I contributed $25 to the tip jar today so that I can edit my posts..... Something good besides me explaining how overvalued Dierker is in these parts came out of this thread,
You don't have to be from here to respect the career of a man like Dierker. He may not have been top tier as you say, but he was and still is very well respected. Why does it have to be said that he went off sulking because he did not get his way. As a man with a resume like Dierker , he deserves a little more than what corporate man was willing to give. He walked away and was questioned and he gave his thought on the matter. That does not constitute sulking, just a man stating his stance. Anyway , glad he is back.
You posted that you did not understand the Dierker love fest since you didn't grow up here. Nothing wrong with that comment. The problem is that when posters who DO understand the love fest are telling you the reasons, you are arguing their valid points. Regardless of what you think of Dierker as a manager, he did win 4 division titles in 5 years. No other Astros manager came close to matching that. Regardless of how you value his career, Dierker was a top tier, albeit not a hall of fame, pitcher for the majority of his injury shortened career. Regardless of what you think about his career outside of playing and managing, he is an incredibly popular personality who was an outstanding broadcaster.
You mean the last season of his career when the Astros were going no where and Larry really wasn't wanted back?... That was 40 years ago... By lifer I mean he has consistently been involved with the Astros. As far as Larry the pitcher, you are really under estimating him, at his best he was a great pitcher, but injuries limited him to being remembered as a good but not great career pitcher. He certainly was not mediocre, and fans of baseball in the 60's knew who he was a tough pitcher and one of the lone bright spots on bad ball clubs. As far as a color commentator he was exceptional and your opinion of him as a manager is not held by most elite modern baseball people. Please let me know 10 other baseball players that have been involved with the same organization for roughly 47 of 49 seasons and was an all star, radio broadcaster and manager for the same team, and very successful at all three. I also know that to this day Dierker works with the Astros young pitchers free of charge, and will shake your hand and make time for you if you approach him. I am glad he b****ed out George P, he stood up to a man universally hated by Astros employees, that went out of his way to be nasty. Dierker was treated poorly, and was the one guy that said "no", when hundreds of others didn't. I hope the Dierker situation hastened the departure of George P.
I know you are being sarcastic, but Dierker's all time winning percentage is higher than Nolan Ryan's.
I said he had a good career. So no disrespect there. I said he sulked because that's what he did. He is now corporate man so there's some irony.
Regardless of what you think most of what you wrote is nothing but your opinion. Umm..the top tier is the HOF caliber players. You admit he wasn't that. Not making much sense as you seem clouded by hometown fandom. As hard a great managers are to come by and as much as they get recycled no one came after Dierker. It's because he was horrible in the post season and managed the clubhouse poorly. He is incredibly popular in Houston only which is my point.
During Oswalt's heyday with Houston, was he a top tier pitcher? By the way, the stuff you wrote is opinion as well. It is, however, a fact that no Houston manager approached the 5 year success that Dierker had with the team. It is a fact that Dierker was considered one of the top pitchers in the league during the majority of his time in Houston. If YOUR definition of top tier is HOF, then you are correct, however, I think most people would consider top tier as those players who are at the top of the league during any particular year or years. Thus, my question about Oswalt. Oswalt was clearly a top tier pitcher the majority of his career with the Astros, yet he won't sniff the hall of fame - agreed?
Back on topic. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>So Reid Ryan's first official statement as Prez is in regard to an Aramark employee dropping a deuce with snow cones on the floor? Classic.</p>— Astros County (@AstrosCounty) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosCounty/status/337423721654517760">May 23, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
two-and-a-half pages of argumentation, and your position never really recovered from this horrible start. if you're judging a pitcher based on W-L record while he pitched for horrible teams, that's all we really need to know.
To this point, in 1969, Dierk had the 2nd highest WAR of any player in the NL. Only Bob Gibson finished ahead of him.
His career numbers indicate that he was a good pitcher not a great one. His career numbers aren't indicative of a top tier pitcher no matter how you define top tier
Local baseball isn't defined by any logical or statistical reasoning. It's just about "The Feels" the teams of players brought. If you ask most Astros fans which Astros team was the greatest they'll usually say the 86 team. Not the best team.
And the fact remains, many of you are fawning over a good but not great pitcher much like a 13 year old girl does for Justin Bieber.
Hyperbolize, much? I'm an Astros fan who was actually agreeing with you with regards to Dierker's actions when this thread started. Now I just ordered a throwback Dierker jersey online after reading your posts.
