Mike Scioscia
Mike Scioscia | |
---|---|
Catcher / Manager | |
Born: Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, U.S. | November 27, 1958|
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
MLB debut | |
April 20, 1980, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
Last MLB appearance | |
October 2, 1992, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
MLB statistics | |
Batting average | .259 |
Home runs | 68 |
Runs batted in | 446 |
Managerial record | 1,650–1,428 |
Winning % | .536 |
Teams | |
As player
As manager As coach | |
Career highlights and awards | |
Michael Lorri Scioscia (
After his playing career ended, Scioscia spent several seasons as a minor league manager and major league
Professional career
Draft and minor leagues
Scioscia was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round (19th overall pick) of the 1976 amateur draft.
Los Angeles Dodgers (1980–1992)
Scioscia debuted 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 (Delaware County) High School, a public school located in the suburbs of Philadelphia in 1976.
Scioscia made himself invaluable to the Dodgers by making the effort to learn Spanish in order to better communicate with rookie sensation Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.
When I made Mike the No. 1 catcher, the writers (referring to sportswriters in the 1980s) 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.
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 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 he 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 off the New York Mets' Dwight Gooden in 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). In 1990, Scioscia became the first Dodger catcher to start in an All-Star Game since Hall of Famer Roy Campanella. Alfredo Griffin, Scioscia's teammate from the 1988 Dodger team, served on Scioscia's coaching staff with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim from 2000 to 2018. 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.
Scioscia was involved in three no-hitters in his career: he was on the losing end of
Career statistics
G | AB
|
R
|
H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI
|
BB
|
SO | SB | AVG | SLG | OBP | FLD% |
1,441 | 4,373 | 398 | 1,131 | 198 | 12 | 68 | 446 | 567 | 307 | 29 | .259 | .356 | .344 | .988 |
Managerial career
Anaheim Angels / Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim / Los Angeles Angels (2000–2018)
After spending several years as a coach in the Dodgers' organization, Scioscia was hired by new Angels
Under the leadership of Stoneman and Scioscia, the Angels ended their 16-year playoff drought in
Scioscia was honored as 2002 American League
The Angels under Scioscia would go on to enjoy a period of on-field success never before seen in franchise history, winning five American League West division titles in six years (surpassing the number won by all previous Angels managers combined). Scioscia's Angels broke the franchise single-season win record with 99 wins in 2002, and again with 100 wins in 2008. However, they have yet to win another American League pennant or World Series since their memorable 2002 run.
Scioscia is the Angels' all-time leader in wins and games managed, surpassing original manager
Scioscia became the first manager to reach the playoffs in six of his first ten seasons.
A rift developed between Scioscia and Jerry Dipoto, the Angels' general manager, when Dipoto fired Mickey Hatcher from the role of the team's hitting coach in 2012.[11] Despite rumors that the Angels might replace either Dipoto or Scioscia after the 2013 season,[12] Moreno announced that both would return to the Angels for the 2014 season.[13]
Tension between Dipoto and Scioscia continued during the 2015 season regarding the way Scioscia and his coaches delivered statistical reports developed by Dipoto and the front office to their players.[14] Dipoto resigned his post on July 1, 2015, despite efforts from the Angels to convince him to stay.[15] Former Angels general manager Bill Stoneman, who hired Scioscia before the 2000 season, was hired as the interim GM.
After 19 seasons as manager, following the conclusion of the 2018 season, Scioscia announced that he would step down as manager of the Angels on September 30, 2018.[16] He finished with a record of 1650 wins and 1428 losses.[5]
United States national team
On April 6, 2021, USA Baseball announced that Scioscia would manage the United States national baseball team during qualifying for baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics, held in Tokyo in 2021.[17] The team subsequently qualified, with Scioscia serving as manager for the Olympics.[18] The team went on to win silver, falling to Japan in the gold-medal game.[19]
Managerial record
- As of games played on September 30, 2018.
Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
ANA | 2000
|
162 | 82 | 80 | .506 | 3rd in AL West | – | – | – | |
ANA | 2001
|
162 | 75 | 87 | .463 | 3rd in AL West | – | – | – | |
ANA | 2002
|
162 | 99 | 63 | .611 | 2nd in AL West | 11 | 5 | .688 | Won World Series (SF) |
ANA | 2003
|
162 | 77 | 85 | .475 | 3rd in AL West | – | – | – | |
ANA | 2004
|
162 | 92 | 70 | .568 | 1st in AL West | 0 | 3 | .000 | Lost ALDS (BOS) |
LAA | 2005
|
162 | 95 | 67 | .586 | 1st in AL West | 4 | 6 | .400 | Lost ALCS (CWS) |
LAA | 2006
|
162 | 89 | 73 | .549 | 2nd in AL West | – | – | – | |
LAA | 2007
|
162 | 94 | 68 | .580 | 1st in AL West | 0 | 3 | .000 | Lost ALDS (BOS) |
LAA | 2008
|
162 | 100 | 62 | .617 | 1st in AL West | 1 | 3 | .250 | Lost ALDS (BOS) |
LAA | 2009
|
162 | 97 | 65 | .599 | 1st in AL West | 5 | 4 | .556 | Lost ALCS (NYY) |
LAA | 2010
|
162 | 80 | 82 | .494 | 2nd in AL West | – | – | – | |
LAA | 2011
|
162 | 86 | 76 | .531 | 2nd in AL West | – | – | – | |
LAA | 2012
|
162 | 89 | 73 | .549 | 3rd in AL West | – | – | – | |
LAA | 2013
|
162 | 78 | 84 | .481 | 3rd in AL West | – | – | – | |
LAA | 2014
|
162 | 98 | 64 | .605 | 1st in AL West | 0 | 3 | .000 | Lost ALDS (KC) |
LAA | 2015
|
162 | 85 | 77 | .525 | 3rd in AL West | – | – | – | |
LAA | 2016
|
162 | 74 | 88 | .457 | 4th in AL West | – | – | – | |
LAA | 2017
|
162 | 80 | 82 | .494 | 2nd in AL West | – | – | – | |
LAA | 2018
|
162 | 80 | 82 | .494 | 4th in AL West | – | – | – | |
Total Ref.:[5] | 3078 | 1650 | 1428 | .536 | 21 | 27 | .438 |
Television appearances
In addition to his more orthodox work in baseball, Scioscia is also notable for a
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 made a second appearance on The Simpsons with the episode "MoneyBart", which premiered on October 10, 2010. Having survived the radiation poisoning, he tells Marge and Bart that it gave him superhuman managing powers and that the best players listen to their managers.
Scioscia acted as a
Personal life
Early in his career after signing with the Dodgers, Scioscia spent the off-seasons attending
Their son Matthew, who played baseball for
See also
- List of Major League Baseball All-Star Game managers
- List of Major League Baseball career putouts as a catcher leaders
- List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise
- List of Major League Baseball managers by wins
References
- ^ Digiovanna, Mike (September 28, 2018). "Mike Scioscia's influence is felt across the majors as his 19-year leadership of the Angels come to a close". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
- ^ Roberts, Quinn. "Aybar's double gives Scioscia 1,000th win". mlb.com. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
- ^ "The Encyclopedia of Catchers - Trivia December 2010 - Career Shutouts Caught". The Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
- ISSN 0005-609X.
- ^ a b c "Mike Scioscia". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
- ^ Spencer, Lyle (January 6, 2009). "Scioscia's deal longer than reported". MLB.com. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
- ^ "Tracy, Scioscia named top managers". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 18, 2009.
- ^ Baxter, Kevin (October 7, 2009). "Angels are a reflection of Mike Scioscia". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Angels fend off Indians with late surge to get Mike Scioscia to 1,000 wins". ESPN. Associated Press. May 8, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
- ^ Angulo, Blair (May 9, 2011). "Mike Scioscia gets 1,000th career win". ESPNLosAngeles.com. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
- ^ "Dipoto decides to step down as Angels GM". Major League Baseball. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- ^ "Mike Scioscia refutes reported rift". ESPN.com. 25 August 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- ^ "Scioscia, Dipoto to return in 2014". Major League Baseball. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- ^ "Pujols on leak of reported rift between Scioscia, Dipoto: 'We're supposed to be family'". July 2015.
- ^ Digiovanna, Mike (July 1, 2015). "Jerry Dipoto resigns as Angels general manager". LA Times. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- ^ "Manager Mike Scioscia says he won't be back with Angels for 2019 season". ESPN.com. ESPN, Inc. 30 September 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
- ^ "Mike Scioscia Named Team USA Manager". usabaseball.com. USA Baseball. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- ^ Rhim, Kris; Speier, Alex (July 2, 2021). "Red Sox minor-leaguers Triston Casas, Jack Lopez named to US baseball team for Olympics". Boston.com. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ^ "Baseball/Softball - United States vs Japan - Gold Medal Game Results". Olympics.com. August 7, 2021. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
- ^ Sample Player Profile Page. "SCIOSCIA, MIKE". Player Profiles. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
- ^ Alperstein, Ellen (2020-01-15). "The Thomas fire was the best thing that ever happened to Tommy the horse". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
- ^ "Matt Scioscia" Notre Dame Athletics accessed July 20, 2014
- ^ "Angels Transactions"
- ^ "Angels trade son of Mike Scioscia for son of Wayne Gretzky" FoxSports.com accessed July 20, 2014
- ^ "Frontier League Transactions" frontierleague.com accessed July 20, 2014
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Mike Scioscia managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
- ESPN Profile