October 17, 2007

Patton: Stoneman deserves praise

Gregg Patton

ANAHEIM - If you, Mr. Baseball Fan, had to come up with a quickie assessment of Angels general manager Bill Stoneman, I suspect you would have smirked and said he was the guy who never met a trade he liked.

You would have said that he was the stoic, naysayer who held on to prospects as if they were all Hall of Fame shoo-ins, and was unable or unwilling to get the veteran big bat the Angels always seemed to need.

You probably wouldn't have pictured the sentimental and emotional man, pausing at times to wipe away tears and compose himself Tuesday while resigning the job he devoted himself to for eight years.

"My wife, Diane, didn't know when she married me that I would have a mistress," he said during an eloquent resignation speech at Angel Stadium. "But I am leaving my mistress."

Nor, I'm guessing, would you have thought to credit the 63-year-old former big-league pitcher for his more deserving legacy. Stoneman, who hired Mike Scioscia as manager and predated owner Arte Moreno's purchase of the franchise from Disney, is the front-office executive who shaped and presided over the most successful era in the Angels' 47-year history.

Before Stoneman, the Angels were only an occasional playoff team. Since he arrived in 1999, they have won their only World Series. They became the stable organization that has won the American League West three of the past four seasons.

If Stoneman seemed occasionally paralyzed by his affection for homegrown players, he made no apologies for it Tuesday.

Indeed, it was his hallmark, the foundation he built upon.

"The No. 1 thing is to develop your own players -- scout well and develop players properly," he said. "That's the Angels way, a winning way. If you ignore it, you don't belong in the business.

"We've provided the fans with a consistently winning, exciting ballclub. It's a team fans can attach themselves to."

Oh, yes, the fans. If they came to bury Stoneman at times, at least they came -- during his tenure, the Angels turned into a franchise that drew more than 3 million people a year.

If he took the criticism personally, you never would have known it Tuesday. He choked up when talking about the team's followers, who rallied around the Angels like never before during the championship year five seasons ago.

"In 2002, the fans were the extra player -- and they stayed," Stoneman said. "The fans are why we are here. They should never be underestimated in their ability to make us better."

The most telling thing about the stability and success he designed in Anaheim is in whom owner Moreno tapped to succeed Stoneman.

Indio native Tony Reagins, 40, is an Angels organization man, through and through. For the past six years he has been the director of player development, the caretaker of the Stoneman method.

Reagins was hired as an intern 16 years ago, a marketing major from Cal State Fullerton who simply wanted to be involved with sports. He was a better football player at Indio High than an American Legion baseball player, and his professional baseball education comes not from the field as a player, manager or coach, but from growing up within the Angels organization.

That says it all. The Angels have become so secure with the way they operate that it only makes sense for them to hire from within, promoting a guy who learned only their philosophies and has already implemented them.

"Instead of bringing someone in from the outside, and trying to reorganize everything," Moreno said. "We're keeping Bill by my side, and he can help Tony with the transition."

There's no doubt Stoneman, now a consultant, will hear from Reagins as the new guy shoulders point-man responsibilities.

"Bill's going to be around," Reagins said. "He has a tremendous baseball mind. I'd be naïve and ignorant not to lean on him."

Reagins will have plenty of help. If Stoneman took much of the heat for failing to make blockbuster trades, it was never all him. The Moreno-Stoneman-Scioscia Angels were group run, constantly sharing opinions, and inviting input from all corners of the organization.

It was Moreno, for example, who reportedly nixed a deal for Colorado cleanup hitter Todd Helton last winter, not Reluctant Bill.

Scioscia's clubhouse is uncommonly respected. One of Stoneman's better acquisitions, Jose Guillen, was suspended for the playoffs and unceremoniously let go after a confrontation with the manager, despite his one, terrific 2004 season.

And if big trades weren't his thing, Stoneman had remarkable success with Moreno's money in the free-agent market -- securing an MVP in Vladimir Guerrero, a Cy Young winner in Bartolo Colon, as well as Kelvim Escobar, Orlando Cabrera and Gary Matthews. Jr. to name a few.

Reagins surely will face in his first offseason the same pressures that Stoneman did -- namely to acquire a productive hitter. But he also is an Angels man, raised to protect the kids, most of whom have been tutored under his watch. Don't count on a splashy headline.

Angels fans frustrated with the 4-12 postseason record since 2002, have been increasingly demanding and critical. But in an era which produced 15 different playoff teams in 2006 and 2007, they should also be pleased they root for a sound organization and a perennial contender.

If you're happily waving goodbye to Stoneman, don't forget to thank him, too.