They Should Have Found Better Way to Pass the Buck

Bob (Buck) Rodgers managed the California Angels with two screws inside his left knee and more screws inside his right elbow. He was fired Tuesday by an organization with more than a few screws loose.

Just another crazy day here at Seraphic Park.

Only a guardian angel kept Rodgers from literally giving his life for the Angels. He rode Row 1, Seat 1 on the Charter From Hell, a bus that capsized on May 21, 1992, on the turnpike between New York and Baltimore. He came home on a slab. I met his plane at LAX only to find Rodgers motionless, speechless, sedated to the max. They loaded him into a van like cargo. He limped back to work three months later, using crutches, held together by wire, nuts and bolts, lucky not to be wearing a halo.

Bob Rodgers gave at the office. Gave until it hurt.

Only to be told to clear out his desk.

How come?

None of your damn business, that’s how come.

Don’t ask. Apparently, you, Mr. Big A baseball fan, do not deserve to know. Apparently, you, Ms. Anaheim Stadium season-ticket holder, are not entitled to an explanation. Trust us. We have our reasons.

There. Satisfied?

We needed a change of direction.

There. Understand? Oh, and if this 0-for-Ever, Orange County sandlot team had still been in first place, as it was a few days ago, would the manager still have been given directions to the Interstate 5 ramp and told to take a hike?

Yes! Definitely. Mmmm, well, probably.

And you thought George Steinbrenner was nutty.

Where did Rodgers go wrong?

Bill Bavasi, veep and GM: “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to read my name in the paper criticizing Buck Rodgers.”

Richard Brown, prez and CEO: “If this is perceived by some as merely change for change’s sake, so be it.”

Leaving us free to speculate.

1. Buck ticked somebody off.

2. Buck alienated the players.

3. Buck mismanaged.

4. Buck said the Angels should move to Baltimore.

5. Buck was a bad dude.

No, as to that, Bavasi said, still speaking no evil, “We are talking here about a real good guy. Buck did not survive this long as a baseball manager without some skills. Quality human beings aren’t that easy to come by, and he’s one.”

So, what then? Because he wasn’t going to win the pennant? Because he wasn’t equipped to beat out Joe Carter, Paul Molitor, John Olerud and Roberto Alomar by using Chad Curtis, Gary DiSarcina, Eduardo Perez and Damion Easley? Because he wasn’t prepared to go to war in the World Series with Game 3 pitting Phil Leftwich against Tom Glavine and with Game 4 pitting John Farrell against John Smoltz? Because he wasn’t working miracles or wasn’t using Mark Langston and Chuck Finley on two days’ rest or what?

Gentlemen?

Bavasi: “My action has spoken loud enough.”

Brown: “Because it’s May and because this team has a chance to win the pennant and because we don’t want to wait to make our move.”

The move being Marcel Lachemann.

Lots of luck, Latch.

As an expert pitching coach, the first thing Lachemann will recognize is that the Angels lack expert pitching. This staff is still Langston, Finley & Pray for Quake.

Well, welcome to another round of can-the-manager. There are office pools--fairly sick ones--and fantasy leagues wherein one of the prizes goes to whoever can pick the first manager to be fired. Usually you can count on Cleveland or the Cubs. Or now that Disgorge ‘Em George is back running the Yankees, you might expect him to dump his manager during a 10-game winning streak. Believe me, Buck Rodgers hardly seemed the most likely to bite the dirt.

He worked and talked a good game. He survived the bus crash and came back strong. He kept the club in the 1993 race until midsummer, without Bryan Harvey, without Jim Abbott, without Kelly Gruber, with a lineup carried by a rookie right fielder. All around baseball, ex-Angels excelled, from Dave Winfield to Devon White to Dante Bichette to Mark McLemore, while the manager of the Angels played the hands he was dealt.

It wore on him. Buck can be blunt. He doesn’t pull his punches. That was Buck on the mound Monday night, chewing out Leftwich, begging him to throw the damn ball across the damn plate.

Too bad when he walked back, the manager never glanced at the dugout wall. The writing was there. It wasn’t his pitcher who was on the way out, it was him. Somewhere upstairs, Bavasi was dialing directory assistance.

“Miami listing, please. For a Mr. Lachemann? No, not that Mr. Lachemann. The other Mr. Lachemann.”

How long had Bavasi been thinking about this?

“For a considered amount of time.”

For a long time?

“What is your concept of a long time?” Bavasi asked.

Since spring training?

“No, not that long.”

Since when, then?

“I am not prepared to say.”

All he would confirm is that the Angels had a new manager. Somebody else gets front row on the bus.

Will the Angels win the pennant now? In this century? I am not prepared to say. It could mean reading something negative in the paper.