"When spring training rolls around, it will be one dozen years since the Angels last appeared in a postseason game and two dozen years since they won their first and only World Series championship. If baseball were scripted, two of the Angels' World Series heroes would take charge of the team and make it a winner again. As it turns out, two of those champions are taking charge of a team next year. Not the Angels, though."
"Troy Percival has been hired to manage the new Long Beach team in the independent Pioneer League. Percival, the closer who recorded the final out in the 2002 World Series, said his hitting coach would be Troy Glaus, the 2002 World Series most valuable player. "I made sure that he could hit fungoes," Percival said, "because I can't." When we talked the other day, Percival wore a T-shirt with a cartoon image of a bull, with the word "PEN'' stenciled on it."
Troy Percival will manage Long Beach's new Pioneer League team launching next spring at Blair Field with Troy Glaus serving as his hitting coach. Percival recorded the final out in the 2002 World Series and Glaus was the 2002 World Series MVP. Percival has turned down major-league coaching offers, and the Angels have not offered him a position despite his expressed loyalty. Percival managed Idaho Falls for the past two summers but found the distance from his Riverside home and family too great. He briefly considered a year off before being approached about returning to UC Riverside to work with pitchers.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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