I had every intention of not posting today (I’m on a vacation of sorts), but it seems I have been called out. Yesterday, I wrote that the Angels should fire Mickey Hatcher. Then today, not so coincidentally, AngelsWin.com had a post bemoaning everyone’s need to find a scapegoat. Though they didn’t call me out specifically, the timing of our pieces certainly indicates to me that my thoughts on Hatcher at least partially inspired their criticism. And that’s fine. They are welcome to disagree. That being said, allow me to defend myself, even if their never was an overt attack.
Using Hatcher a scapegoat for this season was never my intention. What I am saying though is that this team is in need of some change if they are going to improve and become contenders again. Change can’t happen if you maintain the status quo.
As I said in the original post, I like Hatcher and have nothing against him personally, but there needs to be some philosophical changes in the way the Angels approach offense. There are many ways to go about this, but the easiest way for the Angels to do so is to let Hatcher go. Having the kind of coaching staff continuity the Angels have had can be a great thing, but it can also lead to complacency and uncreative thinking. Since the Halos are obviously never going to let Scioscia go, nor should they, that means Hatcher has to take the fall. The fact that I believe that he has never really been a very good hitting coach only make him a more obvious candidate to be fired.
This isn’t about assessing blame for a disappointing season, Lord knows there is plenty of that go around. Replacing Hatcher is about putting the Angels back onto the path to a championship by injecting some new ideas and a new voice into the coaching staff. It sucks for Mickey, but sometimes you have to break some eggs to make an omelet.
And don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to pick a fight with a fellow Angels blog. I certainly have some problems with some of the lazy logic in their post, but I ultimately agree with their point: scapegoating is lame. You don’t just fire someone for the sake of firing them. But this isn’t me saying the Angels need to fire Mickey because it will make the fans feel better or because we just plain need someone to blame. I simply think Hatcher isn’t all that good at his job (though he obviously isn’t a total moron since the team did hit so well last season) and that the Angels need a fresh perspective on the coaching staff. That isn’t scapegoating, that’s making a well informed and reasonable decision.
If I am wrong, then so be it. But I don’t think I am in this case.