Twenty in the News : Orange County Sports Scene, From Everett to Mistri and a Whole Lot In Between

Some were movers, others were shakers, all of them helped to shape the Orange County sports year into what it was, and wasn’t.

The OC 20 for 1993:

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1 Jim Everett--Is that all there is? Is this how the Anaheim chapter of The Next Marino closes, with Everett--decent fellow, off-the-field do-gooder, holder of the key to the city in 1989--driven to the sideline, derided as scourge of the franchise, down to counting the days until he is mercifully tendered his release? And if the Rams do indeed move to Baltimore, will Everett be remembered as the reason why--the quarterback whose collapse caused the team to collapse, which in turn caused the fans to stop coming, which gave John Shaw the daylight he needed to run an off-tackle across the country? If only Ronnie Lott hadn’t tracked down that long, high lob, with Flipper Anderson in the clear . . .

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2 Baltimore--Get your grubby paws off our football team. We can’t be distracted while we’re devising ways to get our grubby paws on the Clippers.

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3 The Autrys--If they are truly getting ready to sell the team, their decision to carve the payroll, to attract prospective buyers, can be tolerated--even encouraged. The sooner the better. If not, the past two years are unforgivable.

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4 Jerome Bettis--What’s this? A Ram running back who doesn’t fumble, who contends for league rushing titles, who is Pro Bowl worthy--and likable to boot? Just our luck; by 1995, he’ll be leading Baltimore to the NFC playoffs.

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5 Tim Salmon--Bettis, Salmon, the Mighty Ducks--it was the year of the rookie in Anaheim in 1993. Salmon became the first Angel to win the American League rookie of the year award, achieving something Wally Joyner, Devon White, Jim Abbott and Bryan Harvey couldn’t. Look where that got them, too.

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6 Darryl Henley--The charges leading to his indictment for alleged cocaine trafficking made up the ugliest story of 1993. No Ram had a worse year than Henley, whose once-promising career as a defensive back could be shut down for good when his case goes to trial next spring.

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7-8 J.T. Snow and T.J. Rubley--J.T. and T.J., the rookie first baseman and the rookie quarterback, linked by initials, work address and work habits. Who was the real J.T.? The second coming of Don Mattingly in April and September? Or the second coming of Lee Stevens in between? Who was the real T.J.? A reason to believe, given his two swashbuckling relief outings? Or a reason to draft Heath Shuler, given his transgressions in six appearances as a starter?

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9 Ron Wilson--Traditionally, expansion hockey coaches exhibit a shorter shelf life than a can of fruit cocktail. Traditionally, expansion hockey coaches are out of playoff contention by Halloween. Forty games into his Mighty Ducks’ first season, Wilson is showing himself to be no traditionalist.

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10-11 Guy Hebert and Ron Tugnutt--Hebert was the first Mighty Duck chosen in the expansion draft, Tugnutt was the first Mighty Duck to predict a playoff berth in 1994. Our immediate reaction: “Poor Hebert, he’s so unfortunate.” “Poor Tugnutt, he’s got a loose lug nut.” Three months into the inaugural season, they are reasons 1A and 1B as to why the Ducks have stopped the laughing. Their goaltending has kept the Ducks in enough games to make most of them worth watching.

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12 Chuck Knox--One step forward in ‘92, two steps back in ’93. For the first time in his 20-year head coaching career, the Knox touch hasn’t taken, and these Rams, incredibly, will end their season in worse condition than the nightmare Rams of ‘91, regardless of won-loss record. Back then, at least, the Rams knew who their quarterback was going to be.

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13 Chili Davis--The designated hitter who came in from the cold and drove in a career-high 112 runs. Where would the Angels have been without Chili and Salmon? Starving, no doubt.

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14 Ex-Angels On Parade--Dave Winfield collects the 3,000th hit of his career . . . as a Minnesota Twin. Devon White wins his second consecutive World Series . . . as a Toronto Blue Jay. Jim Abbott pitches his first no-hitter . . . as a New York Yankee. Bryan Harvey saves 45 games . . . as a Florida Marlin. That’s right, rub it in.

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15 Luis Polonia--Standing on the on-deck circle. Upcoming New York Daily News headline, slated for November 1994: Polonia Adds Gold Glove To World Series MVP Trophy.

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16 Jack Ferreira--General manager of the clearest-thinking, most competent sports front office in Orange County. Faint praise, I know, but you get the point. Some days, Ferreira must feel like the proverbial parched sailor on the ocean life raft--all this Disney money around him and none of it his to spend. With a skinflint budget, Ferreira and his assistant, Pierre Gauthier, pieced together as good a roster as could be expected, then hired the right coach to wring the most out of it. Trading a third-round draft choice for Todd Ewen and Patrik Carnback was another stroke. Saying no to Jimmy Carson was another still.

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17 Reggie Jackson--It isn’t every day an Angel makes the Hall of Fame. Now, who will be the first to go in wearing the cap and togs of the Angels? Reggie went in as a Yankee. Next, Don Sutton, maybe, as a Dodger. Down the road: Nolan Ryan, as a Ranger . . . Winfield, as a Yankee or Padre . . . Harvey, as a Marlin.

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18 Todd Marinovich--From Starting Raider Quarterback in 1992 to . . . where ? Someone put a letter in a bottle and send it floating today. Write: “Dear Todd, The NFL just added new teams in Carolina and Jacksonville. Established teams down to starting Bubby Brister, Rich Gannon, Steve DeBerg, Wade Wilson, David Klinger and T.J. Rubley. Phone home. Job waiting.”

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19 John Robinson--The old Ram coach returned to coaching, returned to USC and returned to Anaheim Stadium, twice, where he lost to North Carolina in the Pigskin Classic and held off Utah in the Freedom Bowl. That Freedom Bowl ended an 0-6 streak for Robinson in Anaheim, where he hadn’t won since Oct. 13, 1991.

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20 Al Mistri--His Cal State Fullerton soccer team was a mystery, all right, until the Titans upset Fresno State, San Diego and San Francisco--all on the road--to reach the NCAA semifinals, where they lost, admirably, to South Carolina, 1-0, in the semifinals. Mistri did it all, too, on $7,500 and a pat on the back. In the Year of the Shoestring in Orange County, no one made better use of his than Mistri.