Firing of Coaches Wouldn’t Surprise Bowa

As the losses mount for the Angels, so does a feeling of dread in the clubhouse, especially among a coaching staff that, with 133 combined years of big-league experience as players and instructors, knows full well what can happen after a season like this.

There has been speculation that General Manager Bill Bavasi and Manager Terry Collins will be fired, and Angel coaches are feeling just as vulnerable.

“Any time you lose, you know there’s a chance you’ll be fired,” third-base Coach Larry Bowa said. “For two years we were real good coaches, and this year we’re bad coaches. That’s the way it is. We’re having a bad year, so we have to take the blame. That’s the way it was in 1900, and that’s the way it will be in 2020.”

Bowa said he “would not be shocked” to see the entire staff, which includes Hall of Famer Rod Carew, dismissed after the season, but even if that happens, Bowa won’t feel like a failure.

“When I go home I feel good about myself because I do the best I can,” he said. “I work hard, I’m loyal to Terry, that’s all I can do. We have a good staff, we work hard, we’re as prepared as we can be, and we’re not caught off guard by anything. But sometimes that’s not enough.”

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There has also been plenty of speculation that Tiger Manager Larry Parrish will be fired, but team President John McHale, in a clubhouse meeting before Saturday’s game, reassured Parrish that the organization has no immediate plans to make a change.

“If somebody were to ask me today, right now, I’d expect that he’d be back [next year],” McHale said. “I frankly think this speculation is pernicious, and I can’t imagine where it comes from.”

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Collins wasn’t ejected in the sixth inning Saturday for arguing Greg Kosc’s out call when Tim Salmon was picked off. The manager argued that Tiger right-hander Brian Moehler had balked.

Collins stormed out of the dugout, jumped quickly into Kosc’s face and was ejected immediately. The argument then grew heated, as Kosc and Collins went jaw to jaw, and Collins had to be restrained by second-base umpire Dan Morrison before finally returning to the dugout.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ CHUCK FINLEY (6-10, 5.26 ERA) vs. TIGERS’ JUSTIN THOMPSON (9-10, 4.56 ERA)

Tiger Stadium, Detroit, 10 a.m. PDT

TV--Channel 9. Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

* Update--Finley said he “didn’t know if a burden had been lifted,” but there seems to be a direct correlation with the passing of the July 31 nonwaiver trading deadline and his pitching fortunes. In eight starts from June 24-July 31, as trade speculation involving Finley grew, the left-hander gave up 43 earned runs in 41 2/3 innings. But in two starts after the trade deadline, Finley has given up only one earned run and struck out 14 in 14 2/3 innings, earning a win over Boston and a no-decision against Cleveland.