April 29, 1998; May 13, 2016 – In his long major league career Mike Scioscia has had success both as a player and as a manager. A native of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, he was selected out of high school by the Dodgers in the first round of the 1976 draft. He became the Dodgers regular catcher in 1981, his first full season, and except for 1983, when he missed most of the season due to injury, he held that position over the next 12 seasons and helped the team win two World Series titles. A .259 career hitter and two-time All-Star, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound receiver holds the franchise record for most games caught and was considered the best in the game at blocking runners off the plate.

After his playing career ended, Scioscia was the Dodgers bench coach for two years, managed their Triple A affiliate in Albuquerque for one year, then managed the Los Angeles Angels from 2000 to 2018. A two-time Manager of the Year, Scioscia led the Angels to the 2002 World Series title, the first in franchise history, and six AL West Division titles. His 1,650 wins are second-most all-time by a manager with one team. Mentored by Tommy Lasorda, the only manager he played for, Scioscia became a mentor himself. Three of his coaches—Joe Maddon, Bud Black, and Ron Roenicke—went on to become big league managers. Highly respected by his peers, he was one of four managers—along with Tony La Russa, Joe Torre, and Jim Leyland—named by Commissioner Bud Selig in 2010 to a special committee of baseball veterans to review all on-field related issues.

Scioscia also appeared as himself in two episodes of The Simpsons, the longest-running prime-time series in American television history: “Homer at the Bat” (1992) and “MoneyBART” (2010).