Mike Scioscia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Lorri "Mike" Scioscia (born November 27, 1958 in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania) is a former catcher and current Major League Baseball manager. His last name is pronounced SO-shuh. He is often referred to by the nickname Sosh.
Since 1999, he has served as the manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Scioscia led the team to its first World Series championship in 2002 as a wild card entry, as well as to its fourth American League (AL) West division title in 2004 (their first since 1986), and fifth AL West division title in 2005.
Scioscia was honored as 2002 American League Major League Manager of Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America (the official Manager of the Year award, as recognized by Major League Baseball). He was also named 2002 A.L. Manager of the Year by The Sporting News, USA Today Sports Weekly, and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. He was further named the overall Major League 2002 Manager of the Year by Baseball America.
In his playing days, Scioscia spent his entire career (1980-1992) with the Los Angeles Dodgers, with whom he won two World Series (1981 and 1988) and hit a memorable home run in the 1988 NLCS.
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[edit] Playing career
Mike Scioscia was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1st round (19th overall pick) of the 1976 amateur draft, debuting for the Dodgers in 1980 (replacing Steve Yeager) and went on to play 12 years for the team. Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda helped lobby Scioscia to sign with the Dodgers after the team drafted him out of Springfield High School, a public school located in the suburbs of Philadelphia in 1976.
When I made Mike the No. 1 catcher, the writers came to me and said, '(Competing catcher) Steve Yeager said you made Scioscia the No. 1 catcher because he's Italian.' I said, 'That's a lie. I made him the No. 1 catcher because I'm Italian.'
- — Tommy Lasorda
Scioscia went to the San Diego Padres in 1993, but suffered a torn rotator cuff injury during spring training that year and did not play in any regular season games for the team. He closed out his career with the Texas Rangers in 1994 after a failed attempt to come back from the injury, again without having played in any regular season games that year. Thus, the Dodgers are the only Major League team for whom Scioscia ever played in a meaningful game.
Exclusively a catcher, the 6-foot, 2-inch, 230 pound Scioscia was primarily known for his defense. Former Dodgers vice president Al Campanis once called Mike Scioscia the best plate-blocking catcher he had seen in his 46-year baseball career. In one collision with St. Louis Cardinals' slugger Jack Clark in July, 1985, Scioscia was knocked unconscious but still held onto the ball. Scioscia, however, has claimed he had an even harder plate collision the following season.
The one collision that absolutely I got hit harder than anybody else was Chili Davis in 1986 when he was with the Giants. Chili plays hard; he's 6' 3", looks like Apollo Creed, got a nice lean. I saw stars. That was the hardest I've been hit, including my years of playing football. It was a heck of a collision . . . He was out that time. We were both out.
- — Mike Scioscia
Scioscia's technique for blocking the plate and making a tag varied slightly from the traditional manner employed by most catchers. When applying the tag, most catchers hold the baseball in their bare hand, with that hand then being inside their catcher's mitt to apply the tag with both hands. Scioscia preferred to hold the ball in his catcher's mitt without making use of his bare hand. Also, Scioscia felt he was less prone to injury in a collision if positioned his body so that he was kneeling on both knees and turned to the side, whereas most catchers make their tag either standing or on one knee.
Indeed, Scioscia was noted for his durability. After missing most of the 1983 season after tearing his rotator cuff, Scioscia played in more than 100 games each season for the remainder of his career with the Dodgers.
Offensively, Scioscia was generally unspectacular, but he was known as a solid contact hitter, striking out fewer than once every 14 at bats over the course of his career. Because of his ability to make contact, he was sometimes used as the second hitter in the batting order—an atypical slot for a player with Scioscia's large-set frame and overall batting average. He had a particularly strong season on offense in 1985, batting .296 and finishing second in the National League in on-base percentage.
Scioscia also hit a dramatic, ninth inning, game-tying home run against the New York Mets' Dwight Gooden in the Game 4 of the 1988 National League Championship Series. With the Dodgers going on to win that game in extra innings, Scioscia's blast (which came after he had hit only three home runs that entire season) proved crucial to the Dodgers' ultimately prevailing in that series.
Scioscia was a key player on the Dodgers' 1981 and 1988 World Series champion teams, and is the Dodgers' all-time leader in games caught (1,395.)
Mickey Hatcher and Alfredo Griffin, Scioscia's teammates from the 1988 Dodger team, are currently on Scioscia's coaching staff with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Scioscia earned as much as $2,183,333/year in salary toward the end of his career, and earned the unofficial total sum of $10,109,999 over his career.
Career Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | SLG | OBP |
| 1,441 | 4,373 | 398 | 1,131 | 198 | 12 | 68 | 446 | 567 | 307 | 29 | .259 | .356 | .344 |
[edit] Coaching Style
His coaching style is widely written about among the baseball press (especially in Southern California). It can be characterized by two things: taking the season one game at a time and emphasizing a game (offensively) of "small ball". He is also known for being more confrontational with umpires than most managers when he feels one of his players is treated unfairly. Although he appears emotionally reserved in victory, he frequently can be seen outside of the dugout during games, clapping his hands to encourage his players.
Mike is always the same. If we're struggling, you wouldn't know it by his demeanor. There's no panic. When you have that in a manager it doesn't put any more pressure on you. It just lets you go out there and work through the tough times.
- — Darin Erstad, former Angels center fielder
[edit] One Game at a Time
Scioscia's "one-game-at-a-time" approach was first truly noticeable during the excellent season the Angels had in 2002, leading up to their World Series title. He was extremely patient with members of the media, who expected the Angels to be more excited about doing well, or more concerned about how well the Oakland A's (who won the A.L. West Division that year) were playing. He reminded them time and again that 162 games are a lot to play, and a team can't play well "today" if they're focused on next week, or next month, or yesterday, for that matter.
Players such as clubhouse leaders Tim Salmon, Garret Anderson and Darin Erstad followed his lead and refused to publicly dwell on future problems or to rest on past victories. After a game, if asked, they would make comments like, "I can enjoy (some achievement) in November (the offseason), but right now I'm really focused on playing well tomorrow." This focus also leads his team's reputation of never giving up on a game, even when behind, because, just like the season, the game is not over until it's over.
[edit] Small Ball
Tactically, he emphasizes an offensive game of "small ball", meaning doing the little things that help a team win: stealing bases, laying down sacrifice bunts (including the suicide squeeze) or surprise bunt for a hit, and being more concerned about hitting for average than for power.
Some consider this a "National League" style of play, since such tactics are often specifically designed to minimize the damage done to a team's offense that comes from pitchers, who are usually weak batters, having to bat. Since pitchers do not bat in American League games, these tactics are typically less common among A.L. teams. Nonetheless, despite the fact that the Angels are in the American League, Scioscia has used these tactics extensively, and with success, during his tenure with the team.
[edit] Controversies
During his tenure as Angels manager, Scioscia has become embroiled in two public feuds — one with former Angel player José Guillén, and one with Frank Robinson, manager of the Washington Nationals, for whom Guillén played for during the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
Guillén left the Angels after the 2004 season following a very public display of insubordination toward Scioscia during a crucial late-season game against the Oakland Athletics. When Scioscia removed Guillén from the game in favor of a pinch runner, Guillén stormed off of the field, gesturing angrily and yelling at Scioscia. The incident was not the team's first problem with Guillén, and Scioscia responded by suspending Guillén for the remainder of the regular season and for the playoffs. The team's ownership and executive management supported Scioscia in the dispute, and in the off-season, the Angels traded Guillén to the Nationals.
The Nationals' visit to Anaheim to play the Angels during the 2005 season then became highly anticipated, given the circumstances under which Guillen had departed. Entering the series, both Scioscia and Guillén refrained from any provocative public statements, each claiming that the past was behind them and that there were no lingering hard feelings over what had occurred. The air of peace would not last through the series, however.
During the series' second game, Scioscia brought in Brendan Donnelly to pitch for the Angels. From his time with the team, Guillén knew that Donnelly was prone to using pine tar to aid his grip on the ball, despite the fact that the use of the substance for that purpose is illegal under Major League rules. Guillén advised his new manager, Frank Robinson, to have the umpires check Donnelly's glove for pine tar. The ensuing search indeed revealed pine tar on Donnelly's glove and he was ejected from the game.
Coming out of the Angel dugout, Scioscia apparently took the view that Robinson's move was somewhat petty and responded by angrily telling Robinson that the Nationals' pitchers would now be subject to Scioscia's scrutiny down to every minor detail. (And later in the game, Scioscia did have the umpires force a Nationals pitcher to cut the laces on his glove, as they were longer than allowed by regulations.) Robinson took offense that Scioscia would react in such a manner, given that it was Sciocsia's player that had been caught acting illegally. The two managers began to yell at one another on the field, and all of the players on each team came out on to the field as the situation escalated.
No punches were ultimately thrown, but Guillén's hard feelings toward a number of the Angels' personnel came to the surface during the disturbance. He seemed to be the most heated of the Nationals players and had to be repeatedly restrained by teammates. Later in the evening, Guillén hit the game-tying home run in the top of the 8th and the Nationals went on to beat the Angels.
Later, both Guillén and Robinson would publicly blast Scioscia, each man saying that he had no respect for the Angel manager. Robinson claimed that he wouldn't even be willing to listen to apology from Scioscia, were Scioscia to try to offer one. Guillén, meanwhile, acknowledged that despite his earlier statements to the contrary, he did still have hard feelings with regard to what had happened with Scioscia at the end of the previous season, likening Scioscia to "a piece of garbage".
For his part, Scioscia insisted that he saw no reason to apologize for anything, and thus had no intention of doing so. But beyond that, he declined to publicly engage in any further war of words with either Guillén or Robinson, professing to be unconcerned with the two's stated lack of respect for him.
[edit] Trivia
Scioscia is only the 17th person in history to win World Series Championships as both player and manager. (12 others won as player/manager in same season.)
Scioscia caught two no-hitters in his career, thrown by Fernando Valenzuela on June 29, 1990 vs. the St. Louis Cardinals and by Kevin Gross on August 17, 1992 vs. the San Francisco Giants.
In 1990, Scioscia became the first Dodger catcher to start in an All-Star Game since Hall of Famer Roy Campanella.
Scioscia is one of the few managers in the Major Leagues who is bilingual in both English and Spanish, an especially rare skill for a manager who is not a native Spanish speaker. Scioscia's Spanish is fluent enough that he often gives interviews in Spanish. His skill with the language is particularly useful with the Angels, as the team currently includes many Latin American players and since the Los Angeles area has a large Hispanic contingent.
In addition to his more orthodox work in baseball, Scioscia is also notable for a guest appearance on The Simpsons in 1992, in which he played himself as a deer hunter/power plant employee.
They called and asked if I'd be interested in doing it, and it so happened that it was my favorite show. I was excited . . . Every year I get a (residual) check for like $4 . . . I cash 'em. I don't want to mess up their accounting department.
- — Mike Scioscia, about his appearance on The Simpsons
Scioscia is featured along with Fernando Valenzuela and Jack Perconte on his 1981 Topps rookie baseball card.
Scioscia regularly participates in the Angels' community relations activities.
Scioscia acts a celebrity endorser of the Howard's Appliance & Big Screen Superstore chain in Southern California.
In the 2002 World Series, Scioscia was pitted against the San Francisco Giants manager, Dusty Baker, a former teammate of Scioscia's with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Tommy Lasorda claimed that he always knew that both players would end up as managers, for their curiosity and willingness to learn.
Scioscia wore #14 for the majority of his playing career, and he currently continues to wear that same uniform number as a manager.
| The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | |
|---|---|
| Coaching Staff | Manager: Mike Scioscia • Bench: Ron Roenicke • Pitching: Mike Butcher • Hitting: Mickey Hatcher • Bullpen: Orlando Mercado • First Base: Alfredo Griffin • Third Base: Dino Ebel |
| Rotation | John Lackey • Ervin Santana • Joe Saunders • Kelvim Escobar • Jered Weaver |
| Bullpen | Héctor Carrasco • Greg Jones • Darren Oliver • Francisco Rodríguez • Scot Shields • Justin Speier |
| Catchers | Jeff Mathis • José Molina • Mike Napoli |
| Infielders | Orlando Cabrera • Chone Figgins • Shea Hillenbrand • Maicer Izturis • Howie Kendrick • Casey Kotchman |
| Outfielders | Robb Quinlan • Garret Anderson • Tommy Murphy • Vladimir Guerrero • Gary Matthews, Jr. • Reggie Willits |
| Disabled List: | Bartolo Colón • Juan Rivera |
[edit] External link
- Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
| Preceded by Joe Maddon |
Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels Manager 2000- |
Succeeded by Current Manager |
| Preceded by Lou Piniella |
American League Manager of the Year 2002 |
Succeeded by Tony Peña |
Categories: 1958 births | Major league players from Pennsylvania | National League All-Stars | Anaheim Angels managers | Baseball managers | Manager of the Year Award | Italian-American sportspeople | Living people | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim managers | Los Angeles Dodgers players | Major league catchers | Penn State University alumni | People from Pennsylvania
