Mike Scioscia should leave Mike Trout in center field

You read the paper some mornings and shake your head. It happened Friday with the Page C4 headline on the Angels notebook titled “Trout will move back to left when Peter Bourjos returns.”

Forget C4, Mike Scioscia needs a shot of B-12.

Scioscia has been a fine big-league manager for years, but he has what I call a “Moon River” stubborn streak: It’s wider than a mile.

Scioscia fell in love with catcher Jeff Mathis and let Mike Napoli walk and ticked off closer Fernando Rodney in favor of Jordan Walden. The result: All four are no longer Angels.

Foxsports.com columnist Ken Rosenthal was wrong when he predicted Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly would be fired last Thursday but correct when he suggested that moving Trout out of center field is like asking a young Willie Mays to switch to left.

Based on physical resemblance, I’d say it’s more like the Yankees moving Mickey Mantle out of center to make room for someone named Seymour Hamstringspulled.

Yet the headstrong Scioscia insists that he plans to move Trout to left once Bourjos emerges from the disabled list.

Let’s just say, if Chris Paul were the Angels’ center fielder, Tony La Russa might be filling out Friday night’s lineup card against the incoming Houston Astros.

Bourjos is an outstanding fielder and fine player, but Trout is an outstanding fielder and a once-in-a-generation superstar.

Marie Antoinette once said “Let them eat cake.”

I said Friday at 8 a.m.: “Let Bourjos play left.”

Just imagine other moves Scioscia might have considered:

— Bill Russell from center to shooting guard: “He’s the best center in NBA history, but this opens up the lane for Don Nelson.”

— David Beckham to goalkeeper: “He’s got a power foot and can bend it from our end to the other.”

— Marcus Allen to fullback. Oh wait, the Raiders actually did that.

— William Tecumseh Sherman to Postmaster General. “Look, he’s still a ‘general’ but we’ve got Perkins coming off leave ready to take Atlanta.”

There is still time for Scioscia to snap out of this and keep Trout in center field, but he’s not the kind of guy who readily admits to mistakes.

I think he might even still drive a Ford Pinto.

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