On Saturday August 11, the Day Creek Howl interviewed the Anaheim Angels third base coach, Dino Ebel, about the rumors of Mike Scioscia’s retirement?

1. How do feel about the rumors that manager Mike Scioscia may step down after this season?

”Like you said, it’s a rumor and Mike has never addressed the media yet. He said back in October of last year he met with the owner, Arte Moreno, and he was on his last year of his contract and he’s never spoken to the two reports that came out in the internet and the newspapers. So like he said the other day, when the season is over, he’ll address it. He will meet with Arte Mareno and the general manager, Billy Eppler, and then he’ll decide if he wants to come back for a year or he’ll decide if he is going to retire.”

2. If he does step down do you think he would retire from baseball altogether? Any chance he’d move to another club?

“Nobody knows. I asked Mike that myself and he really said to me that he wants to finish this season, and when the season is over then he’ll decide.  People are going to speculate that he might go to another team. He might not, so we’re just going to have to wait and see. It’s Mike Scioscia’s decision. He’s spent 19 years as a manager with the Angels, so nobody knows except for him. So we’ll just have to wait and see.”

3. Do you think that this rumor will affect the team’s performance? “Oh no, no. The guys will play hard every day. Since this came out, we’ve won 4 in a row (they really went 4-2 since the rumor surfaced). Mike has been doing this a long time and the players respect that and he respects the players, so we play hard every day. We want to play Angel baseball and it hasn’t bothered the players at all. So for a guy who has been in the game this long and maybe going into this season, there’s speculation that he might retire. The guys know Mike Scioscia is in the dugout and they are going to play hard everyday.”

4. Bill Plaschke of the LA Times said in an article, “He will finish his career the way he’s lived it. He’ll end it his way. He’ll finish it on his time. he’ll try to do it on a day when nobody is looking.” What do you think about what Plaschke said?

“Yeah, he’s right. Bill goes back a long ways with Mike back when Mike played for the Dodger Organization. Bill’s been doing this a long time, writing about sports and doing a lot of interviews. Mike came in 2000 to the Angels and he set a program up with the Angels the right way how to play the game and he’s been doing it since day. When this is all said and done, he’s gonna finish it his way. Nobody’s gonna know until the season is over and he meets with the owner and the general manager and decides what he wants to do.”

5. Do you think he will be sneaky and announce his decision when nobody is looking at baseball and looking at the other sports?

“No, no he’s going to meet with the owner right after the season. He’ll take a day off and then Mr. Moreno will meet with Mike and they’ll discuss the plans because they gotta…if Mike is coming back then we gotta prepare for next year. Mike’s not coming back then Mr. Moreno and Billy Eppler have to start preparing for a new manager and they wanna get this ball rolling. So I’m sure as soon as the season’s over Mike will take maybe a day or two and then he’ll decide.”

6. If Mike were to step down would the team’s performance be affected?

“You always want the team to do better. Whoever comes in and is the new manager is going to have a new kind of way, a new style – maybe like Mike’s, maybe not like Mike’s. Nobody knows. [It] just depends what kind manager they hire. The players are the players, the players want to win every day. The owner wants to win every day, the manager [and] the coaching staff – we all want to win every day. So no, there’s going to be no problem [for] whoever steps in as new manager. The players are going to play hard to win a championship.”