Wrong Coast?

The media spent most of Tuesday morning making a fuss about how the New York Mets fired Willie Randolph in the middle of the night via a press release. It’s typical East Coast media bias. You think that if one of the AL West managers was fired in the middle of the night, any of the mass media would care? Perhaps some in LA would bash the Angels, but few in New England talk radio or NY television even know who John McLaren and Ron Washington are (current managers of Seattle and Texas, respectively, who have been already rumored this season to be on the verge of losing their job).

Sure, some of that East Coast media might know the manager of the Angels. They should as Mike Scioscia was an All-Star catcher, been at his job for almost a decade, won a World Series and is the winningest manager in Angles history. In 2008, Scioscia appears to be doing another great job. Given the money the Angles spend on their roster, you might not be that impressed, thinking that all Scioscia has to do is fill out the lineup card. But consider this, the Angels’ record for the most of the season has been among the top five in the majors, yet only one player is among the top four vote-getters at his position for the All-Star game. The Angels, however, won’t have a starter in the All-Star Game if voting stays the same for the next couple of weeks. Vladimir Guerrero, fourth in outfield voting, would be the closest the Angles could come.

The reason? Some more East Coast bias. Seven of the top nine starters, according to the fan balloting, are from the Red Sox of Yankees. Wouldn’t it be great if the East Coast media stopped complaining about the fact that the Mets fired their manager without inviting the media to the party -- at least long enough to extol the virtues of players such as Mariners second baseman Jose Lopez or Angles first baseman Casey Kotchman.