Yanks, Mets, Play Ball on Local Turf

Planning on heading into an opening series game at Yankee Stadium or Citi Field? If so, home won't be too far.

According to a couple media reports – on CBS New York and Newsday – DeLea Sod Farm will be once again providing sod to the home teams after being grown on DeLea plots all around Suffolk County – from E. Northport to Miller Place to Calverton.

“There are a number of sod growers, even upstate, New Jersey. But they like the Long Island sod because it’s durable,” Joe Gergela, executive director of the Long Island Farm Bureau, told CBS. “[It's] superior sod and that’s why the clubs select it from Long Island.”

DeLea provided the original turf used when the Yankees built their new stadium in 2008-2009, and according to a 2012 report released by the New York State Comptroller's Office, Suffolk County was tops in New York State in sod farming output, among other crops.

Click here to read the CBS News report, and here to read Newsday's (subscription required).