Behind the Scenes...

So who are we honoring this week? When we started this season I wanted to honor the people behind the scenes, the people who play an intergral role and this week we might have picked the humblest and most shy.

Ryan Woodley is the manager of Field Operations for the New York Mets. If you want an example of his prowess, just look at the recent game between the Mets and Blue Jays. Ryan and the rest of the grounds crew worked feverishly in a rainstorm to keep the field dry so the game could be finished.

I first met Ryan when he was working for the Staten Island Yankees. He then moved to the Trenton Thunder, before making his big league debut with the Mets. He has his degree in Sports Turf Management from Southeast Tech in Sioux Falls, SD. Prior to Staten Island and Trenton he worked for the Brickman Group, within their group that builds, renovates and maintains the field turf at stadiums and sports complexes on a contract basis . I'm not even sure that I can list everywhere he has worked for them, but here’s a few of his stops; Helena, MT; Kansas City, MO; Green Bay, WI; Lincoln, NE... He's also worked on tournaments for them (including the World Baseball Classic) in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Taiwan. The Woodley Stuffed Burger is stuffed with Cheddar and Mushrooms and topped with Avocado, ( we’ve got to have something green since he is a greenskeeper), Bacon. (his home town of Hawarden, IA is home to one of the country’s biggest bacon processing plants in the country) and a fried egg (because everything is better with a fried egg on it).