A.L. West — ‘toughest in baseball the past 10 years’
October 14th, 2008, 7:33 am · 11 Comments · posted by BILL PLUNKETT, OCREGISTER.COM
Oh, yeah — you read it and he said it.
Chewing on yet another playoff disappointment with Angels manager Mike Scioscia the other day, I asked him if he could explain the pattern his team has fallen into — great regular seasons followed by playoff failures.
One of the theories I tossed out was the idea that the A.L. West does not seem to prepare them for the post-season. The division has had neither the competitive level or pennant-race pressure of the A.L. East or Central recently. This year especially, the Angels played virtually pressure-free from — what? mid-July?
That hardly seems to be the way to prepare for the post-season.
“Let me ask you this – in the past 10 years, who has the best winning percentage out of any division in baseball?” Scioscia said in response. “This notion that our division is easy or a weak division is from uninformed reporters. … This notion that our division is easy or a cakewalk is absolutely ludicrous.”
Scioscia suggested anyone who believed this theory should “do their homework.”
Alright. Here’s the homework assignment he had in mind:
RECORDS SINCE 1998
A.L. EAST
New York Yankees 1074- 704 .604
Boston Red Sox 1011- 770 .568
Toronto Blue Jays 902- 879 .506
Baltimore Orioles 791- 989 .444
Tampa Bay Rays 742-1037 .417
DIVISION TOTALS 4520-4379 .508
A.L. CENTRAL
Cleveland Indians 937- 845 .526
Chicago White Sox 933- 849 .524
Minnesota Twins 909- 871 .511
Detroit Tigers 777-1003 .437
Kansas City Royals 743-1037 .417
DIVISION TOTALS 4299-4605 .483
A.L. WEST
L.A. Angels of Anaheim 958- 824 .538
Oakland Athletics 976- 804 .548
Seattle Mariners 907- 874 .509
Texas Rangers 872- 910 .489
DIVISION TOTALS 3713-3412 .521
N.L. EAST
Atlanta Braves 1015- 765 .570
New York Mets 930- 851 .522
Philadelphia Phillies 909- 872 .510
Florida Marlins 842- 938 .473
Washington Nationals 785- 996 .441
DIVISION TOTALS 4481-4422 .503
N.L. CENTRAL
St. Louis Cardinals 980- 800 .551
Houston Astros 957- 824 .537
Chicago Cubs 881- 901 .494
Cincinnati Reds 846- 937 .474
Milwaukee Brewers 809- 971 .454
Pittsburgh Pirates 766-1013 .431
DIVISION TOTALS 5239-5446 .490
N.L. WEST
San Francisco Giants 942- 838 .529
Los Angeles Dodgers 927- 855 .520
Arizona Diamondbacks 900- 882 .505
San Diego Padres 866- 917 .486
Colorado Rockies 826- 957 .463
DIVISION TOTALS 4461-4449 .501
Well, that definitely proves one thing — for a guy who claims he doesn’t look at the standings all season long, Scioscia sure knows a lot about wins and losses.
“If we’re playing each other, how do you say our division is weak and it doesn’t prepare us for the post-season?” he said. “It doesn’t hold up.
“Our division has been the toughest in baseball the past 10 years.”
Yeah? But then there is this.
Since the three-division format was established in 1994, A.L. West teams have gone 43-64 (.402) in the playoffs and won just eight series. Only one A.L. West team has advanced to the World Series since 1991 (when the Minnesota Twins were still a West team) — the 2002 Angels.
By contrast, a team from the East has represented the American League in eight of the past 12 World Series and will again this year.
October 14th, 2008 at 10:28 am
The Overall record of a division doesn’t tell you how competitive it is to Win the division.Look at the record of the second and third place teams for that.Overall record only means the worst teams aren’t as bad as in other divisions.This is another example of the “Genius”
Scioscia not being as smart as everyone seems to think he is
October 14th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I dont think any fan is thinking back 10 years, just today and maybe the past few seasons. Mike may be piggybacking on oakland and seatle several years ago when both were good but its been several years.
October 14th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Mike Scoscia should follow his own advice and “do some homework”. Notice he had to include the PAST TEN YEARS to make any sort of argument? How about we start with the PAST FIVE YEARS, since that is actually relevant? Scoscia’s excuses are old and tired, much like Vlade and GA. ARTE MORENO, PLEASE BUILD THE TEAM OF THE FUTURE AND GET RID OF THESE OLD-TIMERS, INCLUDING MIKE SCOSCIA!!! Angels fans are tired of Choke-tober!!!
October 14th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Scioscia is nothing more than a politician who’s paid to say the right things. Since he’s a politician, we know by definition that he’s not very bright rather only knows how to speak.
October 15th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Hate to see how lame the Angels would be if th AL West had 5 or 6 teams, like evry other division in MLB. The Angels are a big fish in a small pond, which is why they get eaten alive every October.
October 15th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Hate to see how lame the Angels would be if the AL West had 5 or 6 teams, like every other division in MLB. The Angels are a big fish in a small pond, which is why they get eaten alive every October.
October 15th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Admit it Mike, you sure haven’t helped us with some of your moves. I still cringe when I think of that suicide (that’s for sure) squeeze order of your’s.
Dano
October 15th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Sorry Marie, you apparently have failed to consider the fact that the Angels had the best overall regular season record. Meaning that this season, the AL West could have been full of 7, 8, or even 10 teams. It wouldn’t matter. They would still be in first place, and still would have won their division. Your argument carries absolutely no weight whatsoever.
Additionally, has anyone bothered to look at the expanded season standings? They were 30-16 (.652) versus Eastern teams, 24-17(.585) versus Central teams, and 36-21 (.631) versus their Western rivals. They played best against the East this year, not the ‘lowly’ West. There’s simply no logic at all in trying to prove their success this season is entirely a result of the poor playing in the West, especially considering how hard even the Mariners play them each year. I’m no Scioscia fanboy, but I think in this case he’s absolutely right.
October 17th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
What bothers me is fans jumping on Sciosca for our heartbreaking fall this year.
So hey Dano and the rest of the ” true angel fans”. Your mad at Sciosca for callin a squeeze play,? What would you be saying if Aybar laid that bunt down…my guess is “just another genuis move by Sciosca and thats Angels ball.” Its understandable to be mad and I am too but to blame it on Sciosca is stupid. Angel fans love to praise the small ball that our team prevails on to all those lame dodger fans. But to blame Sciosca for making a call to win a game by doing what we do best and done all year is dumb. Its easy to blame him because he made the call but why is it not Aybar’s fault. The man batted terribly and was asked to just lay the ball down. Something pitchers do in the NL all the time.
Our manager is a man who has help build our Angels into a scary threat of the entire American League. The one who brought our team from worst to first and our only world series. Its hard because some of you were not around but where were the Angels before Mike got here?
A lot needs to be done to fix our playoff issues but releasing our manager is not the solution.
October 18th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Stop blaming Mike Scioscia. He is the best Team Manager in Major League Baseball right now. Blame Arte Moreno and Bud Selig. Phonies do not win championships.
October 19th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
People are just using Scioscia as a scapegoat. How many bonehead defensive plays scored runs in this series? Heck, his signals from the dugout may have had a lot to do with pulling off a lucky win in Game 3. A game they barely won, which temporarily delayed the inevitable due to both poor defense and offensive plays. People just enjoy berating Scioscia because he called their last play, which wasn’t fulfilled due to Aybar not succeeding.
I submit that the majority of people attacking him are the bandwagon fans from ‘02 that need to be purged anyway. Go root for the Red Sox. Because any old school fan of this team knows that a Pennant, a World Series Championship, 4 division championships, and two 99+ win seasons coming in seven years time is something that was unfathomable as recently as 2001. Maybe some of you miss the days when the stadium was quiet and half-full, while we watched guys like Salmon, Snow, Edmonds and Davis bow out with 75 wins or less. I don’t.