Polishing the diamond

 

DHL employee Angela Davis helps paint at Perkerson Park in Atlanta. The park received $40,000 in improvements from a fund to revive baseball in inner cities. The Atlanta Braves' chief groundskeeper oversaw the work.

Atlanta, Ga.?EUR??,,????'???s Perkerson Park has received close to $40,000 worth of improvements through MLB’s Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program. Only two other baseball fields, one in Phoenix and one in Houston, were selected by the program.

The improvements were overseen by the Atlanta Braves’ chief groundskeeper, Ed Mangan in September.

Mangan compiled a long roster of improvements for the park, including adding clay to the infield playing surface, moving fences farther back, resodding the infield and foul territories, building up the pitcher’s mound, proper placement of bases, resodding the outfield and adding brick dust to the infield to reduce mud during rains.

“I’m happy to do it, proud to do it for the organization and the kids and everyone that will use it,” said Mangan, known as one of the best major league groundskeepers in the country. “It’s always good to see the kids’ faces and reaction to seeing it for the first time. We want to give them what we give the professionals, which is the opportunity to go and play on a good field.”

Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution