I agree but they did offer him an ambassador job and he felt insulted by it and declined. It's a 2 way street. Believe me, I can't stand Jim Crane these days. I think Dirker and the Astros could have handled things better post the Astros deciding on Ashby being a better fit in the booth. Dirk knew he was pulling on the heart strings of fans by acting like he was somehow wronged....
Except that Dierker WAS considered a top tier talent during his heyday outside of Houston, but, he was certainly not a hall of famer like the pitchers you mentioned. EDIT: Have a look at Seaver's Cy Young winning season of 1969. Except for wins and losses, Dierker was on the same level across the board.
And the Championships are what separate the 2 men. Rudy got it done. Dierker got outmanaged in the playoffs year after year with some of the best talent we have had.
Is Seaver, Gibson, Koufax, Carlton as closely aligned with their clubs as Dierker? Larry was an all star pitcher for the Astros. Larry was involved in promotions with the Astros. Larry was a top broadcaster with the Astros. Larry was a very successful manager with the Astros. Larry was a good sports writer covering the Astros. Larry almost died on the field in an Astros jersey. Larry had his jersey retired by the Astros. Unlike some former Astros Larry is an Astros lifer. Short of ****ting Astros rainbow orange there is nothing that can make him more involved with the organization.
Dirk got zero first place votes for Cy Young that year. Tom Seaver got 23. Phil Niekro got 1. NL MVP Seaver 2nd, Niekro 9th, Wayne Granger tied for 15th, Dierker, Jerry Koosman and Juan Marichal tied for 23rd. Dierker had a few years where he could have been considered top tier but for the majority of his career, nope.
You can talk semantics, but Dierker would have been recognized as a top tier talent from 1966 through 1972 which did encompass the majority of his career. In 1966 as a 19 year old, he went 10-8 with a 3.18 ERA for a club that finished 72-90. Who knows what his legacy would have been had he been a part of the teams that Seaver, Koufax, Marichal and Gibson were on. He also lost starts in the early part of his career by fulfilling his army reserve commitment.
Cy young voting, MVP voting, and win totals are usually not the best ways to go about judging a player. Wins depend a lot on the team that surrounds you. Cy young and MVP voting are not always objective. How about you look at his actual stats that matter? Dierker was a hell of a pitcher as his career 3.31 era and 1.21 whip indicate. His 1969 year was legendary with 305.1 innings pitched, a 2.33 era, a 1.02 whip, and 8.6 wins above replacement. It is somewhat mindboggling that you can't see why Houston fans have such a fondness and respect for the guy. He was a great pitcher, a great manager, and a great broadcaster.
Are you sure that's the correct post of mine that you are responding too? My point with those guys was to point out that Dierker wasn't a top tier talent like those guys. Not that they almost died, were your style of announcer or writer. Yeah, Dierker had a lot of jobs with the Astros. He applied for another job, they offered a different one, he felt jilted, took ball went home.
Who cares about his playing career? He was a great announcer for a long ass time and managed the best teams in franchise history. Jim Deshaies didn't have a great playing career but he was an outstanding announcer and the franchise is worse off without him doing games. Same with Dierker not being a part somehow.
Because what I saw was a good player, a below average manager (with the luxory of a great team behind him) and a good broadcaster. I don't see anything great about him. Sorry.
I doubt you even watched the man pitch consistently in his prime. And below average manager? Yeah...okay.
Duh...I said that I didn't live here. There wasn't cable coverage of the teams with MLB packages. Saw him on a few games of the week. Saw him pitch against the Braves in Atlanta a couple of times. But by the same token, I could say if you saw him pitch consistently then you probably lived here and didn't see others who were better pitchers. I do know he pitched half his games in a pitcher's park.
Cometswin, thanks for the rep points. Woulda preferred you attempted to respond to the post but I can see why you didn't since your point sucked.
