Scioscia likely never would have become the Angels manager if not for the club's implosion in 1999. Prior to the 1997 season, the Angels hired ex-Astros manager and Dodger minor leaguer Terry Collins to be their manager. General manager Bill Bavasi and club president Tony Tavares liked Collins' no-nonsense approach, which they thought was just what the players needed after time under the more laid-back Marcel Lachemann.

The Angels played relatively well under Collins, even if it wasn't good enough to reach the playoffs. They went 84-78 in 1997 and 85-77 in 1998, contending for a playoff spot both seasons. The Angels were close, many thought, and simply needed that final piece of the puzzle to win in 1999. Bavasi was given the opportunity from ownership to get that piece. He courted pitcher Randy Johnson, who eventually decided to sign with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

But Bavasi landed his other target, Red Sox first baseman Mo Vaughn. Bavasi impressed Vaughn with a letter written personally, imploring Vaughn to pick up his East Coast roots and move west. And it didn't hurt that Bavasi offered Vaughn $80 million over six years. Vaughn signed with the Angels, who believed they were in position to get over the top and reach the playoffs for the first time since 1986.

On opening night in 1999 a sellout crowd came to Anaheim's Edison Field to see Vaughn and the Angels play the Cleveland Indians. But in the top of the first inning, the second batter of the game, Omar Vizquel, hit a foul popup near the Indians' first-base dugout. Vaughn drifted over near the dugout, looking into the sky, then fell into the dugout, landing hard on his left ankle.

Vaughn shook it off and stayed in the game. But when he fell to the ground while batting later in the game, it was obvious the injury was worse that first imagined. Vaughn came out of the game and was diagnosed with a severe high-ankle sprain.

Ironically, there had been a short fence at the top of the dugout steps to protect players in the dugout from foul line drives and to keep defensive players from falling into the dugout like Vaughn did. But Collins had the fences removed after the previous season because he had trouble seeing the field as clearly as he wanted to. Soon after Vaughn's injury, the fences returned.

But the damage had been done, and not only to Vaughn's ankle. A season that began with so much promise started on the wrong foot and only got worse. Even though Vaughn returned and led the team with 33 homers and 108 RBIs while playing with a noticeable limp, the tone had been set. The team went 70-92, but reached a boiling point late in August that led to major changes to the organization.

THE FIGHT

Even during a bad season the Angels had their good moments, and seemed to be having one on Aug. 31, 1999 against the Cleveland Indians. The Angels led, 12-4, going into the bottom of the eighth when the Indians put together a 10-run rally, the final runs coming home on a Richie Sexon home run off Angels closer Troy Percival.

After Sexon's homer, David Justice stepped into the batter's box and was hit by a pitch from Percival. Justice charged the mound, throwing his helmet at Percival before reaching him. Both dugouts emptied and the fight ensued.

After the game the team was in the clubhouse and saw the highlights of the game and fight on television. During the chaos, Vaughn was shown still in the dugout, and many Angels players noticed. Percival in particular was angered and confronted Vaughn. Vaughn's response was that as the designated hitter, he was in the clubhouse when the fight began. And by the time he reached the dugout all the action on the field subsided.

That answer apparently wasn't enough for some of Vaughn's teammates. And on the following day, several Angels players met with Collins and stated they weren't going to play that day if Vaughn was in the lineup. Collins, feeling he had no other option, benched Vaughn that day.

A week later, Collins tearfully announced his resignation. Later that month, Bavasi also resigned rather than heed the advice of upper management and tear apart the foundation of the club that he helped build. Ironically the next general manager, Stoneman, felt the same way and kept the core players intact.

SCIOSCIA TAKES CONTROL

Upon his hiring, Scioscia immediately had an impact with the organization, revamping the coaching staff by bringing in fellow ex-Dodgers like hitting coach Mickey Hatcher, first base coach Alfredo Griffin and third base coach Ron Roenicke. Scioscia also would have considered Orel Hershiser to be his pitching coach, but Hershiser was still pitching in the big leagues.

Instead, Stoneman and Scioscia agreed on Bud Black, who was working in the Cleveland Indians' front office. Scioscia's bench coach would be the only remaining link to past Angels coaching regimes, Joe Maddon. Maddon was Scioscia's link to the Angels' players past. He had been with the organization since 1981 as a minor league coach and manager and nobody knew the Angels players better.

Maddon was also the club's resident intellect, bringing the use of computerized breakdowns of matchups and defensive alignments to a new level.

Soon after spring training for the 2000 began, there was a new optimism in the clubhouse. While there still might have been some friction between Vaughn and some of his teammates, it was put on the backburner for the good of the team. And Vaughn, amid off season reports he would be traded, insisted he was happy to be back.

"I read all this about me wanting to get traded," Vaughn said at the outset of spring training. "First of all, nothing I've ever started did I not finish. I'm not about to jump ship when things don't go the way they're supposed to go. I will always believe my choice to come here was the right choice. This organization took care of me, gave me an opportunity. Things don't always happen right away. Last year was a bad year but we're in a different situation now."

With a new coaching staff in place and apparent harmony in the clubhouse, Scioscia was left to make believers out of his players. It was a team full of talented players, but players who had not been able to reach the playoffs despite coming so close in recent seasons.

Even lifelong Angel Salmon had questioned the team's direction following the 1999 season, but he changed his tune after a few days in Camp Scioscia. "This is the first day toward redemption," he said. "I was talking to some of the coaches and trainers and they were saying 'Man, what a different attitude there is in there (clubhouse).' This is a fresh start."

ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD

One of Scioscia's spring training priorities was to figure out a way to fit four starting outfielders into a lineup that had room for only three. Salmon, Garret Anderson, Darin Erstad and Jim Edmonds were all legitimate starters, but Scioscia had to balance putting one in the designated hitter spot or even on the bench for any particular game without hurting any egos are causing dissention.

Edmonds and Anderson were entering the final season of their respective contracts and one of them figured to go. The New York Yankees emerged as the team most interested in one of the Angels outfielders, and they targeted Darin Erstad. However, they soon found out that Erstad wasn't going anywhere, and soon turned their attention to Edmonds.

Edmonds' career with the Angels had been mixed with incredible displays of talent and maddening frustration from those who believed Edmonds wasn't reaching the potential of his immense talent. Anderson, meanwhile, was soft-spoken and consistent as anyone in the league. Eventually, Edmonds could not escape hearing the rumors and it seemed to distract him. "Everyone says I'm going to be traded, but the front office says I'm not," Edmonds said. "Who do you believe?"

Getting word that Edmonds seemed to be distracted by the rumors, Stoneman approached Edmonds and told him what was going on. Edmonds seemed satisfied by Stoneman's words, but Stoneman never guaranteed Edmonds would not be traded. Less than a week later, Edmonds was traded not to the Yankees, but to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Kent Bottenfield, who had won 18 games and was an All-Star the previous season, and young second baseman Adam Kennedy, who found himself behind Cardinals starter Fernando Vina.

A couple days after the trade Edmonds returned to the Angels' spring training complex in Tempe, Ariz. to gather his things and say his goodbyes.

Edmonds walked into the clubhouse at 10 a.m. with the team already on the field. He peeked out the clubhouse door and looked at his former teammates before sitting down to talk to a reporter. A few players came in, one at a time, and wished him well. But when Anderson came in, the two hugged, and Edmonds began to cry. "It's like moving away from your family," Edmonds said. "How do you react? It's hard to talk about."

When Edmonds was told that former teammates Gary DiSarcina and Tim Salmon reminisced about playing with Edmonds in the minors, Edmonds' eyes welled up with tears. He spent 12 years in the organization, and grew up only a few miles from the Anaheim Stadium.

Angels players were disappointed to see a player of Edmonds' talent leave, but it also settled a potentially disruptive situation before the season began. "Now there's no rotation in the outfield, and the DH situation is settled," shortstop Gary DiSarcina said. "Guys can come to the ballpark knowing where they're playing. Darin (Erstad) does not want to be a DH, he's 27 years old. It puts people in roles, and that's good for chemistry."

2000 SEASON

Even without Edmonds, the Angels knew they would have plenty of offense in 2000. With a healthy Vaughn surrounded by proven hitters like Salmon and Anderson, the expected emergence of Troy Glaus and a bounce-back year from Erstad, they were going to score runs. The acquisition of Bottenfield was expected to give the beleaguered pitching staff a boost, especially since veterans like Ken Hill and Tim Belcher would have trouble staying healthy and productive.

The Angels finished April a mediocre 13-13, but were only 1.5 games out of first place in the A.L. West. After May, they were 27-26 and cluttered with the rest of the division only one-half game out of first. By the end of June, the Angels were still treading water at 41-38, but fell five games out of first place.

By this time though, one thing had become quite clear. Erstad, who dropped to .253 with 13 homers in 1999, was putting together a remarkable season. Feeling comfortable in the leadoff spot and staying healthy, Erstad had 100 hits by June 10, the fastest any player had gotten there since 1934 when Heinie Manush of the Washington Senators did it in 60 games.

At season's end, Erstad batted .355 with a major league-leading 240 hits, 25 homers, 100 RBIs, 121 runs scored and 28 stolen bases, arguably the best offensive performance by a leadoff hitter in major league history. He remains the only leadoff hitter in major league history to drive in 100 runs.

The Angels offense followed suit, setting numerous club records, including most hits, home runs and RBIs. Anderson, Glaus, Salmon and Vaughn combined to become the first foursome in American League history to hit at least 30 home runs each. The Toronto Blue Jays matched the Angels' feat later the same season.

The pitching, though, was a different matter. Before the season Stoneman had decided not to keep the club's all-time winningest pitcher in Chuck Finley for financial reasons, but they could have used his arm. Because of numerous injuries to the pitching staff, Scioscia had 16 different pitchers start games in 2000, a club record they could have done without.

Even so, the Angels finished August still in it, only four games out even though they still had a mediocre record of 68-65. However, they began September with a five-game losing streak, fell seven games out and never recovered. Both Seattle and Oakland took off in September and both made the playoffs, Oakland as the division winner and Seattle the wild card. The Angels finished 82-80, 9 1/2 games out but much better off under new regime headed by Stoneman and Scioscia.

2001 SEASON

Vaughn played through the end of the 2000 season with soreness in his left biceps muscle but was diagnosed with nothing more than tendonitis. He went into the offseason like any other, prepared to workout and get stronger for the next season. But sometime around the New Year, Vaughn felt something pop in his arm while working out.

Vaughn was diagnosed with a ruptured biceps tendon, the tendon that connects the muscle to the joint. Surgery was needed Vaughn would be lost for the season. Nobody knew it at the time, but Vaughn had played his last game as an Angel.

Scioscia, though, was confident the club's offense could be just as good without Vaughn. Not that they had any one player to take Vaughn's place, but that as a group they could make up the difference. In the meantime, Vaughn focused on his rehabilitation from surgery, but seeing his teammates often wasn't in the cards. "I don't want to lose touch with them," Vaughn said early in spring training. "But also I don't want to have the team see me like that. I don't want them to think about what happened to me, they need to focus on what they have to do. This team has had enough negativity."

In an effort to replace the 36 homers and 117 RBIs provided by Vaughn in 2000, the club signed Jose Canseco to be the DH and Wally Joyner to compete for playing time at first base. Canseco played in spring training "not to get hurt," but Scioscia and the coaches saw it as a lack of hustle. Canseco was cut before the end of spring training.

As Canseco was going out the door, Glenallen Hill came in. Hill, though, didn't last long either. He was hitting .136 when the Angels released him on June 1st. Joyner also didn't make it through the season, retiring on June 16th.

Pat Rapp and Ismael Valdes were signed to fill out the starting rotation, but they were inexpensive fill-ins that didn't pan out. The offense, without Vaughn and sub par seasons from Tim Salmon and Darin Erstad, the Angels struggled to gain any positive momentum.

Though they battled through more mediocrity early in the season and had no chance of catching the Seattle Mariners, who were on their way to 116 victories, the Angels remained in the race for a wild-card berth. On Aug. 19, they beat the Indians to go a season-best eight games over .500 at 66-58 and were five games behind the Oakland A's in the wild-card standings.

But the club fell apart after that, losing 29 of its final 38 games, including 19 of its final 21. The Angels finished 75-87, a step back from the club's first season under Scioscia. It was back to the drawing board.

THE RADIO INTERVIEW

The Angels went into the winter after the 2001 season believing that they would be better, simply by getting the offensive production from a healthy Vaughn they missed in 2001. But in December, Vaughn was interviewed on a Boston radio station and said he'd like to return to the Red Sox.

That irked the Angels, who were eager to trade him and rid themselves of the $48 million that remained on Vaughn's contract. But the Angels had little hope of moving him, figuring there would be few teams, if any, interested in taking on that kind of money and taking a player coming off a serious injury.

Vaughn also had a limited no-trade clause. Vaughn and the Angels each could pick three teams to which Vaughn could be traded. A trade to any other team would require Vaughn's approval. Vaughn picked the Yankees, Red Sox and Mets; the Angels picked the Dodgers, Orioles and Braves.

Stoneman admitted he did not have high hopes of trading Vaughn, but negotiations with the Mets resulted in a Dec. 27 trade for pitcher Kevin Appier, a proven and established starting pitcher that could help bolster the starting rotation. Though the Angels didn't gain much financially (Appier still had $32 million remaining on his contract), they got much-needed pitching help and avoided a potential problem in the clubhouse after Vaughn's comments in the radio interview.

His three years with the club were filled with injuries, disappointment and controversy, and he got paid $40 million by the club. He never fully fit in with the team or with the lifestyle on the West Coast. Mo Vaughn was "Gaughn", if not forgotten.

This page was last updated on August 21, 2003

Copyright © 2002, 2003 by Joe Haakenson