There shall be no distractions inside Mike Scioscia’s clubhouse. Not even Nerf basketball hoops are safe.
In light of the conflict between Scioscia and Jerry DiPoto, who resigned as the team’s GM Wednesday, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan wrote a column detailing some of the longtime Angels manager’s stodgy ways. For instance, Passan reports that Scioscia last year wouldn’t allow a Nerf basketball hoop that MVP Mike Trout had put up inside the team’s clubhouse.
From Passan’s report:
So Mike Trout hung one of those Nerf mini-basketball hoops in the Angels’ clubhouse. One day, according to league sources, the hoop came down. Trout hung it back up. Down it went again.
Mike Scioscia, the sources said, did not like the idea of a foam ball being tossed around in his domain. He didn’t like loud music, either, so he turned the volume knob to a level he deemed appropriate.
Ouch. Not even a Nerf hoop? Not even for Mike Trout? That’s pretty weak sauce, Sciosc.
Passan also reports that Scioscia is the antithesis of a players’ manager and that players are actually in fear of him. If Nerf hoops aren’t even allowed, it’s easy to see why they would be in fear.
Of course, based on what Scioscia did last year, we already knew he was a “no fun allowed” kind of guy. In some respects that is a good thing because everyone knows who the boss is, but you have to also know when to loosen up.
