The Braves celebrated retired vice president of field operations Ed Mangan during a pregame ceremony Thursday at Truist Park.
Mangan has worked with the franchise for over 35 years, preparing the fields on which the Braves enjoyed their greatest seasons, including their 1995 and 2021 championship campaigns.
He’s done the fields at all three of the Braves’ stadiums here: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Turner Field and Truist Park. He’s also worked numerous international events, showcases and 32 Super Bowls.
“I’m just grateful, honored,” Mangan said. “It’s been a pleasure with this organization every minute. We’ve grown so much since Fulton County Stadium, with baseball and some of the other events we’ve had. We transitioned after the Olympics to Turner Field, rebuilt that stadium, and started this one from the ground up.
“I couldn’t be more grateful and humbled by the (Braves’) efforts to put all this together. I couldn’t be more proud.”
Braves Hall of Fame general manager John Schuerholz, who brought Mangan to the Braves decades ago, was on the field for the presentation alongside the Braves’ grounds crew. So was Mangan’s wife, Janeen, and three of their four sons, Micky, Colby and Ty. (Jake is in Japan and couldn’t attend.)
“Mangan is known around the world for his expertise and consistency of delivering a field players trust and fans admire,” the Braves said. Mangan was presented with a framed No. 35 jersey bearing his name.
Schuerholz is renowned for shrewd acquisitions during the Braves’ glory years of the 1990s, and Mangan should be included among them. They first met at Baseball City, Florida, when Schuerholz was overseeing the Royals in the 1980s. Mangan was part of the crew that converted Circus World into a spring training complex and amusement park in Davenport, Florida, in the years after the Royals won the 1985 World Series.
Mangan and Schuerholz formed a relationship during those years. And when Schuerholz took over the Braves, longtime groundskeeper George Toma recommended Mangan for the job in Atlanta.
“Thank God that both of them had the confidence in me to be able to come through,” Mangan said. He expressed appreciation that the Braves always trusted him to do his job “basically untouched — you know what we want, make it happen.”
Mangan became an indelible part of the Braves’ finest years. They created one of the greatest eras of sustained success in American sports history shortly after his arrival, winning 14 consecutive division titles from 1991 through 2005.
The team is amid its second-best run now, having made the postseason seven consecutive years from 2018 through 2024, and now appears likely to rejoin the field in 2026.
“(1995 and 2021) were unbelievable,” Mangan said. “You can’t put that into words because there are ballplayers who’ve had their full careers come and go, and they’ve never been to the playoffs or won a World Series. We’ve been to quite a few World Series, and we’ve been lucky enough to win two. It’s just hard to put into words.”
As for Mangan’s next move: “Whatever she wants to do,” he said, laughing.
“Janeen has been the rock through this whole thing,” he said. “My 35 years here means nothing without her. Keeping the family together, keeping the schedules on, school and whatnot; the time it takes to be here seven days a week during the season, and even after the season with events we have, it’s extremely time-consuming. It was up to her to keep everything together.”
Scott Beam succeeded Mangan as the head groundskeeper in 2026. Mangan had been working in an advisory role to begin the season.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
