Scioscia May Face Changes in Lineup

The last guy to leave the clubhouse was the last guy to leave the news conference.

“We’re going to practice hard, prepare ourselves well and play hard,” said Mike Scioscia, whose resume contains all three.

The last guy out of the clubhouse was wearing a black suit and baseball tie instead of ice packs and bruises, but the hard stare was the same.

“You guys know how I was when I played,” he said. “That won’t change.”

For 13 seasons with the Dodgers, you always knew where to find Mike Scioscia.

Around 11 p.m., hobbling out of the trainers’ room, slow and sore and reflective.

Long after Orel Hershiser or Fernando Valenzuela had pitched a brilliant game and departed, Scioscia was there to explain how.

Long after those Dodgers had pulled out another improbable win during years that included two World Series championships, Scioscia was there to make sense of it all.

As immovable in spirit as he was behind the plate, Scioscia was as steady as the Unocal sign.

So now we know where to find him again.

Lucky for us, it is still in Southern California.

Lucky for the Angels, it is as their manager.

Even if he does look really goofy in that navy blue cap, like Dodger Stadium in AstroTurf.

“The first thing I noticed about the cap is, it fit,” he said with a smile during his introductory news conference at Edison Field on Thursday.

It was typical self-deprecating Scioscia, and it continued throughout his first appearance, with cracks about everything from the size of his head to his “limited skills” as a player to the notion that he must win over this tough clubhouse with no help from his past.

Chuckling from the front row was Jerry Turner, the Dodger visiting clubhouse manager who drove down simply to shake his friend’s hand.

That is also typical Scioscia, appreciated not only by his fellow stars, but by the guys who wash their pants.

Incidentally, this takes the Dodgers off the hook for letting Scioscia leave this fall, because, with no managerial openings there, it turns out he would have left anyway.

“I don’t think the players respect you just because you played the game,” Scioscia said. “You have to show them what you’re about.”

One thing he’s about is Disney’s cheapness with coaches and managers.

No matter what you hear about the timing of their offer to high-priced Don Baylor, one reason the Angels hired Scioscia is that he came at one-fourth the price, which fits with their cost-cutting sale preparations.

Another thing he’s about is popularity.

Although they said the move was not made with the idea that their games are attended by more Dodger fans than Angel fans, there is no denying this will uncork a southward flow of Dodger blue.

Look for guys such as Mickey Hatcher and Alfredo Griffin and Ron Roenicke to possibly join the coaching staff. Look for old Dodger instruction manuals with new covers to slide into clubhouse cubbyholes.

Heck, you might have even expected an appearance by Hershiser, except the Dodgers--maybe by offering him a dual pitcher-coach role--will probably get to him first.

“Yeah, I’ve got the Al Campanis book . . . but I’ve also got the Bob Welch book,” Scioscia said with a laugh. “I’m not going to hide the fact that my foundation was with the Dodgers.”

So the Angels perhaps saw Scioscia as being about money and popularity and the sense that he will be as tough a manager as he was a player.

So that’s no reason to hire a manager?

Well, that’s the reason once upon a time the San Diego Padres hired a former catcher named Bruce Bochy.

This, like that, can work.

The Angels need a calming influence in the clubhouse, and Scioscia is just that.

Who do you think settled down the Dodger pitchers all those years after Tom Lasorda finally quieted down?

Who do you think sold the media on the company line after Pedro Guerrero popped off?

“He understands leadership,” said Bill Stoneman, Angel general manager. “He understands that being rah-rah does not make you a leader.”

The Angels need somebody to improve their pitching staff, and Scioscia can do exactly that.

“As a catcher, I think the 140 pitches that you catch are far more important than your five at-bats,” he said.

More than anything, the Angels need somebody who can convince them--without overturning the postgame buffet--to break the hypnotic Orange County attitude by playing hard.

We’re not yet sure he can do that.

Some insiders thought that last season at triple-A Albuquerque--Scioscia’s only full-time managerial job--he was too easy on the players.

Some thought that five years after retirement was too soon for Scioscia to feel comfortable with discipline, although he did properly put the hammer to top catching prospect Angel Pena for his work ethic.

If he had any trouble on a team with scrubs like Shawn Boskie and Wes Chamberlain, what is going to happen when he tries to control Mo Vaughn and Jim Edmonds?

For 13 years, Scioscia handled issues like these by crouching in front of home plate and daring runners to knock him out.

They couldn’t then.

Here’s guessing--and, OK, hoping--they won’t now.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at his e-mail address: bill.plaschke@latimes.com.