May 2, 2012; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels batting coach Mickey Hatcher (7) before the game against the Minnesota Twins at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

I hate to say I told you so is probably one of the most patently false statements there is in the english language. I mean its human nature to want to be right about things,  so why lie and tell people that  your ashamed you were right? Its like telling someone you hate cold beer and girls in bikinis. Just keep it real.

When it comes to baseball theory and strategy you can bet your ass that most dudes want to be right about what ever the hell they are talking about. Count me amongst those dudes. Back in April for what felt like the thousandth time I  called for the dismissal of Angels hitting coach Mickey Hatcher saying:

To use a football analogy – the Angels hitters are consistently out schemed. Their approach doesn’t seem to vary from game to game based on the opponent (the starting pitcher). The hitting coach is in essence the offensive coordinator for a baseball team. Its his job to prepare hitters to succeed before and during the game and from there it is the batters job to execute the plan.

The Angels consistently feel like a team without an offensive game plan. They run the same play over and over again despite its ineffectiveness. Does the game plan ever change? It sure never seems so.

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Is Mike Scioscia no longer the best fit to manage the Angels? (Image: Tim Heitman-US PRESSWIRE)

Scioscia remains one of the few remnants of the last Angels regime that guided this team through the 2000′s. Last winter, owner Arte Moreno cleaned house in the Halos front office, brining in Jerry Dipoto to be the new GM. Dipoto immediately began filling the front office with “his” guys, people who followed in the same baseball philosophy as Dipoto, that on-base percentage and advanced metrics were the way to build a winner. This is not Mike Scioscia’s philosophy. Scioscia, and by extension Mickey Hatcher who was fired on Monday, believe that patience at the plate is merely a means to an end, namely getting a good pitch to hit. They preached an aggressiveness to their batters, wanting them to get the ball in play as much as possible. Dipoto sees patience at the plate a means of itself, as a way to get on base without hitting safely via walks. The philisophical differences have created a frosty working relationship between the manager and the GM.

Now, with the firing of Scioscia’s long-time teammate, bench coach, and friend Mickey Hatcher, it looks like the regime change is imminent. This is the first time that one of Scioscia’s coaches has been fired by the team. He lost Bud Black, Joe Maddon and Ron Roenicke to managerial jobs elsewhere, but this is the first time that Scioscia has one of his guys fired. He’s not taking it particularly well.

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.

He scoffed at the idea that a change in the identity of the hitting coach would solve the Angels’ offensive woes.

“We were not in an offensive funk because of Mickey,” Scioscia said.

After four questions about the coaching change, he had heard enough.

“Anything about the game?” Scioscia said.

Dipoto has publicly stated he doesn’t blame Hatcher for the Angels offensive struggles, saying that he felt it was time for a “different voice” to try and break this team out of its funk. If the struggles continue for the rest of the season, could the manager’s voice be the next one to change over?

While Scioscia has presided over the must successful run in Angels’ history, every great run has to come to an end eventually. Scioscia has seen his voice in player personnel decisions cut down dramatically since the leadership change and has seemed unwilling to change up his style or approach, even as the team’s payroll added higher expectations. Has Scioscia forgotten how to manage? Of course not. But this team has changed. Moreno has gone out and spent the big bucks to bring in a lot of superstar talent which has changed the level of expectations for this club…but it hasn’t changed Scioscia’s approach to the lineup.

If things were working out, then there wouldn’t be any story. Scioscia would be happily plugging along for the duration of his contract. But things aren’t going well. Torii Hunter came out publicly and questioned the effort level of the team and coaching staff. Albert Pujols started the season in the worst slump of his career and publicly spoke out against Hatcher, basically telling the world that he didn’t trust him. It’s the first time that Scioscia or his coaches have had to deal with backlash from the players, and it may be a sign that he’s losing this team.

Back in 1999, the Angels were in a similar situation as they are now. They went out and signed a superstar in Mo Vaughn, and immediately raised the expectation level of the club to World Series or bust. Vaughn’s debut season with the Angels was a disaster, much like Pujols has been this year, and by the end of the season, the players had staged a mutiny and ownership fired everybody. To rebuild from that trainwreck, the Angels hired Mike Scioscia, who may now fall victim to the same pitfalls his predecessor did.

Things aren’t looking good for Mike Scioscia. The offense is ranked near the bottom of the American League, the team is stuck behind Oakland in the standings, and the Rangers continue to be one of the best teams in baseball. Add in the fact that players are now voicing their displeasure and fans are coming out in smaller numbers (attendance is down 14% so far this season), and a the GM who he doesn’t work well with and who didn’t hire him will have no issues turning the page on Scioscia’s tenure as the manager of this club. It’s been a great run for Scioscia and the Halos, but is it time now for the ride to end?

Mickey Hatcher has been fired by the Angels (Image: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE)

Instead of offensive proficiency, the team ranks 12th in the AL in runs scored, 12th in on-base percentage, 11th in slugging percentage, and only have as many home runs as the Seattle Mariners, who are not exactly the 1995 “Refuse to Lose” Seattle Mariners at this point. Instead of striking fear into opposing pitching, the Halos lead the league in getting shut out, and it’s not even close. Through the first 36 games, they matched the record for suffering the most shutouts in the last 96 years. Something had to change, so the Angels announced after last night’s game that they had fired hitting coach Mickey Hatcher and promoted Jim Eppard from Triple-A Salt Lake to replace him.

The move was met with great rejoicing from Angels fans, who had grown disgruntled with Hatcher’s work watching the team struggle to score runs over the last two seasons. When this season started out similarly, and Pujols stuck in the worst hitting slump of his career, GM Jerry Dipoto decided it was time to let Hatcher go. While Dipoto has nothing but great things to say about Hatcher and his ability as a hitting coach, the organization felt it was time for a “fresh breeze” to blow through the clubhouse to see if a new voice could get this team turned around.

The move also reflects a difference in philosophy between the old regime in Anaheim and Dipoto’s term now. Hatcher promoted an aggressive approach at the plate, which didn’t help the team get on base which conflicts with Dipoto’s increased emphasis on on-base percentage and the incorporation of advanced analytics into the team’s approach. Hatcher was old school, and the Angels are moving into the new school, leaving the old pieces behind as they fall. But what could that mean for Mike Scioscia going forward?

Scioscia is the longest-tenured manager in baseball who has a fierce loyalty for “his guys,” which comes through in most of the managerial decisions he makes. That includes keeping Hatcher around for as long as he did. Hatcher is a longtime friend and former teammate of Scioscia’s, playing on the Dodgers’ 1988 World Series team with Scioscia and also acting as the hitting coach for the 2002 World Series run for the Angels. He was hired on in 2000, shortly after Scioscia got the Angels job, and many feel overstayed his welcome, at least according to fans who have watched this team flail at the plate the last two years. With this move, Jerry Dipoto is laying claim to the Angels as his team, and not Scioscia’s any longer.

Dipoto has shown a strong, decisive hand so far as GM of the Angels, and has begun putting his own people in place around the organization who are more in tune with his philosophy on baseball, particularly on patience at the plate. Back in November, Dipoto vowed that he would do whatever it took to raise the Angels on-base percentage by being more patient and drawing more walks. Scioscia and Hatcher, however, have continued to preach patience only as a means to an end (geting a good pitch to hit) rather than an end in itselt (a walk). The disconnect could be partially to blame for the Angels disapointing offense this season and could be the beginning of a complete regime change for the Halos.