He Figures to Be a Real Kick in the Pants

Shortly before ticking Terry Collins emerged from his first Angel news conference, bumped into Jim Abbott and exploded into tiny bits--OK, we’re just guessing this happened--he was asked the most important question of any new Angel manager.

So, what do you think about cheerleaders on the dugout?

“Cheerleaders on the dugout?” he said, drawing out the question.

Our kind of guy.

The new Angel manager is tense, tempestuous and traditional.

The old Angels whiffed on all three.

The new Angel manager is not afraid to paint back pockets with his foot.

The old Angels are in need of such decoration.

The new Angel manager is the old Houston Astro manager. He is the old Houston manager because, despite three winning seasons, he didn’t pander to his players.

What a novel approach.

He ticks, does Terry Collins, this tiny gray-haired man who wielded an Anaheim Stadium lectern Monday like a guy with someplace else to be.

He spoke fast, gestured tightly, set his jaw, used the word “intense” about three dozen times.

It was, well, intense.

“This team has a chance to win, we just have to make a few changes,” he said. “Maybe change the style a little.”

Translation: Farewell to the days of whine and poses.

Under Collins, the Angels’ complaints will be overruled, their pouting ignored, their lack of productivity challenged.

Under Collins, the Angels’ manager will be the boss.

And he won’t give a Mickey Mouse’s tail what they think about that.

“I think the players have to respect you,” he said. “I don’t think the players have to like you.”

Hear that, Angels? Maybe not. Only two members of last year’s team showed up at Monday’s coronation.

This is a good thing.

The lines have been drawn before the first stretch of the spring.

The Angels have not been given a friend. They have been given a leader who will not be living in Newport Beach.

(To the list of those wishing to dump J.T. Snow, you can now add . . . J.T. Snow?)

“Do you think Lou Piniella gives a rat if players like him?” said Tony Tavares, team president who made his new hire in his image. “During the press conference, with all the talk of intensity, I wanted to jump up and say, ‘Intensity! What’s wrong with intensity?’

“You want to talk about intensity, you talk to Jim Leyland.”

Collins, a former Pittsburgh Pirate coach, is a reflection of his celebrated former boss.

After 10,000 cups of coffee.

He is also a reflection of former Dodger tutor Walter Alston.

At 78 rpm.

There are questions that will linger long past Collins’ appearance at a lectern that was supposed to be used by Sparky Anderson.

Why not Sparky?

Why a guy whose talented team finished second in each of his three seasons, losing 8 1/2 games in the standings and a playoff spot this September during a mammoth choke?

(Just what the Angels need, you say. A guy who knows how to manage a collapse.)

The answer to the first question is easy.

Tavares is a tough guy. Sparky is a nice guy, one who might eventually decide this is not worth the trouble.

“Terry and Sparky had a difference in presentation and style,” Tavares said. “With Sparky, one thing of concern was, ‘How many times do you want to go through this?’ ”

The answer to the second question is easier.

The essential reason for Collins’ firing--too much tension in the clubhouse--is just what Disney figures this young team needs.

Disney wants its youngsters to care. And as witnesses can attest after watching Collins walk back to the hotel from the stadium after tough road losses, he cares.

It wants its youngsters to understand winning. And Collins has won 53% of his games in three major league seasons, a record ranking at the top among unemployed young managers.

Is there potential here for sudden impact, followed by soured romance? Yes.

The Angels inadvertently admitted as much by passing out media packets of positive clippings about Collins’ Astro experience.

The clippings began with stories of grand expectations upon Collins’ hiring in November of 1993.

They ended abruptly in July of 1995, more than a year before his departure.

Should that be a concern? No.

If Tavares follows this good acquisition with another starting pitcher, speedy second baseman and perhaps a power-hitting third baseman, the Angels can compete for a championship immediately.

Collins’ style will make a difference immediately.

In three years, if they have won that championship, who cares if they are making fun of each other?

And there is evidence that, in his 47th year on earth, Collins is finally grasping that thing called perspective.

He acknowledged Monday that last summer, he and then-Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda had their first conversation since Collins left the Dodger organization seven years ago.

During his final years as manager of triple-A Albuquerque, Collins criticized Lasorda for the way he quickly benched top prospects who struggled. Lasorda was stung by the criticism, and one of baseball’s quiet feuds ensued.

“So I apologized,” Collins said. “I just walked up to him and said that now I understood more about managing in the big leagues, and I was sorry.”

Lasorda accepted it.

“I always liked Terry personally,” Lasorda said Monday. “We’re just going to forget about it.”

Would Collins be a good fit for the Dodgers? No. For the world champion New York Yankees? No.

But for a team that recently left skid marks over good guys like Marcel Lachemann and Buck Rodgers? Ticking Terry Collins is walking into the party at the perfect time.

He’s not turning the lights out, but up.

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By the Numbers

Terry Collins’ career winning percentage: .532

Angels’ career winning percentage: .482

Number of Angel managers in 36-year history: 17

Number of division titles won by Collins: 0

Number of division titles won by the Angels: 3