click here for recent eNews issues posted at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog, including my recent review of Qualified: How Competency Checking and Race Collide at Work.
George Toma, aka "The Sodfather," writes about asking Billy Graham not to kneel on the grass during the 10-day crusade at Kansas City's Municipal Stadium in 1967. "He complied." He wanted the crowd to KEEP OFF THE GRASS also. But look what happened anyway! (Photo credit: M.A.I.D. Used by permission.)
BREAKING NEWS! Play Ball! Today is Major League Baseball’s opener, but it’s NOT in Chicago or Los Angeles. It’s in Tokyo! The Chicago Cubs (Go Cubs!) play the 2024 World Series Champs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the MLB World Tour Tokyo Series. (You read that right!)
Early risers on the East Coast can enjoy Game 1 on March 18, Tuesday 6:10 a.m. ET. (And yes, that’s 3:10 a.m. PT for my West Coast friends.). Game 2 will be March 19, Wednesday at 6:10 a.m. ET. (Go Cubs!)
To commemorate Opening Day, here’s an absolutely fun book—and a pop quiz!
The Sodfather:
An Extraordinary Journey in the
Shadows of Sports' Greatest Fields
by George Toma with Craig Handel (May 18, 2024)
Toma manicured the field for the first Super Bowl in 1967 in Los Angeles. He was at every Super Bowl from 1967 to 2023. For much of his career, Toma was the head groundskeeper for the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City, Mo., which includes stadiums for the Kansas City Royals and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs honored him with three Super Bowl rings!
Coauthor Craig Handel notes, “…in my 40 years of writing, I’ve never met anyone like him. Probably never will.” You’ll love this book—so here’s a True or False Pop Quiz to tantalize you into reading The Sodfather.
TRUE OR FALSE?
#1. TRUE OR FALSE? In his book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell suggests that “becoming an expert in any skill is correctly practicing one’s craft for at least 10,000 hours.” Craig Handel estimates that George Toma invested 250,000 hours in his groundskeeping craft. And even when George “retired,” he spent about 150 days away from home in his first six years as a consultant.
#2. TRUE OR FALSE? George Toma said that working on athletic fields all over the world was “something I’ve always enjoyed immensely.” Yet he names Emil Bossard who was with the Cleveland Indians (now the Cleveland Guardians) as the “greatest groundskeeper ever.” Not Toma? “At my core, I’m a dirt man” Toma said.
#3. T or F? Toma served as either the head field supervisor or consultant for the first 57 Super Bowls, beginning with Super Bowl I in L.A. in 1967 to Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Ariz., in 2023. (Note: the KC Chiefs played in both games.)
#4. T or F? Toma came by his profession organically, one might say. He was born on Feb. 2, 1929, aka “Groundhog Day.”
#5. T or F? Toma’s father died of Black Lung Disease at age 46 when George was just 11. Through hard work (at age 10, he worked 10 hours a day for 10 cents an hour), he reached the pinnacle of his profession. He’s been inducted into eight Halls of Fame!
#6. T or F? Toma spotlights Bill Veeck (1914-1986), who owned three MLB teams at various times, including the Chicago White Sox. Veeck said that “a good groundskeeper is worth five to seven victories a season.”
#7. T or F? For the first Super Bowl, Toma asked NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle what kind of logo he wanted at midfield. Rozelle’s response: “Put on whatever you want, George. It’s your field.” (Imagine! The CEO telling the groundskeeper to make the decision!) That reminds me of my 2006 book-of-the-year, Joy at Work, by Dennis Bakke, and his second book, The Decision Maker.
#8. T or F? Toma writes, “ESPN had me do one of its famous 30-second Sports Center commercials. Wearing a Marquis de Sod T-shirt, I started by saying, ‘Like a lot of organizations, ESPN was having trouble with its carpet. So they had me install a more natural surface.’” (Watch the hilarious video.)
#9. T or F? What? Really? It’s possible (perhaps, maybe) that MLB and NFL groundskeepers can give their home teams certain advantages. No way. Way? By the way, Toma doesn’t hold back when he has something to say. Oh, my! “That’s why I’m writing this book: to tell my side of the story so we can learn from these mistakes and hopefully prevent these situations from every happening again.” (View this video. True of False?)
#10. T or F? You’re kidding, right? Groundskeepers have their own national association? Yes! Someone needs to manage the more than one million playing fields in America! With his colleagues, Toma helped launch the Sports Field Management Association. (This was especially interesting to me since I was privileged to lead three national associations for 25 years.) Today, SFMA serves more than 2,700 members. (Want greener grass? Visit the exhibit hall at their next annual conference.)
#11. T or F? In 1967, Billy Graham had a 10-day evangelistic crusade at Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium. Toma writes, “We became good friends, and during his event, I asked him if he could avoid kneeling on the grass. He complied.” But it didn’t matter, adds Toma. The growing crowd exceeded the stadiums seats, so Toma allowed them to sit on the grass in left field. Then right field. Then the infield grass! Johnny Cash and June Carter sang. “Later, Mr. Graham and Mr. Cash had a get-together at Excelsior Springs, Missouri. They invited me.”
WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK?
• Every MLB and NFL fan. (Go, Cubs!)
• Buildings and grounds team members at camps, campuses, churches, and companies.
• Anyone wanting a template for writing your own story. (“You should write a book!”)
• Sports nostalgia buffs—yearning for more stories about Mickey Mantle, George Brett, Len Dawson, Charles Finley, Lamar Hunt, Alvin Dark, Satchel Paige, and dozens of others.
7 DEGREES OF SEPARATION?
I’m grateful to Alan Busby, who texted me last December about The Sodfather. Alan’s father, Dan Busby (1941-2022), served as president of ECFA. Dan also knew his way around a baseball field and collected opening day tickets from every major league baseball team. He often consulted with the National Baseball Hall of Fame concerning memorabilia acquisitions. Dan wrote two baseball books:
• Before and After Jackie Robinson, A Story of the Brooklyn Dodgers Told Through the Lens of Tickets and Passes (Read my review.)
• Before and After Babe Ruth: A Story of the New York Yankees Told Through the Lens of Tickets and Passes (Read my review.)
I’m mentioning the Busby family because Alan shared the following: “I grew up in Westwood, Kansas, a few doors down from George Toma and regularly rode my bike through his grass and used his tree’s root base as a ramp!”
“Dad in his subtle competitive nature would always aspire to have the best yard but this achievement would always come short with a big-league opponent playing across the street. I recall one year Dad went as far as to have the whole yard stripped and fresh Kentucky bluegrass sod brought in, if you can imagine.” (That’s the Dan Busby I knew and loved! LOL!)
Alan recently wrote to George Toma and received a nice note back, along with a copy of The Sodfather. (Toma, by the way, writes that he still mows his own grass at age 96!)
MY GRASS?
Me? As #4 of five boys growing up, my Dad had five “apprentice groundskeepers” and one mandate, “I want this place looking like a park.” Maybe if George Toma had written his book earlier, I would have been inspired. But I’m so, so grateful for my 30-year friendship with Mario, who has been our faithful “all-things-beautiful” for our front and backyard and more. (I know when to delegate!) Here is a recent photo of Mario and his greatest cheerleader!

Mario (left) and his 30-year apprentice, John.
GROWING WEEDERS INTO LEADERS
This review would be sadly incomplete if I didn’t mention the perfect companion book to The Sodfather. In 2017, I received a signed copy from Jeff McManus of his wonderful book, Growing Weeders Into Leaders: Leadership Lessons from the Ground Level. For nearly 25 years, he transformed Ole Miss “from an overlooked campus into the most beautiful in the nation,” earning recognition from Forbes, The New York Times, and others.
In my review, I list 10 reasons why you’ll love this book, including Reason #7. McManus quotes John Maxwell: “What’s worse than training your people and losing them? Not training them and keeping them.” His bestselling book “reveals how he turned an unmotivated disorganized team into a nationally recognized powerhouse.”
Reminder: Go, Cubs, Go! (P.S. True or False? All 11 statements are true.)
TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title for The Sodfather: An Extraordinary Journey in the Shadows of Sports' Greatest Fields, by George Toma with Craig Handel.

1) Go Cubs! If you’re a Cubs fan and you can still picture the beauty of Chicago’s Wrigley Field, read my reviews of The Cubs Way: The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse, by Tom Verducci; and also read A Nice Little Place on the North Side: Wrigley Field at One Hundred, by George F. Will. What two teams will be in the 2025 World Series? In your opinion, what’s the most beautiful baseball field in the U.S.?
2) In Part 11, “Hall of Fame Sports Stories,” in Mastering 100 Must-Read Books, our son, Jason, and I highlight five sports stories (download the list here), including The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, by Daniel James Brown (read my review). Note: The WSJ just named this book one of “Five Best: Books on Negotiation.” Read why. What's your favorite sports story. Why?

SECOND READS: Fresh Solutions From Classic Books
You have changed—and your problems have changed—since you read this the first time!
Book #11 of 99: Leadership Prayers
For your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by featuring "Book" #11 of 99 in our new series, “Second Reads.” The big idea: REREAD TO LEAD! Discover how your favorite books still have more to teach you and the people you’re coaching and mentoring.
by Richard Kriegbaum
• Read my review (Issue No. 193, Aug. 15, 2010).
• Order from Amazon.
• Management Bucket #11 of 20: The Donor Bucket
After his two-page prayer, Richard Kriegbaum reflects: “The core values of an organization are the promises its members make to each other. The budget is the most comprehensive and detailed description of what the organization has promised to do in expressing those values. What makes budgeting so difficult for a future-oriented leader is that the budget is mostly about history, about keeping promises that have already been made. If the promises were made wisely, they will have created a good set of present opportunities, attracted great people, secured a strong position in the market with a positive image, and allowed for increasing net revenues."

New AI Podcast:
"You Should Write a Book"
Click here to listen to the AI-generated podcasters (13 minutes, 36 seconds) who comment on Nancy Nelson's 50 stunning stories in her book, Stories of Sheer Pure Grace. For more podcasts, click here.

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