Page 259 - 2021 ATL Media Guide

MINOR LEAGUE ROVING COORDINATORS
Doug mansolino FRONT OFFICE

FIELD COORDINATOR
• The 2021 season is Doug • Between his major-league stints with the Tigers and
Mansolino's third as the Atlanta Astros, he spent two seasons, 2003-04, with the Pitts-
Braves' field coordinator...He is burgh Pirates as the roving infield instructor and defen-
in his 37th year coaching in pro- sive coordinator.
fessional baseball, 14 of which • Mansolino's first experience on a major-league staff
have come on major-league staffs...The Braves are his came with the Chicago White Sox, over a five-year pe- MANAGER & STAFF
ninth organization. riod, 1992-96, as first base coach, third base coach and
• He was hired by Atlanta in October of 2018 after spend- infield instructor.
ing the previous 11 seasons with the Philadelphia Phil- • He had nine total seasons in the White Sox organiza-
lies, including the last five as field coordinator. tion, spending the first four in their minor-league sys-
• Mansolino joined the Phillies in 2008 as the infield co- tem: field coordinator (1988), roving infield instructor
ordinator and also spent much of the season managing (1989) and defensive coordinator (1990-91).
the Gulf Coast League Phillies (R) to the league cham- • Following his time with the White Sox, he managed one
pionship. season, 1997, in the New York Mets farm system. PLAYER BIOS
• During his time with Philadelphia, he served a short stint • Mansolino began his coaching career in the San Fran-
with the major-league club as interim bench coach in cisco Giants organization as a roving infield instructor
2008, the year the Phillies won the World Series. and Triple-A coach, 1985-87.
• In 2017, he was the recipient of the John Vukovich • Mansolino also spent the 1989, 1990 and 1991 off-
Award, which is presented annually to an instructor seasons as a special instructor for two of Korea’s ma-
in the Phillies organization that embodies the charac- jor-league clubs...In 1995, he managed Caribes de Ori-
teristics of the award’s namesake; loyalty, knowledge, ente in the Venezuelan Winter League SEASON IN REVIEW
dedication, competitiveness, honesty and a terrific • During his experience on major-league staffs, Mansoli-
work ethic. no instructed five Hall of Famers: Jeff Bagwell, Craig
• Prior to joining the Phillies, Mansolino spent three Biggio, Carlton Fisk, Tim Raines and Frank Thomas.
years, 2005-07, as the Houston Astros third base coach • He graduated from California State University at Long
under manager Phil Garner...In 2006, he was the third Beach with a bachelor of arts in physical education.
base coach for the National League All-Stars. • Mansolino, 64, and his wife, Cindy, have three kids,
• Mansolino also worked under Garner with the Milwau- Nick, Tony and Ariana, and reside in Tennessee...Tony
kee Brewers, 1998-99, and the Detroit Tigers, 2000- is in his first season as the Baltimore Orioles' third base PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
02, in three different roles: first base coach, third base coach.
coach and bench coach.

jD CLosser

CATCHING COORDINATOR BRAVES HISTORY
• JD Closser is in his second • The Indiana native played in parts of three major-league
season as the Atlanta Braves' seasons, all with Colorado, 2004-06...In 160 games, he
catching coordinator. hit .239 (107-for-447) with 10 home runs and 48 RBI.
• Prior to joining the Braves, he • Closser also played in the minor-league systems of Ar-
was in the New York Yankees organization for six sea- izona, Oakland, Milwaukee, New York-AL, San Diego,
sons, 2014-19, the last two of which he also served as Chicago-NL and Los Angeles-NL.
the catching coordinator. • He was selected by Arizona in the fifth round of the OPPONENTS
• In his first four seasons with New York, he was a mi- 1998 First-Year Player Draft out of Alexandria-Monroe
nor-league coach...He served on Single-A Tampa's staff High School in Alexandria, Ind.
for his first two years, before becoming Double-A Tren- • Closser, 41, and his wife, Holley, reside in Garner, N.C...
ton's bullpen coach in 2016. The couple has three daughters, Isabelle, Callie Mak-
• Before his time with the Yankees, Closser spent two enna and Maebry.
years working as a coach in the USA Baseball National
Team development programs. MISCELLANEOUS

2021 ATLANTA BRAVES MEDIA GUIDE 259