Los Angeles Angels’ Mount Rushmore
By Jason Reed
Mike Scioscia
Mike Scioscia has been the most loyal manager in baseball, as he is the longest tenured manager. It isn’t even close either – the Angels hired Scioscia to coach before the 2000 season. Now, in 2017, Scioscia is entering his 18th season as manager and blows the rest of the MLB managers out of the water. The next longest tenured manager is Bruce Bochy, who was hired in October of 2006. The second longest tenured AL manager is Joe Girardi, who was hired in October of 2007.
Not only has Scioscia been loyal, he has brought the franchise the most success it has ever seen. Granted, Scioscia has coached in 30% of the Angels seasons, he has led the team to 70% of their playoff appearances. In the 39 seasons before Scioscia the Angels made the playoffs only three times. Scioscia’s Angels made the playoffs six times in his first decade as manager, winning it all in 2002.
Whether he is doing a great job now is up for discussion. The team has struggled, however a large part of that is because they opened their pocket books to guys like Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton. Scioscia still leads the franchise in wins, postseason wins, and win percentage. Regardless of how long Scioscia sticks around from here on out, he will go down as the best coach in Angel history.