Expansion Adventures : Managing the Leftovers, Leftouts, Never-Weres and Never-Would-Bes

They were leftovers and leftouts, never-weres and never-would-bes, and the assignment for Bill Rigney was to pick through this jigsaw puzzle of names and assemble a major league roster.

And by the way, Rig, try to do a decent job, since you’re going to be managing them.

“I knew it would be a challenge,” Rigney said, remembering how he put together an expansion roster for the Los Angeles Angels in December, 1961, the same job facing Florida and Colorado on Tuesday. “You knew one thing. The players who were made available were there because their teams either thought they were not that good or they might not be taken.”

Rigney was hired by the Angels on a Saturday and two days later found himself in the American League offices, set to draft a team. Fortunately, old pal Chub Feeney, who had fired him as San Francisco manager in June, let Rigney look at the Giants’ American League scouting reports so it wasn’t entirely a game of blind man’s bluff.

“Chub told me, ‘Remember, you’ve got no farm system. Take a gamble on some young players,’ ” Rigney said. “Still, we were in the same city as the Dodgers so we had to draft some names.”

The young players included shortstop Jim Fregosi, catcher Bob Rodgers and pitcher Dean Chance, all plucked from A ball. Among the names were first baseman Ted Kluszewski, outfielder Bob Cerv and the No. 1 pick, pitcher Eli Grba.

When Rigney was asked about Chance, the manager had a ready reply. “I told people, ‘He’s got a great name, Dean Chance. You know, a combination of Dizzy Dean and Frank Chance,’ ” he said.

And, according to Rigney’s scouting report, he also had a live arm that once produced 21 strikeouts in a seven-inning minor league game. In 1964, Chance won 20 games and the American League Cy Young Award with a 1.65 earned run average and 11 shutouts, five of them 1-0 victories.

“He was the best right arm I ever managed,” Rigney said.

Plus, he had that great name.

The expansion lists were spread on a chair that separated the Angels representatives--Rigney and general manager Fred Haney--and Washington GM Ed Doherty and manager Mickey Vernon.

“We picked by position, pitchers first,” Rigney said. “We flipped a coin and we kept winning the flips. Haney said, ‘That’s not right. Let them pick first. What do you care?’

“Kansas City had been bad for years and the Yankees were awfully good. We ended up with six Yankees and one KC guy. Washington had six Kansas City players and one Yankee. Ed Doherty said, ‘That’s no good. What will my owner say? They’ve been last.’

“Haney said, ‘Let’s change places. What do you care?’ We wound up with Ned Garver, who couldn’t pitch anymore, and some other guy.”

Rigney’s team set an expansion record, winning 70 games in 1961. A year later, they unexpectedly found themselves in the thick of the American League pennant race. “We won 86 games the second year,” Rigney said. “It was unheard of.”

The next year, the Angels returned to reality, scuffling along, picking up help where they could find it.

Jimmy Piersall had been released by the Mets shortly after commemorating his 100th career home run by running backwards around the bases. The outfielder, known for zany, sideshow shenanigans showed up in Rigney’s clubhouse, looking for a job.

“He said, ‘Rig, I’m in shape. Am I better than what you’ve got?’ I didn’t have a lot. I called Haney and said, ‘Piersall’s available.’ He said, ‘No!’

“I said, ‘He’s better than what I’ve got.’ He said, ‘No.’ ”

The manager hung up and within minutes the clubhouse phone rang. It was Haney, calling back. “He said we could sign him but there could be no goofy stuff, no climbing walls,” Rigney said.

The deal was done.

“We signed him for the same money the Mets were paying him,” Rigney said. “I told him no goofy stuff. He said, ‘You’ve got my word.’ We worked him out for two days in New York and then we bussed to Boston. He was ready. I figured I’d lead him off against the Red Sox, his old team. The fans gave him a standing ovation. I thought, ‘This is great.’

“The first pitch of the game is a high strike. The umpire calls it a strike. Piersall rips off his hat and bumps the ump before I can get there. He’s out of the game and suspended for three days. Before I get back to the bench, the phone’s ringing. It was Haney telling me how much he appreciated how I had Piersall under control.”

Rigney recalls those early Angel days with a sense of warmth. He managed the team for nine years, staying on the job longer and winning more games than any other expansion manager.

“It’s not easy,” he said. “It made me a better manager. These players are available because somebody didn’t want them. I learned about pitchers. Here were guys 6-11, 8-12. Maybe people were asking them to do what they couldn’t do. That’s the most important thing.

“I see people predict these teams won’t win 50. They said the same thing about us. We won 70 the first year and almost won the pennant the second.”

It is a model the Marlins and Rockies hope to repeat.