INHISIMAGE SCIOSCIA HAS APPLIED WHAT HE LEARNED AS A DODGER TO MAKING THE ANGELS A WINNER.Byline: PAUL OBERJUERGE ANAHEIM - Mike Scioscia n. One given to or known for making quips. , like Ozzie Guillen. He isn't a sage, like Tony La Russa. He isn't larger than life larg·er than life adj. Very impressive or imposing: "This is a person of surpassing integrity; a man of the utmost sincerity; somewhat larger than life" Joyce Carol Oates. , like Joe Torre  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. . He will never be
known as The Old Perfessor, The Lip or Little Napoleon.
He doesn't boast that he bleeds Angels red. He doesn't appeal to The Big Angel in the Sky. None of that keeps him, however, from being the best manager in baseball. Not just the best in SoCal, a no-brainer as long as Grady Little William Grady Little (born March 30, 1950 in Abilene, Texas) is a manager in Major League Baseball. He guided the Boston Red Sox from 2002 to 2003, and has been manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2006. starts Juan Pierre Juan D'Vaughn Pierre (born August 14, 1977 in Mobile, Alabama), is a professional baseball center fielder who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He bats and throws left-handed. In his seven years through 2006, Pierre has batted . every day. Not just the best in Angels history, though his numbers clearly say he is. The best in baseball. Yes, Mike Scioscia. Low-key, low-maintenance, charisma-challenged Mike Scioscia. You take the field; I will take Sosh. Have you seen the Angels the past few years? I mean, really looked at them? Vladimir Guerrero Vladimir Alvino Guerrero (born February 9, 1976 in Don Gregorio, Nizao, Dominican Republic), and known in his native Dominican Republic as Miquéas (Spanish for Micah), is a Major League Baseball right fielder who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. , a couple of decent right-handers, two guys in the bullpen and some kids who run a little. That's about it. If you want to talk big-name talent, don't linger over Verb 1. linger over - delay dwell on hesitate, waffle, waver - pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness; "Authorities hesitate to quote exact figures" Anaheim. Try New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of (Yankees or Mets). Boston. Detroit. Or Texas, Atlanta, Philadelphia. The Dodgers, even. Yet the Angels keep on keepin' on. They are 61-42, en route to their fourth consecutive winning season (an Angels first) and perhaps their fourth postseason appearance (and third division title) in six seasons. Given their sorry history, their first 40 years, and the guys Scioscia is running out there of late, all that is remarkable. On Saturday, they started Robb Quinlan Robb William Quinlan (born March 17, 1977 in St. Paul, Minnesota) is a Major League Baseball player. He currently plays third base for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Quinlan graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1999, obtaining a degree in marketing and communications. , Jeff Mathis, Brandon Wood and Joe Saunders. Yes, in Anaheim. That is the stuff from which Scioscia has wrought success almost from Game 1, in 2000. Journeymen, utility men and children. He has a winning percentage of .541 in 1,237 games, which might not seem like knock-your-socks-off success until we note that eight of the 16 managers in the Hall of Fame (including Tommy Lasorda, Leo Durocher and Casey Stengel) won less often than Scioscia has. What makes Scioscia special is a system and a mind-set, and he and his teams bring them to the ballpark. Every day. The irony, if you cheer for the team in Chavez Ravine, is that much of much of what Scioscia is and does comes out of his long career as a Dodgers catcher and coach. His first three catching instructors were Roy Campanella, John Roseboro and Del Crandall. He was in camp with Walter Alston and Lasorda. He learned how to manufacture runs the Dodgers way. The bunt, the steal, the hit and run. He was a key performer on the 1981 and 1988 championship teams. The latter was perhaps the least impressive collection of individual talent ever to win a World Series, but was a great team. Scioscia didn't hit much, certainly not for power, but he was a grinder Grinder A slang term for a person who works in the investment industry and makes small amounts of money at a time on small investments, over and over again. Notes: , a gamer and rarely fooled. He walked far more than he struck out, so his on-base percentage was much more impressive than his batting average. He had almost no footspeed, but as a catcher he understood the havoc a strong running game wreaks, and his Angels of late run the bases like burglars -- with a league-high 90 steals this season and a major-league best 81 advances from first to third on singles. Scioscia's Angels teams are in his image, and the Dodgers' -- of yesteryear yes·ter·year n. 1. The year before the present year. 2. Time past; yore. yes . They work the angles, take pitches, think one move ahead and maximize their potential. And they do it with a sort of blue-collar, lunch- bucket matter-of-factness that evokes opponents' admiration. They also are relentless. After the Angels rallied three weeks ago from a 9-3 deficit in New York to tie the Yankees (before losing 14-9), Alex Rodriguez said, "It just tells you how tough and competitive those guys are. It's a tribute to Mike Scioscia. They never stop." Ask Scioscia, who still lives in Westlake Village, of what he is most proud, seven-plus seasons in, and there is the 2002 World Series, of course. The habit of winning, for a franchise that never had one. There is the satisfaction of seeing two of his former assistants (Joe Maddon and Bud Black) managing their own teams. No. 1 on the list? The creation of an organizational culture in which there is an Angels way to do things. The right way. The Scioscia way. Making him the best manager in the game. paul.oberjuerge@sbsun.com (909) 386-3865 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) no caption (Mike Scioscia) (2 -- color) no caption (Mike Scioscia) |
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