He's right, though they hardly showed it Monday. For the first time in anyone's memory the Rangers aren't simply built to win games 16-12.
On Monday, the first game of the season in Orange County for Texas, players and coaches on both sides of the Angels-Rangers divide credited Nolan Ryan, the Hall of Famer turned Rangers president, with building a team in his take-no-guff image.
"You can just feel it from them, the mental toughness," said Angels hitting coach Mickey Hatcher. "They aren't going away."
Hatcher knows. His team knows.
Before Monday, they'd lost five of the six games they'd played against Texas.
"They own us," center fielder Torii Hunter had rightly observed.
Both teams have much to be nervous about. Big questions loom.
Will the Rangers' pitching remain an asset? After getting superbly skilled outfielder Josh Hamilton back after losing him to abdominal surgery for 30 games, will Texas go on a real tear?
And can the Angels continue to heal the emotional wounds suffered with the loss of Nick Adenhart?
Can they get their balky pitching straight?
They lead the American League in batting average -- and they consistently poleaxed the ball on Monday night -- but can they thrive much longer without consistent power?
Texas has hit 121 homers. The Angels have 80, fewer than all but three teams in the American League.
"It can be good when things are tight like they are now," said Chone Figgins, sitting at his locker before Monday's game.
"Texas playing ball the way they are, Seattle right behind them, we have to play the way Scioscia wants us: like every game is the last game. For us, with all that we've been through, the most important thing is that we are in the race."
Last year, as always, the Angels were saying all the right things -- "every game means the world" -- over and over, even when the season was half done and there was no real doubt.
They fell asleep in all that easy winning -- z-z-z-z-z-z -- and they couldn't wake up.
It's better now.
There's no sleeping now, not with Texas and Seattle and half a season spent overcoming terrible luck. What a difference.
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kurt.streeter@latimes.com
