Article: Sweeping away the carpets ; Baseball is down to two turf fields

Maury Wills remembered back 43 years to that April night when he became the first major leaguer to bat on an artificial turf field.

Even when the green rug was novel, he didn't like it.

"I'm a traditionalist," said the former Los Angeles Dodgers speedster, who opened that night at Houston's Astrodome with a single off Hall of Famer Robin Roberts. "I'm still an old-school guy. I believe baseball was meant to be played outdoors and be played in the daytime."

Turns out, most others think baseball is better on grass, too. The sport's turf wars are nearing an end.

Once regarded as magic carpets that would eliminate bad hops and minimize rainouts, artificial surfaces are going the way of the dead ...

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