LA Angels bring back member of 2002 Championship team in Wooten

The LA Angels made another move toward filling out their coaching staff when they announced that former Angel Shawn Wooten, who was a member of the 2002 World Championship team. Wooten will be the Angels assistant hitting coach in 2019.

When the LA Angels hired Jeremy Reed to be their hitting coach earlier this month he was what many called an obvious choice since he had been in the Angels minor league system as a roving hitting instructor.  Wooten has also been in the Angels minor league system working as an assistant hitting coordinator to Reed last season so the two are familiar.

Wooten will replace Paul Sorrento who was in that role the past three seasons for the Angels. Wooten was a member of the Angels from 2000 to 2003 and played a key role on the Angels World Championship team.  Wooten played 49 games in 2002 hitting .292 with three homers and driving in 19 runs.  In 2001 Wooten hit eight homers and 32 RBIs with a .312 batting average after making his debut in 2000.

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Wooten came up big in the playoffs in 2002.  In game four of the ALDS against the Yankees Wooten hit a tying home run in the 5th inning off of David Wells that started an eight-run uprising.  Wooten capped it with an RBI-single later in the inning. The eight-run inning gave the Angels a 9-2 lead and they would go on to win the game and the series on their march to the World Series.

Overall in that post-season Wooten was 9 for 19 with a .474 batting average as a right-handed platoon at DH and 1B for the Angels in the post-season.  Wooten was a fan-favorite for the Angels throughout his career with them.  Wooten only played one more season with the Angels in 2003 hitting seven homers with 32 RBIs and hitting .243.

Upon leaving the Angels, Wooten played one season with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2004 and then had one major league at-bat with the Boston Red Sox in 2005.

Upon retiring from baseball Wooten has been working as a hitting coach and also a minor league manager.  Wooten started with the San Diego Padres in 2010 as a hitting coach for the Eugene Emeralds and then became a minor league manager for the next three seasons for the Padres Single-A affiliate the Lake Elsinore Storm. Wooten was then hired by the Dodgers as their Double-A hitting coach in 2015 and then was promoted to the hitting coach of the Dodgers Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers in 2016 and 2017.

I think Wooten is a good choice both because he has been with the Angels in the past and also is familiar with new Angel hitting coach Jeremy Reed after working alongside of him last season.  We will see how it goes.