Angels Should Extend Themselves for Once

For the longest time I never felt comfortable in Mike Scioscia’s office because it’s “The Most Optimistic Place on Earth,” and that can be a downer for a columnist.

As a rule, come August, there’s no reason to be in the office of the Angel manager. It’s a good rule, too.

But Scioscia’s bubbly song and dance routine has been embraced in the Angel clubhouse, and for the second consecutive year we’re here late into the summer being fed wild-card updates.

After 114 games last year, the Angels were 59-55 and 31/2 games behind Oakland for a wild card. After being certified long ago as goners this season, the Angels are once again 59-55 and in the final four pursuing a wild card.

Now here I’m ready to submit, yelling, “I believe, I believe,” and Wednesday night someone tells me Scioscia has only 48 more games to work as Angel manager before his contract expires.

If Mickey Mouse had 48 more days in costume, how long do you think it would be before Michael Eisner appeared at a news conference to say the Mouse wasn’t going anywhere?

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THE ANGELS have the option to pick up Scioscia’s contract and employ him for another year, but for all the silence, maybe Disney and major league baseball have agreed to disband the franchise.

Or maybe it’s a lesson in Angel history: The last time Disney went to a manger before the end of the season to talk contract extension, there was a player mutiny, leading eventually to Terry Collins’ dismissal.

But this is something entirely different. Scioscia sits behind his desk in “The Most Optimistic Place on Earth,” and I swear, goody-two shoes drinks out of a Disneyland cup. I’m surprised there isn’t a cotton candy machine in the corner as upbeat as this place is, and it has been like this through the Mariners’ run-away rush to put away the division title and Tim Salmon & Co.’s grind for respectability.

You want a real Disney mutiny--let this guy walk away.

“We think Mike has done an outstanding job and we’re interested in pursuing an extension to his contract,” said Tony Tavares, president of Disney Sports. “But it’s something we’ll do behind closed doors, because it’s Mike’s wish that nothing happen to distract the team.”

Beyond Scioscia, only three of the managers not hired on an interim basis in the team’s history have guided their clubs to more wins than losses. Scioscia was above .500 his first season--a 12-victory improvement from the previous year--and he has the Angels there again with no trading deadline help from his front office the last two years.

“I feel this is a championship-caliber team and our goal is to get to the World Series,” Scioscia said, while ignoring the columnist’s cheap shot. “I have about 101 other things on my list to do to get this team going in the right direction than worrying about a contract. I’m excited about the challenge in front of us the rest of this year.”

I hope Disney doesn’t let another week go by without locking Scioscia up with a long-term sweetheart deal. I’m out of here, however, in case anyone gets the idea of locking Scioscia up while I’m still in his office.

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UNFORTUNATELY, MY sources are unreliable, but they tell me Oscar De La Hoya will fight Dec. 8 as has been discussed, but not against Fernando Vargas--instead against the No. 1 World Boxing Council super-welterweight contender Roman Karmazin of Russia. The most likely site is Las Vegas rather than Staples Center.

Staples’ sources, who tend to be more reliable, say they still think they will secure a deal with Vargas and De La Hoya for Dec. 8.

A better guess, and that’s all I ever get from these unreliable sources, is that Staples’ next fight will be a Cinco de Mayo-weekend rematch of Ring Magazine’s 2000 Fight of the Year between featherweights Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera.

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THE FIRST time Raider defender Darrell Russell was victimized by the NFL’s drug-testing program, as his agent Leigh Steinberg tells the story, he was hanging with the wrong people and apparently inhaling second-hand smoke.

The second time he was victimized, as his agent tells the story this week, Russell wasn’t home when the NFL testers called--per an agreement with the NFL Players Assn.--and didn’t get back to the NFL in prompt order, resulting in a four-game suspension to start the regular season.

I’m glad all that has been cleared--otherwise I might have held him accountable for all of this.

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A RAIDER fan e-mailed to say it’s obvious the NFL is doing this to Russell and the Raiders in retaliation for the lawsuit that brought the league to court in L.A. earlier this year.

I’m surprised he didn’t say Russell inhaled that second-hand smoke while seated next to Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

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TOMMY GIOIOSA said he would have gone to his grave with what he knew about Pete Rose if Rose simply had recognized his long-time loyalty to him.

I’m laying 3-to-1 odds Rose never thought of sending the guy a thank you card, which could have stopped all this.

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THE DODGERS are 15-7 since Kevin Brown was put on the disabled list and 23-12 since losing Darren Dreifort. Just imagine where they would be if they had both of those players.

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I LIKE how fan-friendly Edison Field can be. Before the start of the Angel-White Sox game, four young ladies came out, and using powerful air guns they walked around the stadium shooting about two dozen T-shirts into the crowd--which meant about every one in the park got one.

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in an e-mail from Brian:

“I would pay to put you in an Ultimate Fight cage and have Carmen Electra kick your butt.”

So would I.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com .