On Thursday night, the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Boston Red Sox 5-2 snapping a franchise record 14-game losing streak.
The season began on a most promising note with the Halos atop the AL West from April 27th through May 10th. On May 13th, the club was tied with the Houston Astros for the lead in the division with a 24-13 record. Prior to last night, their most recent win was on May 24th when they beat the Texas Rangers 5-3.
It would prove to be Joe Maddon's last victory as Angels skipper as he was let go after the losing streak had hit 12 games. Despite leading the Tampa Bay Rays to an AL pennant in 2008 and the Chicago Cubs to their first World Series title in 108 years in 2016, Maddon's magic did not spread to Anaheim in an organization where he spent over three decades and had been the team's interim manager in both 1996 and 1999. In just under 2 1/2 seasons, Maddon went 130-148 in the Angels' dugout. The move to fire Maddon does not surprise me. Indeed, I mused about this possibility after the Philadelphia Phillies parted ways with Joe Girardi earlier this month.
As for Phil Nevin, he has long been considered a managerial prospect. After a 12-year big league career, Nevin managed in the Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks systems before becoming the third base coach for the San Francisco Giants in 2017. He would spend four seasons in the same role with the New York Yankees before joining the Angels prior to the start of this season.
Nevin has a very tall order namely to stop the bleeding for a club that went from leading to the division to now being 9 games back of the Astros and scarcely just ahead of the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners in the AL West. If Nevin can somehow get the Angels into the post-season then he will be named AL Manager of the Year.
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