No Angels manager has ever won more than Scioscia. One more W will do

He hasn’t said goodbye yet … nooooot so fast.

He hasn’t even hinted when he might say anything concrete about his future.

Mike Scioscia hasn’t said much except “Poppycock!” to speculation about his tenure ending after nearly two decades in the Angel dugout.

In case you didn’t know, your Angels have a ballgame this afternoon against the Oakland Athletics at the Big A. Somebody has to manage.

Bob Melvin? He’s over there managing.

We’re the guys in red in here. I’m the manager. Capiche?

Questions? If it’s a fastball, Sosh has a pat answer for every pre-game presser he’s done since 2000: “Ask me about that after the game.”

Even this lovely Sunday morning, at 10:45, before his Angels had even started stretching, Scioscia was getting legitimate questions and fouling them away.

Had losing for three straight seasons — you know, bothered him. That was OC Register beat writer Jeff Fletcher’s question, right-down-the-middle fair.

Fouled off by Scioscia!

“I’ll address that later.”

And so ... let the cliches roll for another day.

Mike Scioscia likes to work, in case you didn’t know. He’s showed up every day, early or on time since November 18, 1999, when he signed his first contract for $1 million over three years with Angels’ then-GM Bill Stoneman.

Sosh has banked $50 million in the last decade on thata last deal. That contract expires later today. He’s wealthier than belief.

He’s also a great human.

“Why would you stop doing something you love doing?” Scioscia said in an interview with Angel play-by-play man Terry Smith.

Honest. We’ll find out soon enough who does any stopping.

After the last out goes into the scorebook around 4pm this fine Sunday, we can probably close the book on the Scioscia Era

If it’s true, we can definitely stop turning pages — and tip our caps.

To be sure, the decision-makers on Gene Autry Way already know exactly how much time Mike Scioscia has left as Angels’ manager.

Sosh knows. General manager Billy Eppler definitely knows.

Heck, ask Mike Trout. The team’s star probably knows too, but Trout wouldn’t admit he was hurt even if one of his right arm was detached and laying on the center field grass.

Speak Japanese? Try Shohei Ohtani — that guy knows everything. Even the words to Despacito.

It’s just the Angel way to be hush-hush. Around the Big A, nobody says Jack – unless they’re asking for cheese at the sandwich stand.

As you read this, an official statement is spitting out of copy machines in the PR department at Angel Stadium.

Most of the journalists haven’t arrived at the yard yet. No fans.

The guy setting up the hot dog stand on the terrace level will know more before anyone else does.

All this suspense does is just hang in the air – and like helium, you just gotta laugh.

The departure signs have been blinking since April. Scioscia, managing without a contract extension, was vulnerable. Ken Rosenthal’s tweeted a month ago that and season’s end Scioscia “would step down.”

Careful on those steps, Mike. You saw what happened to Simba that one game.

Ouch. Scioscia sure hasn’t been helped by injuries.

It doesn’t just seem inevitable — it is. The winningest manager in club history won’t be an Angel anymore.

That’s true of every manager since Connie Mack, but even Mack eventually gave up in 1950. Mack started in 1901.

Good or bad, all of them have a last day in the dugout in this funny game of baseball.

Baseball has no clock. A game isn’t finished until 27 are out for the losers.

There will be a time when the winningest manager in Angel history isn’t in an Angel uniform anymore.

Sure, Mike Scioscia’s legacy will stir debate between Angel fans.

Some will hail him as the greatest manager in Angel history – that’s true.

Some will say he didn’t do enough – and particularly since 2016 – that’s also true.

Saturday night, the Angels, in a series of tributes, handed a full house the gift of a Scioscia bobblehead doll.

The promotion was partly to thank the fans for turning up in big numbers to watch a team that won less than they’d hoped.

It was also partly to celebrate the accomplishments of a great manager who won the most games for the franchise, and secured it’s only world championship.

The figurine of the Angels’ great manager depicts a little Sosh with a cheesy grin. In his tiny plastic hand, the miniature Sosh grips a lineup card with the names of the real big stars who played during Big Scioscia’s long tenure.

The bobblehead was a cool goodbye gesture.

But ... the Fan Appreciation Day crowd saw another loss at the Big A – it was Scioscia’s 1428th career defeat in 19 years.

That sealed the third straight losing season in the Scioscia Era.

But wait! Scioscia has won a heap of games too, and he has a shot.

Win One For The Skipper!

That’s Sunday’s battle cry. One more, please, baseball gods?

If the Angels can beat the wild card-bound Oakland Athletics this afternoon, they can wrap a pretty package around Scioscia’s 1,650 career wins.

That’s a nice round number. It’s easy for the man who won all those games to remember, too — he turns 60 in November.

Sadly, Scioscia’s 2018 Angels probably looked the best of his recent teams. Back in April, they were built to win.

But that promise was broken – let’s not get into the why or how, for now.

Here’s the reality: The team with two of the best players in the American League – Trout and Ohtani — are going nowhere but home.

The upstart A’s will leave Anaheim today and fly to the Big Apple for that wild card game against the New York Yankees.

The Angels were the supposed by to be that team.

Some of the Angels will shrug it off, laugh and leave. Others may be sullen,or kick around stuff around.

It’s never fun when a too much losing makes a good team pack up and go home.

How does it feel?

Ask Mike Scioscia. After the game, of course.