Angels Manager Mike Scioscia wants his players to be safe at home
Manager Mike Scioscia loves the youthful exuberance that players such as third baseman Luis Jimenez and outfielder Collin Cowgill have brought to the injury-battered Angels, who have won 12 of 15 games entering Sunday’s series finale against the Texas Rangers in Anaheim.
But both players probably went a little overboard in their attempts to score while Texas catcher A.J. Pierzynski was blocking the plate in Saturday night’s 8-3 win over the Rangers.
Cowgill, waved around third on Jimenez’s second-inning double to left field, was tagged out after he slid past home and tried to reach back and touch the plate with his left hand. Jimenez suffered a left-thumb injury when he slid head-first into the plate while scoring on Grant Green’s sacrifice fly to center in the second.
On both plays, Pierzynski set up in a standing position directly between the plate and the runners, essentially forcing Cowgill and Jimenez to go through him or around him.
Neither Angels player chose wisely.
“You definitely do not do what Lucho did, going head-first, absolutely not,” Scioscia said. “And definitely don’t slide around the plate and try to tag it with your hand like Collin did because you’re actually making the base path three or four feet longer. You’re there, but you’re past the plate when you tag it.
“The best way, and I think it will come back into vogue when you start to see more injuries, is the late, hard slide with your leg through the middle or through the catcher’s leg. You want to go feet first, get that foot through that hole to the plate.”
A former Dodgers catcher known for absorbing his share of violent collisions, Scioscia knows how effective a good, hard, clean slide into the plate can be.
“I’ve been on the other end,” Scioscia said. “Tim Raines was like a bowling ball. He slid late, slid hard, and even at times when I had a knee down, he’d slide right through it. That’s the way you have to approach that play.
“Lucho and Collin play hard, they want to win, and you don’t want to take that passion to play away. But you do have to sculpt it a little bit and let guys know the plays you want them to stay away from.”
ALSO:
Painful season ends early for outfielder Peter Bourjos
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
