Jerry Dipoto made the announcement last evening without Angels’ manager, Mike Scioscia present. He said it was a sad day. Mickey Hatcher had been the Angels hitting coach for 13 years – the longest by any MLB team. Prior to that, Hatcher was the hitting coach for Mike Scioscia, when he managed the Dodgers’ AAA team in Albuquerque . He also played with Scioscia as a member of the Dodgers.
Mickey was a lovable, fun loving guy whom, when with the Dodgers would dance and cheer while the Mickey Mouse song was played for him. Hatcher carried around an over-sized glove with which he used to prank other players.
Once as a coach for the Angels, he found some green paint and used it to paint himself from head to toe. Mickey didn’t realize the paint was enamel, which wouldn’t allow his skin and pores to breathe. After the players got their laughs at the Green Giant, he complained to Bert Blyleven that he couldn’t breathe and thus Mickey had a terrible time removing the paint.
Firing people is not new in the Angels organization. They fired Eddie Bane after he selected Mike Trout in the draft and they fired Ned Bergert who was instrumental in 1992 in tending to several in the terrible bus accident. He was later promoted to the head trainer.
So why was Hatcher fired? He had a squabble with Albert Pujols in early May. In a closed door meeting, Pujols told the players that an early season slump was not new for him and to keep the faith, because he will return to prior years’ form. When Hatcher mentioned this to the media, there was a mild disagreement. Pujols did not want any closed door comments mentioned in the media. So was that it?
The decision goes deeper than that. This was Jerry Dipoto’s decision and a message o Mike Scioscia. In the past years, the Angels have not had a strong GM and it has been largely Scioscia’s team. This is a message to Scioscia that his friend, Mickey had to go. The numbers said so, and he said so. Time will tell if this decision was wise.
The new hitting instructor, Jim Eppard comes from the Angels Triple A team in Salt Lake City where he was Trumbo’s and Mike Trout’s hitting coach. Also, Eppard was in the Rockies organization and Dipoto is a big fan of his work.
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