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Why I Am A Mike Scioscia Fan

May 14th, 2013

The Jose Guillen decision was a defining moment in Mike Scioscia's tenure with the Angels.

The Jose Guillen decision was a defining moment in Mike Scioscia’s tenure with the Angels.

When Mike Scioscia was a player for the Los Angeles Dodgers,  I was a teenager and a young twenty-something.  I wasn’t jealous of the Dodgers for having Scioscia because the Angels had Brian Downing, Bob Boone, and Lance Parrish catching during that stretch of time, and those three were no joke, but I did admire Scioscia’s play on the field.

He was always a decent hitter, for a catcher.  He hit two key home runs for the Dodgers in the post-season against the Expos in 1981 and the Mets in 1988.  What made him stand out, though, was his defense.  When he strapped on the face mask, chest protector, and shin guards, he was a force to be reckoned with.  Calling a game, knocking down wild pitches, standing up and shouting instructions to infielders at key points of the game, he was the epitome of what a field general should be.  He was regularly in the top five in the National League in catcher assists, double plays turned by a catcher, and runners caught stealing.  And blocking the plate?  Forget about it.  A base runner might as well have been trying to collide with the Empire State Building.

After his playing days, he served as a coach for Dodgers manager Bill Russell in 1997 and 1998.  When Russell was fired, the Dodgers went against most people’s expectations and snubbed Scioscia for the newly vacant manager’s seat, hiring Davey Johnson instead.  Scioscia was put on the back-burner in the Dodgers’ organization in 1999 and was sent to manage the Triple-A Albuquerque Dukes.

In 2000, the Angels came calling, and Scioscia jumped at the opportunity.  And what he brought to the team was exactly what it needed to enter the most successful era in franchise history.

The prevalent  philosophy in the American League at the time of Scioscia’s hire was to win by getting two runners on base and then hitting a three-run homer.  Scioscia’s teams always had sluggers, but he added small ball to the mix.  “Get ‘em on, get ‘em over, and get ‘em in” became the mantra for the Angels’ offense.  Productive outs, taking the extra base, bunting, and stealing all became part of the Angels’ repertoire.  It made for exciting baseball to watch.

I quickly became a fan of Mike Scioscia, the manager.

And then a couple of years later the World Series happened.

But what really finalized my standing as a Mike Scioscia fan is what happened at the end of the 2004 season.  The Angels were pushing the Oakland A’s for the division lead and a spot in the playoffs, and on September 25 the two teams were playing each other.  The score was tied 3-3 when Angels left fielder Jose Guillen was hit by a pitch in the eighth inning.  Scioscia replaced him with a pinch runner, Alfredo Amezaga, and Guillen was not happy.  He threw a tantrum when he entered the dugout, throwing his arms up into the air in a why-the-hell-did-you-do-that gesture, throwing his batting helmet across the dugout to where Scioscia was standing, slamming his glove against the wall.

Scioscia couldn’t sleep that night.  This wasn’t the first incident Guillen had had during his time with the Angels, but he was the second best hitter on the team that year (to Vladimir Guerrero).  Guillen was hitting .294 with 27 home runs and 104 RBI.  The Angels were just two games behind division-leading Oakland and a couple weeks away from the playoffs, but Guillen was undermining Scioscia’s authority and dissolving the cohesion a team needs to win baseball games.

Scioscia talked to general manager Bill Stoneman, and they decided to suspend Guillen not just for the rest of the season, but for the playoffs as well.  I admired Scioscia for having the courage to bench his second best player while standing at the gates of the playoffs.  Not many men would have done that.

Angels starting pitcher Jarrod Washburn had this to say at the time:

As players, we support the decision 100 percent. I was surprised, but I wasn’t shocked. Are we happy? No, because he did contribute. Was it necessary? Probably.

But now the Angels are in a rut, experiencing a three-year playoff drought.  Fans’ expectations are high (as they should be) and the fans are demanding a change.  But I don’t blame Scioscia.  Even Jimmie Johnson would come in last place in a NASCAR race if the car he’s driving has a 140-horsepower Honda Civic engine in it.  Over the last two years, this team needed pitching, but during those offseasons the Angels spent the bulk of their budget signing hitting instead.  The Angels need smarter decision making in the front office.  Maybe Jerry Dipoto needs to go.  (If he does, former Dodgers assistant GM Kim Ng could be available.  Imagine the Angels hiring the first female general manager in baseball.)

But if Arte Moreno truly is considering firing Mike Scioscia, I hope he thinks about this final tidbit.  Mike Scioscia is one of the best managers in the game.  He speaks Spanish, he’s funny, and he keeps his players well-prepared.  Baseball players want to play for Scioscia, and because of this, he is one of the deciding factors in persuading free agents and players who have control over their trades to come to the Angels.  And if the Angels are ever going to retool their roster and become a championship team again, a manager like Scioscia is what they need.

Game 38: Butler Serves the Angels Another Loss

May 14th, 2013

Final Score: Royals 11, Angels 4

Halos Daily Player of the Game: Pass

Luis Mendoza and Kansas City were just the latest team to annihilate Joe Blanton and the Angels, recording 19 hits and defeating the lifeless Halos 11-4 in a royal ass kicking. Blanton threw only 4 2/3 innings, somehow finding a way to allow 12 hits in that span even though it sounds impossible. The Royals scored seven runs off Blanton to knock him out of the game and force Mike Scioscia to go to the bullpen early. But hey, he didn’t walk anybody and he struck out seven. That’s almost a quality start for 2013 Joe Blanton.

Mendoza had struggled this season before facing the Angels. In 24 innings, he walked 13 batters and allowed 20 runs. Nothing a game against the Angels can’t fix! Mendoza earned the quality start and the win, scattering six hits over six innings, allowing three runs, and striking out six Angels while not allowing a free pass. Nothing spectacular, but when you’re facing Joe Blanton, you pretty much just have to pitch better than a corpse to earn the victory.

Week 7: Angels Continue Trek into Darkness

May 13th, 2013
Chris Sale, AWOLNATION's favorite baseball player.

Chris Sale, AWOLNATION’s favorite baseball player.

Well at least Mike Trout is producing again. The Angels rocked the baseball world last week, compiling a 3-3 record. Progress! But seriously, they’re now 10 games back and have the fourth worst run differential in baseball. They’re bad and they’re not making the playoffs. Moving on.

Trout struggled out of the gate this April, hitting only .261 despite a .314 BABIP. And, perhaps even more concerning, he stole only four bases, even though he’s on the short list of fastest players in baseball. Once May rolled around, though, Trout remembered that he enjoyed being really good at baseball.

Game 37: Sale Throws One-hitter

May 13th, 2013
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Despite appearances, Chris Sale’s pink Mother’s Day balance necklace did not get in his way yesterday.

 

Final Score:  White Sox 3, Angels 0

Halos Daily Player of the Game:  Mike Trout (1-3, SB)

This game was all Chris Sale, the starting pitcher for the Chicago White Sox.  He stood on the mound on a chilly night at US Cellular Field and mowed down Angel batter after Angel batter.  At 6-foot-6, he could be great at what Mark Gubicza promotes, pitching downhill, but instead he comes at you side-armed, his long left-handed wing sweeping across the first base side of the infield, his hand seemingly reaching into the ChiSox dugout, before unleashing a 95-mph fastball, an 80-mph slider, or an 83-mph change-up exactly where he wants to throw it.

For six innings, all the Angels could manage were ground ball outs, fly ball outs, and strike outs.  No hits, no walks.  Sale was working on perfection.  He sat alone on the dugout bench while his team was up to bat, the magnetism of superstition pushing away silent teammates wearing the same uniform as he.

When the Angels came up to bat in the top of the seventh inning, trying to scratch out something against the masterful Sale, Alberto Callaspo started things off by hitting the eighth ground ball out the Chicago pitcher had induced that night.  But then it was Mike Trout’s turn up to bat.  He had struck out swinging and hit a harmless fly ball out in his previous attempts at figuring Sale out.  In this at bat, he laid off two balls from the lanky hurler, and on the next pitch hit a ground ball that was just out of reach of shortstop Alexi Ramirez.  Trout found himself standing safely at first, having just saved the Angels the embarrassment of being no-hit.

Angels starting pitcher CJ Wilson kept the Halos in the game for six innings, but his luck ran out in the seventh.  With one out in the inning, he issued a walk to catcher Tyler Flowers and then a single to second baseman Tyler Greene.  A double play would have saved Wilson, but he threw an 0-2 breaking ball away to center fielder Alejandro De Aza that was too wild for Chris Iannetta to handle, and the runners advanced, taking away the inning ending double-play.  De Aza ended up hitting a grounder to Albert Pujols, and the runners stayed put, but Wilson gave up a two-RBI single to the next batter, shortstop Alexei Ramirez, and that was all the White Sox would need to win the game.

Random Notes:  When I saw the eighties retro uniforms the White Sox were wearing, I immediately thought of Steve Trout, the White Sox starting pitcher from that era who seemed to beat the Angels every time they played the Chisox.

Even though he made three outs, Josh Hamilton looked good at the plate.  He hit the ball instead of striking out.  I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but so far with the Angels, Hamilton has been swinging late on most of the pitches he takes a hack at, either missing altogether or hitting a foul ball to the third base side of the stadium.  Last night he hit to either the center or the right side of the field.  I love the way he hustles down the line on ground balls.  I thought he beat out the throw on the grounder he hit in the fifth inning, but umpires rarely call you safe on a play like that, especially if you are on the visiting team.  I’ve also been impressed with his play in right field.  He covers a lot of ground, and even though his throws aren’t the most accurate, he does have a strong throwing arm.

Angels relief pitcher Ryan Madson is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with the Inland Empire 66ers today.

New Angels relief pitcher Robert Coello is a beast.  He stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 250 pounds.  In the six years he has spent in the minors, he averaged 10 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched.

White Sox third baseman Jeff Keppinger has the second-best walk-up music in baseball:  Rush’s “Tom Sawyer.”

White Sox manager Robin Ventura came in third in last year’s American League Manager of the Year Award voting, and now his team is in last place.  Yet another example of an acclaimed manager suddenly forgetting how to be a good manager.

What’s up with attendance in baseball this year?  No matter whom the Angels play, the stadiums always appear to be at least halfway empty.  Thank goodness for all that TV money teams have coming to them.

Halo History: White Sox Are First Guests at Big A

May 11th, 2013
The day it all began, Tuesday, April 19, 1996.

Opening Day ceremonies for the first ever regular season baseball game at Anaheim Stadium, Tuesday, April 19, 1966.

When Gene Autry agreed to become the owner of the American League’s expansion Los Angeles Angels in November of 1960, he had only three and a half months to create a baseball team from scratch as the team was expected to begin play in the spring of 1961.  One of the last things on Autry’s priority list when making his team was building a stadium for his team to play in.  Subsequently, the Angels played at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles from 1961 to 1962.  The team then shared Dodger Stadium with Peter O’Malley’s team from 1963 to 1965 (although officially the Angels had to refer to the stadium as “Chavez Ravine”).

Autry almost made a deal with the city of Long Beach to build a stadium for him, but they insisted the team be called the Long Beach Angels, and Autry didn’t think that was a financially viable name.  One of the reasons why the city of Anaheim was able to broker a deal with Autry was because they were agreeable to the club being called the California Angels.  Builder Del Webb was contracted to begin building Anaheim Stadium in 1964 for 24 million dollars.  Roughly two years later, in 1966, Anaheim Stadium, with its giant “Big A” scoreboard towering over left field, was open for business.

The first game took place on Tuesday, April 19, 1966 as the Angels hosted the Chicago White Sox for a three game series.  Walt Disney and Ronald Reagan were both in attendance, and they got to witness the first base hit at the Big A and the first home run ever hit at the Big A.

Halos Daily

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