Angels Hoping to Catch Break With Scioscia

Mike Scioscia was a National League catcher. That’s good. So was Joe Torre and nobody thought Joe Torre was going to be the perfect manager for the New York Yankees, even-tempered and able to massage egos and batting averages, roll his eyes at George Steinbrenner and give a hug to Darryl Strawberry.

When Joe Torre was hired as Yankee manager he was greeted with a yawn and office pools offering odds on picking the month when he would be fired. In Year 1.

So Scioscia, an ex-Dodger, will be announced today at noon as the new manager of the Anaheim Angels.

First of all, thank goodness. The Angels hired a manager before spring training.

Second of all, about that Dodger thing. For all intents and purposes Scioscia has been a Dodger all his professional life. From 1980 to 1992 Scioscia played for the Dodgers. He was born and raised around South Philly, not far from where his one and only Dodger manager, Tommy Lasorda, was born and raised. If you like Lasorda, you’ll love Scioscia.

Angel fans should be allowed, then, to ask whether Scioscia can learn to bleed Angel periwinkle instead of Dodger blue. Scioscia fans should be allowed to ask: What’s periwinkle?

Scioscia is young (almost 41). This gives the appearance of energy and enthusiasm at least.

Because he’s an ex-player, this addresses what was whispered about as a problem in the Angel clubhouse this past, deplorable season. There was grumbling sometimes about ex-manager Terry Collins and his lack of playing experience. His total and complete love of and devotion to the game, to the finer points of the game, to the fundamentals, to the history, to all the things that have always made baseball great, that wasn’t enough for some people.

So, OK, Scioscia has played. He played with heart for the Dodgers and he always put team first. His concern was always with how many wins the Dodgers had and not how many hits Scioscia had.

That would seem to be something else the Angels need. An attitude of team, not me.

Clubhouse grouches. The Angels seemed to have plenty of those. Clubhouse unity. We heard early and often that the Angels had none of that.

But consider this Scioscia quote from a Times story in 1993. “Chemistry in the clubhouse has its positive effects,” he said, “but I think it’s overrated . . . There are guys you may get along great within the clubhouse, but you get on the field and you don’t know where a guy is in a certain time of a game. Or you don’t have the timing down with a middle infielder for some reason.

“Maybe your batting order doesn’t have the chemistry, with the leadoff man getting on and the guys that drive him in. You need a certain amount of chemistry to win and it’s on the field that makes you win.”

That’s the thing. If a team is good on the field, the clubhouse chemistry will be fine.

And who thinks the Angels will be good in 2000? Or 2001? Or 2002?

Anybody notice some of those quotes from the mouth of Angel President Tony Tavares?

In discussing whether to re-sign or not to re-sign pitcher Chuck Finley, Tavares said: “One of the things Chuck has to analyze is whether or not this team is going to win. If I’m him, I’m thinking, I’ve got three years left, who do I want to play for? A team that is just getting by or one that has a real chance of winning?”

Just FYI, the Angels would be the team “just getting by” and not the team that “has a real chance of winning.”

We can assume Scioscia has asked some of these questions about his first major league manager’s job.

Am I just a caretaker? Am I here only to block the plate until the payroll is cut and the team is made palatable to a buyer? Did Disney hire its new general manager (Bill Stoneman) from the Expos so the Angels can become the Expos, basically everybody else’s farm team? Is the commitment to winning or to the Disney annual report?

For those of you wishing the Angels had been able to reach into their past and bring Don Baylor home to manage, too bad. But maybe this is best.

The Angels seem ready to leave behind their mascot, their talisman, Finley. For all of his 14-year career, Finley has been an Angel. During those 14 years, there has been more misery than magic for the Angels and maybe now is the time to let go of that past. Maybe it would have made no sense to bring back another part of that past as manager.

So instead the Angels will get part of the Dodgers’ past. Like it or not. And maybe someday the Angels will have a past worth saving too. Won’t they?

*

Diane Pucin can be reached at her e-mail address: diane.pucin@latimes.com

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Angel Managers

Records of Angel managers, including interim managers*:

*--*

Years Manager Won Lost Pct. 1961-69 Bill Rigney 625 707 .469 1969-71 Lefty Phillips 222 225 .497 1972 Del Rice 75 80 .484 1973-74 Bob Winkles 109 127 .462 1974 Whitey Herzog* 2 2 .500 1974-76 Dick Williams 147 194 .431 1976-77 Norm Sherry 76 71 .517 1977-78 Dave Garcia 60 66 .476 1978-81 Jim Fregosi 237 249 .488 1981-82 Gene Mauch 122 103 .542 1983-84 John McNamara 151 173 .466 1985-87 Gene Mauch 257 229 .529 1988 Cookie Rojas 75 79 .487 1988 Moose Stubing* 0 8 .000 1989-91 Doug Rader 232 216 .518 1991-94 Buck Rodgers 140 171 .450 1992 John Wathan* 36 49 .419 1992 Marcel Lachemann* 3 1 .750 1994 Bobby Knoop* 1 1 .500 1994-96 Marcel Lachemann 160 170 .485 1996 Joe Maddon* 8 14 .364 1997-99 Terry Collins 214 235 .477 1999 Joe Maddon* 19 10 .655

*--*

MIKE SCIOSCIA AT A GLANCE

* Age: 40

* Player: Two-time all-star catcher spent 13 seasons with Dodgers. Spent last two with San Diego and Texas, but didn’t play because of injury.

* Coach: Bench coach for Dodgers in 1997 and 1998 seasons.

* Manager: Triple-A Albuquerque (Dodgers) in 1999. Third in Pacific Coast League with a 65-74 record.