For two of the members of Cal State Fullerton’s Baseball Mt. Rushmore, the 2023 Major League Baseball season began with the same storyline as the 2022 seasons ended. And that’s the perfect place to open the book on the latest chapter in the always-followed story of Who’s Who among Titan Major Leaguers.
The 2022 season ended with the Oakland Athletics sweeping the Los Angeles Angels in a forgettable series between two disappointing teams. The 2023 season began with those same two teams turning the page on the new season. This time, the Angels took two out of three.
Why are we starting here? Because this series between these two featured Titans in the managerial offices: Phil Nevin for the Angels and Mark Kotsay for the Athletics.
There are 30 major league teams, and two of the most storied names in program history are pushing the buttons from two of the dugouts. Kotsay begins his second year running the Athletics after being one of the hottest managerial prospects among major-league front offices. Last year, he presided over a team in flux both on and off the field.
The Athletics entered their latest rebuilding stage by trading away two of their offensive and clubhouse mainstays: first baseman Matt Olson and All-Star third baseman — and Titan alum — Matt Chapman. This, as rumors of the Athletics’ possible move to Las Vegas swirled around the franchise throughout the season. The Athletics lost 102 games in Kotsay’s initial season.
We’ll get to Chapman later.
As for Nevin, he inherited the Angels’ managing gig after Joe Madden was fired last May. The 1992 Golden Spikes Award winner also inherited the tail end of what would become a 14-game losing streak, snapping it two days later. He’d finish his inaugural major-league managing season 46-60 (.434).
The Angels took the interim tag off Nevin last October, signing him to a one-year contract and returning the keys to a team featuring two of the game’s transcendent players: three-time MVP…
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