“That was my baby, my bread and butter. I like to think of it as art,” he says of the 18-foot circle of soil that was a centerpiece of Boston’s magical ‘18 run, which ended with Zac and the rest of the grounds crew being presented individual World Series Champions rings by the team, a precious memento Zac has worn publicly only twice since receiving it. Zac loved the camaraderie and spirit of his team on the Boston grounds crew, and still misses the high energy, chaos and stress that often came with the job.  


But there was also time for play, especially when your work- place is a baseball shrine. Red Sox players would often ask Zac and the other groundskeep- ers to play catch or shag balls during batting practice, and he got to sign his name inside the Green Monster, the imposing 37-foot-  manually operated scoreboard. And he even misses the thrill of racing to pull the tarp over the 


But Zac also learned something about himself while toiling in Boston. “I don’t particularly care for big cities. That was one thing I learned on my internships. Big cities are not for me.”


So he’s settled back in Holts Summit with his wife, Madison, and their 8-month-old son, Archie. 


 tain the city’s 1,800-plus acres of parkland. Zac, who followed up his Associates degree from State Tech with a Bachelor’s degree in Plant Sciences from the University of Missouri, says   Because he took his baby brother’s career advice to heart before losing him to the car accident, and then took a chance on himself at State Tech, Zac feels as if Mac is still with him in many ways,  suggested to him by his late younger brother. Coupled with the reputation State Tech’s built for itself within the turf management industry and Mac’s sage advice, Zac traded one pitcher’s mound in tiny Fayette for another in big-league Bos- ton, and in the process, made a dream come true. “I’ve always wanted to work for a pro team, and I got to do a dream job. I put my head down and I did it.” And now he sports a World Series Champions ring to prove it.  er, who got the ball rolling to begin with.


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