1992 Miluwaukee 92-70...lost the AL East title on the last day of the season to Toronto, the eventual World Series Champions.
One out of 11 doesn't impress me. Well, he hadn't had 10 out of 11 losing seasons, that's one thing right there. Like I said before, I'd have preferred a rookie manager until someone correctly pointed out the flaws in a mid-season replacement like that Did the teams he coached show any kind of improvement over his years?
Jimy's team folded down the stretch last year, and had already hung it up at the break this year. Mediocrity should not be tolerated, as the front office has assembled a hell of a f'n team on the field. Jimy could not get this team to hit or pitch in the clutch, and their play was rapidly deteriorating on the field. Now it's up to Garner to turn things around. This team needs a change of pace.
please tell me how ANY coach makes this happen. i'm hoping to sell it to coaches and managers around the country who i'm sure are eagerly awaiting this genie in a bottle.
I thought this poll was kind of funny... Vote: Jimy Williams Fired -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SportsNation 1) Did the Astros make the right move in firing Jimy Williams? 65.4% Yes, because something had to be done 20.9% No 13.7% Yes, because it's his fault 2) Many analysts and fans predicted big things for the Astros this year. Were these expectations too high? 66.4% No 33.6% Yes 3) What has been the primary cause of the Astros' recent slide to fifth place in the NL East? 53.1% Weak offense 20.4% Injuries 13.5% Jimy Williams 13.0% Starting pitching 4) When should the Astros start the fire sale? 48.5% Give Garner some time to turn things around first 36.0% Contenders don't hold fire sales 15.5% Now 5) When will the Astros reach their first World Series? 43.2% It's gonna be awhile 24.0% Within 5 years 13.9% Within 10 years 13.5% This year! 5.3% Next year Total Votes: 7,356 http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sport...0=20974&question5121=20976&question5122=20977
That is hard when your best players are constantly sold off to the highest bidder. I have not done a roster analysis for all 11 of his season, but I would be willing to bet that his teams changed significantly in consecutive years. It makes life a bit more difficult when you can't get any momentum going with the same group from year to year.
I've heard criticisms of the way he handled his pitchers. I dunno, maybe you're right...I certainly hope so.
I think Garner might be a good short term solution. He lead Milwaukee to a 92-70 record in his first year, but that is because that team had veterans in Molitor, Yount, Seitzer, a good Jamie Navarro and Cal Eldred, and Chris Bosio. And this Astro team is full of vets. But he has proven not to be a good rebuilding coach. The young players never develop under him. So if the Astros opt to rebuild in the near future, then Garner probably isnt the best guy for the job.
Should be a moot point. I got the impression, from both Gerry, Drayton and Garner that this is for the rest of the season only. Garner didn't even sound like he was interested staying beyond this season under any conditions.
Just imagine Phil leads the Astros from 11 games back on July 14th to win the division, rolls through the playoffs and then sweep the Yankees in the World Series. Then he retires. hmmmm.....
After 1993 (post Molitor/Young), here are Milwaukee and Detroit's main players: 1994 C *Dave Nilsson 1B John Jaha 2B Jody Reed 3B Kevin Seitzer SS #Jose Valentin OF #Turner Ward OF Greg Vaughn OF Matt Mieske (uh yeah ...THAT Matt Mieske ) DH Brian Harper SP Cal Eldred SP Ricky Bones SP Bill Wegman SP *Teddy Higuera CL Mike Fetters 1995 C Joe Oliver 1B John Jaha 2B *Fernando Vina 3B Jeff Cirillo SS #Jose Valentin OF *David Hulse OF *Darryl Hamilton OF Matt Mieske DH Greg Vaughn SP Ricky Bones SP Steve Sparks SP *Brian Givens SP *Scott Karl SP Bob Scanlan (uh yeah ....THAT Bob Scanlan) CL Mike Fetters 1996 C Mike Matheny 1B John Jaha 2B *Fernando Vina 3B Jeff Cirillo SS #Jose Valentin LF Greg Vaughn CF #Pat Listach RF Matt Mieske DH Kevin Seitzer P Ben McDonald SP *Scott Karl SP Ricky Bones SP Jeff D'Amico SP Cal Eldred SP Steve Sparks CL Mike Fetters 1997 C Mike Matheny 1B *Dave Nilsson 2B *Fernando Vina 3B Jeff Cirillo SS #Jose Valentin LF Gerald Williams CF Darrin Jackson RF *Jeromy Burnitz DH Julio Franco SP Cal Eldred SP *Scott Karl SP Jeff D'Amico SP Jose Mercedes SP Ben McDonald CL Doug Jones 1998 C Mike Matheny 1B Mark Loretta 2B *Fernando Vina 3B Jeff Cirillo SS #Jose Valentin LF *Geoff Jenkins CF Marquis Grissom RF *Jeromy Burnitz DH John Jaha P *Scott Karl SP Steve Woodard SP Jeff Juden SP Cal Eldred SP *Brad Woodall SP *Bill Pulsipher CL Bob Wickman 1999 C *Dave Nilsson 1B Mark Loretta 2B Ron Belliard 3B Jeff Cirillo SS #Jose Valentin LF *Geoff Jenkins CF Marquis Grissom RF *Jeromy Burnitz DH *Rich Becke SP *Scott Karl SP Steve Woodard SP Hideo Nomo SP *Bill Pulsipher SP *Jim Abbott SP Cal Eldred SP Kyle Peterson CL Bob Wickman 2000 C Brad Ausmus 1B #Tony Clark 2B Damion Easley 3B Dean Palmer SS Deivi Cruz LF *Bobby Higginson CF Juan Encarnacion RF Juan Gonzalez DH *Luis Polonia P Hideo Nomo SP Jeff Weaver SP Brian Moehler SP Dave Mlicki SP Steve Sparks CL Todd Jones 2001 C Brandon Inge 1B #Tony Clark 2B Damion Easley 3B #Jose Macias SS Deivi Cruz LF *Bobby Higginson CF #Roger Cedeno RF Juan Encarnacion DH Dean Palmer P Steve Sparks SP Jeff Weaver SP Chris Holt SP Jose Lima SP Dave Mlicki SP Nate Cornejo CL Matt Anderson
So lets see, out of all those guys: Vaughn Eldred Vina Cirillo Valentin Fetters Matheny D'Amico Burnitz Jenkins Grissom Jaha Ausmus Clark Gonzalez Nomo Jones Palmer Thats the best he had to work with. Half of those guys are journeymen/mediocre ML players. Not 1 true stud/superstar out of the bunch, except Gonzalez maybe.
Here is a pretty interesting article on MLB.com: Attitude adjustment makes sense Dismissal of Williams right move in frustrating year HOUSTON -- Jimy Williams was hired to manage the Houston Astros not only because he was an experienced manager respected by veteran players, but because he knew how to keep his own counsel. In the end, his tight-lippedness in the face of adversity only furthered the belief that he lacked the essentials to turn around a talented but struggling Houston team. Williams was dismissed as manager of the Astros with a year to go on his contract on Wednesday "We tried to make some positive changes to the players' side of the equation, and as we watched this team continue to flounder last week on the West Coast, it became more and more apparent to us that it was time for a change," Houston general manager Gerry Hunsicker said. "The clincher was watching us in Los Angeles last weekend, where we just seemed to take on that defeated, desperate kind of attitude. And to me, that's the biggest thing we're looking to change -- the attitude." It is axiomatic that you cannot motivate if you cannot communicate. Williams' shortcomings in that regard have never been more glaring than they were this season. He was given a flawed team -- one that is, still, one of the most talented in franchise history -- but Williams compounded the problem with questionable personnel moves that backfired more often than not. Even the addition of Carlos Beltran didn't slow the team's slide. Since Beltran's arrival on June 24, the Astros have lost five games to St. Louis in the National League Central race and are in danger of falling off the radar screen altogether. Speculation about the shaky ground Williams stood on had been swirling for weeks. The team's disappointing record in the last two years, Williams' puzzling in-game decisions and the Astros' failure to reach the postseason after his predecessor had piloted the club to four division titles in five years were all factors in management's decision to finally pull the trigger. Not to mention the bottom line: Baseball is still an entertainment business, and Williams had long ceased to entertain the Astros' ticket-buying public. Initially, Astros fans tolerated Williams' reticence as a sharp contrast to Larry Dierker, the man he succeeded. Some even considered Williams stoic, but ultimately he only frustrated the fans, who wanted an explanation for their team's woes and his peculiar game decisions. When Williams was loudly booed during All-Star introductions on Tuesday, Astros owner Drayton McLane said it "broke my heart ... no one deserves that." But McLane is practical, and he knows the fans come first. Tuesday's outburst only reinforced management's belief that they had made the right decision to go with Phil Garner. "I've been in business for over 40 years, and one of the key ingredients is leadership," McLane said. "We felt that change would be best." There was only the matter of letting the Midsummer Classic get out of town before the Houston Astros would get back to business. "We had a sense of urgency with this baseball team," Hunsicker said. "Time is running out. We need to jump-start this club and we need it starting now." The wonder is how Williams lasted this long. A man who does not believe in hypotheticals, one who refused to consider discussing anything beyond today's game, is an odd choice for manager, a position where thinking ahead is a prerequisite. If you can't consider the future, it is hard to plan for it, and like the saying goes, should you fail to plan you should plan to fail. And fail Williams did. Again. Do not forget that this was the guy whose first three Toronto teams finished 10, 30 and 12 games, respectively, over .500. When his fourth Blue Jay club started 12-24, Williams was axed. Cito Gaston then piloted that same team to the American League East Division title. In his five years in Boston, Williams' teams played .540 ball, winning 92 games in 1998 and 94 in 1999, when he was named American League Manager of the Year. But they never finished higher than second for four consecutive years. In 2002, he took control of a Houston team that had won division titles four of the five previous seasons -- including 2001 -- but fared no better than a couple of back-to-back second-place finishes. The Astros are a slow, aging team, and they have had some injuries. But even so, there's no way a team with this much talent should be .500. To a man, the Astros agree they have underachieved. Since Williams is a man of few words, we shouldn't have been surprised when he wasn't the type of fiery leader his critics felt this team needed. He was hard to figure, both on and off the field. He defended his players zealously, but he wasn't averse to picking up the phone and taking an official scorer to task. He tolerated the media the way a man might submit to dental surgery -- reluctantly and only because someone convinced him it was necessary. Baseball is art as much as sport, and many fans want to understand a manager's decision-making process. The media, even if they were merely seeking to relay that process to the fans, were too often stonewalled. Why did you decide to go with a right-handed reliever against that lefty pinch-hitter in the eighth inning, Jimy? The reply was so often "Manager's decision," it became a running joke. In Houston, everyone knew MD didn't mean you were talking about a doctor. Lance Berkman bruised his shoulder running into the outfield wall. If he can't start tomorrow what are your options, Jimy? "I'll think about that tomorrow," Williams would often reply. Sure thing, Scarlett. He was more hostile witness than baseball manager. You half expected him to take the fifth. Williams did have his positive aspects. He is unquestionably a man of integrity and one of the best teachers of the game. He usually won't say much, but he'll never lie to you. An outstanding teacher, Williams deserves a lot of credit for the development of shortstops like Nomar Garciaparra and Adam Everett. While there is some truth to the argument that most people, including the Astros, overestimated this team, there is no doubt that it has underachieved. This season is the last shot for this particular group of Astros, and that was another force pulling Williams towards the door. You can't replace the whole team in midseason, but you can replace the manager or the coaching staff. Houston management is hoping the arrival of Garner will do for the Astros what Jack McKeon's replacing of Jeff Torborg did for the Florida Marlins last year. A desperate move? Perhaps, but the Astros are desperate to win now. It was a management decision -- but at least this time, the fans have an explanation. Jim Molony is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
