Cookie Deserved Better Than Angels Gave Him

The Angels have done worse things than fire Cookie Rojas. Now if you’ll just give me a moment, maybe I’ll think of one.

Let’s see. . . . Well, they once paid free agents Bill Travers and John D’Acquisto lots of money to imitate major league pitchers. Owner Gene Autry dipped pretty deep into his saddlebags for those two.

What else? They let Nolan Ryan go, a monumental goof if there ever was one. They bid Don Baylor a not-so-fond farewell. They did the same with Tommy John.

But those are players, not managers. Managers deserve a special category. After all, theirs is such an imprecise profession. They can’t hit, pitch, run, throw or catch, yet they are held accountable for all that happens on and sometimes off the playing field. They are professional watchers. The only statistic anybody keeps on managers is wins and losses.

Which brings us to Rojas, who received his pink slip and a trip to the Angel trap door Friday. Turns out he had too few victories and too many detractors. And if you’re keeping score, too few chances.

Rojas probably went down like the loyal soldier he is: without much fuss, gracious in defeat. He might have disagreed with the decision, but what could he do--file a grievance? Alert the ACLU? Refuse?

Imagine the conversation:

General Manager Mike Port: “At this point in time, I’m afraid said circumstances dictate a redirection of focus, thus our implementation of change.”

Rojas: “Say what?”

Port: “You’re fired.”

Rojas deserved better, beginning with a contract extension rather than the heave-ho. At the very least, he deserved the right to finish the season as he began it: as the Angel manager.

Instead, the Angels said enough was enough. Rojas had had his moment in the sun and got burned by it. Next, please.

What Rojas really got was a no-win situation. He wasn’t the Little General; he was the Big Question Mark.

Could he succeed the living legend, Gene Mauch?

How would he overcome his glaring absence of major league managing experience?

Could he inspire a team picked to finish in the bottom half of the AL West?

Now we’ll never know. Apparently 154 games is the Angel limit for patience. Mauch finishes in last place in 1987 and is welcomed back. Rojas is headed toward fourth and gets canned. Go figure.

Rojas wasn’t perfect. Then again, neither were the circumstances in which the job was offered.

One day, all is well. Mauch is the manager. Optimism abounds at Angel spring training.

The next day, Mauch is gone. Bronchitis. Rojas, the caretaker during Mauch’s initial absence, is offered the position. He accepts, just weeks before the season is to start. So much for the company orientation program.

Rojas made mistakes. Plenty. Some of his game strategies were suspect. Then again, so were some of his players.

Wally Joyner has driven in nearly 90 runs this year and hit close to .300. But where was he during the Angels the team’s early-season slump? Same goes for Mike Witt, who added to Angel woes (and Rojas’) by starting 1-6.

The Angels shouldn’t have fired Rojas, they should have apologized to him. They gave him a left fielder who wanted to play second base. They gave him a right fielder who would be anyone else’s designated hitter. They gave him enough adversity for two seasons.

Here, Cookie, win while Kirk McCaskill, Dan Petry, Devon White, Mark McLemore, Donnie Moore and Butch Wynegar take turns on the disabled list. Win with inconsistent starting pitching. Win with the Edmonton Angels.

I’ll always wonder what Rojas could have done with a better team, a healthier team. I know this much: Mauch or Moses couldn’t have led this bunch to a division title this year.

And inspire? How do you inspire a team that plays as if it had given up weeks ago? Good thing that cable network is through with this season’s Angel broadcasts. Anymore games and it would have had to change its name to the Zzzzzz Channel. As for the upcoming Fan Appreciation Day, word is that the Angels will hand out cars, trips and regrets. Those team photos? Black bars have been stripped across the faces.

So Rojas is gone, a blip in Angel history. He lasted long enough to prove it wasn’t all his fault, that Port and Angel players could have and should have been held as accountable as Rojas was.

But they weren’t. They never are.