---

The Dodgers drafted Mike Scioscia in the first round of the 1976 draft. He reported to Single-A Bellingham and hit .278 as a 17-year old first-year pro.

The catcher quickly progressed through the Dodger chain. Shown here is baseball card featuring Scioscia’s final stop in the minors. Scioscia has autographed it boldly across his Albuquerque Dukes jersey.

In five minor league seasons, Scioscia hit .301 with a .420 on-base percentage. His final season in the bushes proved his readiness for the show. The Albuquerque backstop hit .335 with a .435 on-base percentage.

Scioscia played 13 years with the Dodgers and earned two World Series rings.

---

Sometimes it’s difficult to predict how well a prospect will perform at the big league level. This card produced by Topps displays Dodger future stars Mike Scioscia, Fernando Valenzuela, and Jack Perconte.

Though Perconte would enjoy seven Major League seasons, the two men pictured with him became mainstays for two Dodger championship teams. Scioscia played in more than 1,400 games for the Dodgers while Valenzuela would win the Rookie of Year and Cy Young awards for Los Angeles.

By the time he hung up his spikes, Scioscia amassed 1,131 hits, two All Star appearances, and two World Series rings. His 1,395 career games as a Dodger catcher is the franchise record. Later he earned another ring as skipper for the Angels.

---

After a solid 13-year playing career that included a pair of All Star appearances and two World Series triumphs, Mike Scioscia ventured into managing. Working his way up the Dodger minor league chain, Scioscia eventually had to take his first big league manager’s job with the Angels.

Three years after taking the position in Anaheim, Scioscia guided the franchise to its first World Series title. He guided the Angels six division titles in his 19 seasons.

In the collection are these two original lineup cards signed by the two-time Manager of the Year.

Scioscia appears to have fallen into the Charlie Grimm/Jim Fregosi category of All Star players who also had solid careers as managers yet remain short of inclusion to the Hall of Fame.

---

Mike Scioscia managed two of the legends of the game – Albert Pujols and Mike Trout. Pujols came to the Angels in his age-32 season. His best years were behind him.

In the first 11 years of his career, Prince Albert put up Hall of Fame numbers. He averaged 40 homers, 121 runs batted in, to go along with a .328 average and .420 on-base percentage. Then he came to Anaheim.

During his time with Scioscia, Pujols regressed. From 2012-2017 Pujols averaged 28 homers and 98 RBI while hitting .262 with a .319 on-base percentage.

Trout’s best seasons came under Scioscia. The 2012 Rookie of the Year, Trout also finished second in MVP voting. From the time he broke in until the time Scioscia retired, Trout was unstoppable.

The Angel centerfielder earned three MVP Awards, and finished as the runner-up three time times. He also earned four Silver Slugger Awards.

Shown here is a lineup card signed by Scioscia from a game against the on Mariners on July 20, 2014. Trout is penciled into the second spot in the order directly in front of the three-hitter Pujols.

The game was remarkable as Trout hit the 85th homer of his career. Pujols went 2-for-4 with three runs scored. His lone RBI came in the bottom of the 9th when he doubled to drive in Trout as the tying run.

That double was the 544th of his career, moving him ahead of 8-time batting champion on the all-time list.