Scioscia joins elite club with 1,200th win

ANAHEIM -- Jim Leyland, Dusty Baker, Bruce Bochy, Davey Johnson and Mike Scioscia.

When the Angels defeated the Athletics, 4-1, on Friday night, Scioscia became the fifth active manager to amass 1,200 victories.

"We've had some really good teams," Scioscia said. "I think as an organization, to have an opportunity to be in one spot and get 1,200 wins is a reflection of the whole organization. It's everybody. From developing players to Major League coaching staff doing a great job with them and having the players that have the talent."

Throughout the history of baseball, just 39 managers have reached the 1,200 win mark -- Connie Mack tops the list with 3,731 -- and 23 of them are in the Hall of Fame.

Among the active managers to reach the 1,200 win mark, Scioscia is the only one to accomplish the feat with just one team and was just the seventh manager to reach 1,000 wins with his first team.

However, Scioscia is quick to make sure he is not the only one gaining the credit and recognition.

"As an organization we are proud," Scioscia said. "I certainly don't look at it as any individual number at all."

Scioscia, who took over as the Angels manager prior to the 2000 season, is the longest-tenured manager in the Majors and has led the Angels to five division titles in the last nine seasons.

The Angels' manager also led the franchise to a World Series championship in 2002 -- a year he was also named the American League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.