Yesterday during the game against Kansas, in the top of the very first inning, Merrifield hit a single off of the first pitch of the game and got on first base. Very soon (3rd pitch of the game) he stole second while Maldonado fumbled with the ball. I don't know if you caught it, but after he slid into second head first, he stood up and looked at his messy/muddy uniform like "wtf, come on... realllly?!" It was pretty funny... but then it occurred to me: Have you noticed how wet the dirt is every single game, yet in other ballparks it's pretty dry? When players slide there's usually a whole cloud of dust, but not in the home of the Astros. It's almost mud out there.

Is that the preference of the Astros players or is it just the decision of the ground crew to prepare the field that way? Have you noticed anything similar like that?