Truist Park grounds crew keeping it ready for whenever baseball returns
Truist Park grounds crew has been keeping the ballpark in tip-top shape since before Opening Day was postponed in April.
ATLANTA - When you've got three acres as your office, social distancing at work isn't too hard.
Truist Park has added more santization methods for its grounds crew in wake of the coronavirus pandemic, but the workers have not seen many changes day-to-day since Opening Day was postponed in April.
In fact, they're ready whenever baseball is.
"I mean we could go today if we needed to," Senior Director of Field Operations Ed Mangan told FOX 5 Sports on Monday. "So that’s the way I want to keep it, and that’s the way we should have it."
All the postponements changed one major part of the grounds crew’s operations: No wear and tear for games or concerts.
Truist Park grounds crew has been keeping the ballpark in tip-top shape since before Opening Day was postponed in April.
"Usually we’re going about 1,000 miles an hour right now with games and events and things like that, so everything is just kind of on hold," Mangan said.
MLB owners approved a proposal that could lead to the coronavirus-delayed season starting around the Fourth of July weekend in ballparks without fans, a plan that envisioned expanding the designated hitter to the National League for 2020.
Truist Park grounds crew has been keeping the ballpark in tip-top shape since before Opening Day was postponed in April.
But until the MLB officially decides on the details, Mangan said he’s holed up in his office beneath the outfield stands coming up with plans for every possible scenario.
"Prepare for whatever the case may be, so think of what if’s and put all those what if’s on a paper, on a log, so you have, what page do we turn to if this happens?" Mangan said. "There’s a lot more things that need to be fixed other than just playing baseball right now, but we need to get back to that. And that will kind of help everything else get back to some sort of normalcy and the feeling of being involved."