News
Admiration flows between Scioscia, Torre
LA Angels (21-19) at LA Dodgers (29-13), 7:10 p.m. PT
By Doug Miller / MLB.com
05/22/09 1:47 AM ET
It's a mutual admiration society based on high-profile October meetings and regular-season matchups pitting the best against the best.When Angels manager Mike Scioscia and Dodgers skipper Joe Torre talk about one another, the superlatives flow, as well they should for two of the longest-tenured managers in the Major Leagues.
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The two will meet each other once again in the first Freeway Series of 2009, with the Angels heading up Interstate 405 to Dodger Stadium to play three Interleague games.
This time, the Dodgers have the best record in baseball and the Angels are in the process of regrouping from an injury- and tragedy-laden early stretch of the season. Both managers are ready for the matchup but remain complimentary of each other.
"He's a great manager," Torre says of Scioscia. "Because he came through this organization. They did things the right way for the longest time. A winning organization. He knows the formula and how to go about it. It's a grinding approach. He was hard-nosed behind the plate. Of course, I'm partial to catchers being smart. He's a bright kid. He knows what he's doing."
Torre, of course, caught in the big leagues, too, and seems to know what he's doing. He won four World Series championships in his 12 seasons at the helm of the New York Yankees (1996-2007) and took the Dodgers to the postseason last year in his first season in Chavez Ravine.
But Scioscia's Angels always did well against Torre, with the Angels knocking the Yankees out of the playoffs in 2002 and 2005, and the Angels were the only American League team with a winning record against Torre when he skippered the Bronx Bombers.
"We couldn't beat him," Torre said. "Just a bad matchup for us."
Scioscia laughed when told of that quote, saying, "It had very little to do with me. It was more about our players doing what they needed to do on the field to beat a good club."
But Torre isn't shy when explaining why Scioscia's managerial style was key to taking down the power-packed, high-payroll Yankees in those October showdowns.
"He knows the kind of clubs you don't want to play against and he created that club," Torre says. "It's a contact club with speed that causes distractions. He matches up with pitching. It's become the philosophy of the organization. It's like Minnesota. They can replace parts and still be around the top. They are certainly a nuisance.
"The Angels have a little more money to spend than Minnesota. They've added pieces like [Vladimir] Guerrero and Torii Hunter. But it's all about speed, defense, pitching -- those things never go into a slump."
Torre has built some of those components into the Dodgers, and they're succeeding wildly this year even though slugger Manny Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games for performance-enhancing drug use.
Scioscia says it doesn't surprise him at all.
"Managing is a combination of a lot of things, which I've learned as I've been in this position," Scioscia says. "It's not just game situations. It's about setting an environment in which to achieve and communicating with players, which is a lot more listening than talking, as I've come to learn.
"I think Joe's been a mentor to all of us who have followed his lead-by-example way of going about these things. He has a great grasp of how to evaluate and understand situations. He's as good as it gets."
Angels outfielder Juan Rivera played for Torre from 2001-2003 and has been with Scioscia since 2005. He said both are excellent players' managers but go about it in different ways.
"Torre's more quiet than Mike," Rivera said. "Scioscia's always talking to the players and Torre is more quiet, but when Joe needs to talk, he'll do it.
"I've been lucky to play for both of them, though. They're two of the best managers in the game."
Torre's Dodgers took two of three from the Angels in the Freeway Series at Dodger Stadium last year, and Scioscia's team returned the favor in Anaheim with two of three. Overall, the Angels are 38-30 against the Dodgers since MLB introduced Interleague Play in 1997.
Torre said his club's 2008 series win over its Southern California neighbor went a long way toward building confidence for the rest of the season.
"That was a great series for us," Torre said. "We realized we could play against a good team. It meant a lot to us, and we went off and played well."
Scioscia said matching up against a Torre-led team always presents different challenges.
"You look at the Yankees when Joe had them," Scioscia said. "One of the things that people didn't give those teams credit for was their baserunning. They were very aggressive and smart about how they ran the bases. They went from first to third as well as anyone, and I think all of that was kind of the shuffle a bit because they drove the ball so well.
"So there were certainly more challenges to facing that team than just what they did in the batter's box, and Joe's managing style had a lot to do with it. And he's continued to do it with the Dodgers."
Pitching matchupLAA: RHP Jered Weaver (3-2, 2.59 ERA)
Weaver delivered a quality effort against the Rangers on Sunday but had nothing to show for it but a loss, as the Angels' offense got shut out. In his second career complete game, he held Texas scoreless for six innings before surrendering a run in the seventh and two in the eighth -- all three runs earned. He was touched for six hits and three walks, striking out seven and retiring 14 in a row at one stretch. He hasn't given up more than four runs in any of his eight starts, averaging a team-best 6.95 innings each time out. Weaver has been lights out against the Dodgers: 3-1 in four career starts with a 1.54 ERA. He's 1-1 at Dodger Stadium but hasn't yielded an earned run in 11 1/3 innings, having lost a combined eight-inning (unofficial) no-hitter with Jose Arredondo on June 28, 2008. LAD: LHP Clayton Kershaw (2-3, 4.60 ERA)
With the day off Thursday, the Dodgers will skip Eric Milton and bring back Kershaw on regular rest. He's coming off one of the best starts of the season, losing a no-hitter on Cody Ross' double leading off the eighth inning. Kershaw struck out nine but afterward was still concerned about the four walks he issued. It was his first road win of the year. He has a 0.95 ERA in three home starts this year. Tidbits
Vladimir Guerrero and Kelvim Escobar left the team Thursday and were en route to Southern California, where both players will start for Class A Rancho Cucamonga on Friday night at Lake Elsinore as their rehab schedules begin. Guerrero is expected to be the designated hitter for the three-game weekend set and then join the Angels on Monday at home against Chicago. Escobar is slated to throw 60 pitches Friday night as he readies himself to return from the disabled list June 3. ... The Angels went 10-8 in Interleague Play last season and hold an all-time record of 114-98 against the National League. ... Starter John Lackey has the second-best ERA (2.52) all-time in Interleague Play. Johan Santana of the New York Mets (2.49) tops the list. ... Kendry Morales leads the Angels with three home runs and six RBIs on this road trip. ... Matt Palmer is the first pitcher in at least 55 years to have zero career wins before the age of 30 and then win his first five starts after turning 30 years old. Tickets
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• KLAA 830, KFWB, KWKW 1330 (Español) Up next
• Saturday: Angels (John Lackey, 1-0, 9.00) at Dodgers (Randy Wolf, 2-1, 2.72), 7:10 p.m. PT
• Sunday: Angels (Matt Palmer, 5-0, 4.26) at Dodgers (Chad Billingsley, 6-1, 2.51), 1:10 p.m. PT
• Monday: Angels (Ervin Santana, 0-1, 3.09) vs. White Sox (John Danks, 3-3, 4.60), 6:05 p.m. PT
Doug Miller is a reporter for MLB.com. Reporter Ken Gurnick contributed to this story. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
