Angels’ Moves Puzzle the Fans

Mike Lavin, a cement contractor from Mission Viejo who has had Angel season tickets for nine years, summed up the way the majority of Angel fans seem to feel about the firing of Buck Rodgers in two words: “It sucks.”

Of the more than 20 fans interviewed before Wednesday night’s game against Chicago, only one said the Angels might have been justified because Rodgers was “overly blunt” and refused to sing the company tune.

Most, however, agreed with Lavin.

“I thought they were finally going the right way, going with youth instead of bringing in one has-been after another,” Lavin said, “and I thought they made a great move when they brought Buck in to handle the kids.

“This is really disappointing. I think Buck was doing a really good job of getting the most out of these kids. This is just more proof that (the front office) doesn’t know what it’s doing. I mean how many arms can you deal away and expect to win in professional baseball.”

Juan Loredo of San Bernardino also thinks new Manager Marcel Lachemann won’t fare any better than Rodgers unless management makes moves to improve the pitching staff.

“When the pitching is that bad, there’s only so much a manager can do,” Loredo said. “It’s not like they gave him the Braves’ pitching staff to work with. How can they blame him? It just makes no sense.”

Most fans interviewed were as upset that Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi refused to give a reason for the firing as they were about the firing itself.

“I think we deserve a reason,” Mary Bowden of Anaheim said. “I’ve been supporting this team since I started coming here with my dad as a little kid.

“I’m not naive. I know the fans can’t vote on these decisions and I know baseball is a big business and they have to make business decisions. But I still think we deserve a reason and I think they would want us to know why they did something like this. After all, we’re the ones who buy the tickets.”

While many were surprised and confused about the decision to replace Rodgers, a number of fans had no intention of being the voice of reason.

“Buck was outspoken, yeah, and I think they should have listened to what he was saying,” said Chris Frost of Malibu. “But it’s the kind of thing we’ve come to expect from this front office. They have no clue what they’re doing.

“It’s just another case of a non-baseball person making the decisions instead of the decisions being made by somebody who knows something about the game. Look at (Wally) Joyner, (Dante) Bichette, (Jim) Abbott, (Luis) Polonia and especially the Bryan Harvey fiasco, which is totally ludicrous, especially when you consider who they’ve got in bullpen now. Why are these people gone? Who did they get for them?

“Buck says it the way it is and they just didn’t want to hear it.”

And some suggested that Bavasi made the move only because he was jealous of Rodgers.

“I don’t know how you justify a move like that,” said Brad Sandstrom of San Diego, a gaggle of very little Little Leaguers gathered around his legs. “I think this franchise is more (messed) up than the Padres, which is saying a lot.

“Obviously, something weird is going on behind the scenes that they don’t want to make public. But if you want my opinion, I think Bavasi is just a young guy who’s trying to make a show of power so everyone knows who’s boss.

“I think he was just trying to make a name for himself.”