Angels Will Hand Reins to Collins

Terry Collins will be the next Angel manager, several baseball sources confirmed Saturday, and the team is expected to hold a news conference announcing the hiring of the former Houston Astro manager early this week.

Sparky Anderson, who led the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers to World Series championships, was a finalist for the job and was projected for weeks as the favorite, but Collins actually edged out former New York Met third-base coach Mike Cubbage for the position.

Collins, fired by Houston on Oct. 4 after going 224-197 in three years, will be the Angels’ 15th manager in 37 years, replacing Marcel Lachemann, who resigned Aug. 6 near the end of a disappointing season in which the underachieving Angels finished last in the American League West.

“They made a good choice,” said Anderson, who hopes to remain with the Angels as a television analyst. “Terry is a good young man.”

What may have separated Collins, 47, from the other finalists is his fiery demeanor, an aggressive attitude that is reflected both on the field and in the clubhouse. He is animated and energetic, and he is not one to let mistakes slide.

Collins has been known to pierce clubhouse walls when he raises his voice in anger, and his wife, Linda, once told Houston reporters that the best thing about all those years in the minor leagues was “watching him fight with umpires because he gets so animated.”

Collins, who spent 10 years in the minor leagues as a player and 11 as a manager, has also been outspoken at times, and that may have led to the end of his 5 1/2-year tenure as manager of the Dodgers’ triple-A team at Albuquerque.

In 1987, Collins questioned Dodger Manager Tommy Lasorda’s use of the system’s minor league players, and though Collins called immediately to apologize, he and Lasorda have had a strained relationship ever since.

Collins remained at Albuquerque in 1988, but thinking he had no future with the Dodgers, he took a job managing the Pittsburgh Pirates’ triple-A team at Buffalo, where he worked from 1989-91 before becoming the Pirates’ bullpen coach under Jim Leyland from 1992-93.

Many believe an Angel team lacking in leadership needs a more vocal manager such as Collins, but his style did ruffle some feathers in Houston, where a handful of players reportedly complained to General Manager Gerry Hunsicker about Collins.

Still, it was hard to argue with Collins’ on-field results. He guided the Astros to three second-place finishes, with a 66-49 record in strike-shortened 1994, a 76-68 record in 1995--another strike year--and an 82-80 mark in 1996.

His 1994 team was half a game behind Cincinnati in the National League Central when the strike ended the season Aug. 12. His 1995 team missed a wild-card playoff berth by one game.

But a late-season collapse in 1996 cost Collins his job.

The Astros led the St. Louis Cardinals by 2 1/2 games going into the final month of the season but lost 17 of their final 25 games to finish six games back, and Collins was replaced by former broadcaster Larry Dierker.

The Angels’ hiring of Collins will end a monthlong process in which 12 candidates were interviewed for the job. The joke going around at the World Series was there was a new bumper sticker spotted in Orange County: “Honk if You Haven’t Been Interviewed by the Angels.”

Angel bench coach Joe Maddon and triple-A manager Don Long, Boston Red Sox bench coach Tim Johnson and double-A manager Ken Macha, Texas Ranger third-base coach Jerry Narron, San Diego Padre bench coach Davey Lopes, Baltimore Oriole batting instructor Rick Down, New York Yankee batting instructor Chris Chambliss and Atlanta Brave third-base coach Jimy Williams were also interviewed.

Down, Cubbage and Collins each returned for second interviews with Angel President Tony Tavares, but Collins, who had a combined record of 824-736 in 11 seasons as a minor league manager, was the only candidate who was called back for a third interview.

Collins could not be reached Saturday, but in an interview Friday afternoon, after he met with Angel officials in Anaheim, Collins said he would talk to Lachemann about returning as the team’s pitching coach and Rod Carew about returning as batting instructor.

Angel executives, however, did not tell Collins that retaining Lachemann, Carew or other current Angel coaches were prerequisites to the job. Lachemann has an offer to become pitching coach with the Chicago Cubs, and Carew has interviewed with the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks, who will not begin play until 1998.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Angel Managers

Manager: Bill Rigney

Years: 1961-69

Record: 625-707

Highlights: Third-place finish in second year of existence.

*

Manager: Lefty Phillips

Years: 1969-71

Record: 222-225

Highlights: 86-76 record in 1970.

*

Manager: Del Rice

Years: 1972

Record: 75-80

Highlights: Fifth-place finish in work-stoppage season.

*

Manager: Bobby Winkles

Years: 1973-74

Record: 109-127

Highlights: Fourth-place finish in 1973.

*

Manager: Whitey Herzog*

Years: 1974

Record: 2-2

Highlights: Opportunity missed for Angels.

*

Manager: Dick Williams

Years: 1974-76

Record: 147-194

Highlights: Couldn’t repeat success with A’s.

*

Manager: Norm Sherry

Years: 1976-77

Record: 76-71

Highlights: Finished ’76 with 37-29 record.

*

Manager: Dave Garcia

Years: 1977-78

Record: 60-66

Highlights: Fired after 25-20 start in ’78.

*

Manager: Jim Fregosi

Years: 1978-81

Record: 237-249

Highlights: Team’s first division title in ’79.

*

Manager: Gene Mauch

Years: 1981-82

Record: 122-103

Highlights: Stepped down after blowing ’82 ALCS to Brewers.

*

Manager: John McNamara

Years: 1982-83

Record: 151-173

Highlights: Tied for second at 81-81 in ’84.

*

Manager: Gene Mauch

Years: 1985-87

Record: 257-229

Highlights: One Dave Henderson homer from World Series.

*

Manager: Cookie Rojas

Years: 1986

Record: 75-79

Highlights: That’s the way the season crumbles.

*

Manager: Moose Stubing*

Years: 1988

Record: 0-8

Highlights: Thidwick, Darryl Johnston and Stubing.

*

Manager: Doug Rader

Years: 1989-91

Record: 232-216

Highlights: 91-71 record good for third place in ’89.

*

Manager: Buck Rodgers

Years: 1991-94

Record: 140-171

Highlights: Bus crash in ’92 nearly killed him.

*

Manager: John Wathan*

Years: 1992

Record: 36-49

Highlights: Long run holding down the fort.

*

Manager: Marcel Lachemann*

Years: 1992

Record: 3-1

Highlights: Preview of things to come.

*

Manager: Bobby Knoop*

Years: 1994

Record: 1-1

Highlights: Hey, .500 record is better than most.

*

Manager: Marcel Lachemann

Years: 1994-96

Record: 160-170

Highlights: Second-place finish in ’95.

*

Manager: John McNamara*

Years: 1996

Record: 10-18

Highlights: Hospitalized with blood clot.

*

Manager: Joe Maddon*

Years: 1996

Record: 8-14

Highlights: Works well with Pat Summerall.

* Interim