Angels' Mike Scioscia Could Be On the Way Out at Anaheim

He's had a long run.

See the reports, at Chicago Tribune, "Scioscia no longer all powerful with Angels."

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Is this the dawning of the end of the Age of Mike Scioscia?":

No one anticipated the Angels would coax the superstar first baseman away from the only team he had ever known, from the fans that had adored him. Yet the Angels swooped in, signed him to the richest contract in franchise history and set sail for October.

Then the season started. Soon after, so did the defeats, the dissension, and the dismissals.

Albert Pujols, meet Mo Vaughn.

This could be 1999 all over again. By the time the debacle of Vaughn's debut season was over, the players had staged a mutiny and the ownership had cleaned house.

The Angels hired Mike Scioscia the next year, the start of the most successful run in franchise history. However, after Tuesday's firing of his close friend and hitting coach Mickey Hatcher, you wonder if that run might be coming to an end.

Angels owner Arte Moreno cleaned house in the front office last winter. Scioscia remained, but the big chill between him and new General Manager Jerry Dipoto might make coexistence a tenuous proposition.

When Scioscia met with the media before Wednesday's game, he held a red fungo bat so tightly he almost squeezed it into sawdust. He spoke tersely, letting everyone know that firing Hatcher was not his idea.

"We respect the job the general manager has to do," Scioscia said.

I've been expecting this for a while. Like I said, it's been a long run. And there's been no World Series championship since 2002. That kind of drought is embarrassing, considering how much Moreno's invested in this team. I doubt his patience lasts much longer.

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.