Astros schedule 2 p.m. news conference to announce decision on Dierker

WAY!

 

Did anyone else actually listen to the press conference?

Man Dierker said some depressing things about how this team's a 1 trick pony that wouldn't be that hard to beat. He was saying that when he was pitching, he wouldn't be that worried about facing a team full of right handed power hitters...

He also said that for 5 years, he tried to get certain players to go back to the basics, but they only did what they wanted to.

I'm officially on the Cito Gaston bandwagon...

 

Like I said in the other thread, whoever we hire must have major league managerial experience and we must give him full control to call the shots.

 

When my son was around 4 or 5 years old, Earl Campbell played in a pro-am tournament in Tyler. By luck of the draw he was placed on my father-in-law's team. My wife and son drove to Tyler for the event. Earl invited my son to sit with him in the cart as they drove around the course. He autographed a hat and mailed a short note and some autographed pictures a couple of weeks later.

 

I second puedlfor. Jimmy Leyland is murderous on young pitchers.

Some of us (primarily me!) have b****ed about how Dierker let Oswalt and Miller throw more than 120 pitches in a game. It's decently documented that throwing much above that # is detrimental to the long-term health of young pitchers. Leyland is absolutely notorious for abusing pitchers.

You like Oswalt and Miller (and Hernandez and Redding)? Then avoid Leyland like the plague.

 

It would be funny to see Bobby Valentine manage the team. He certainly would get in people's faces if it was needed and no one including Biggio is going to push that guy around. He's also a great game manager. That would be a riot to see Bobby chew up some Astros and read em the law. They'd probably all hate him eventually but at least he would get them to play and not make the obvious game mistakes that Dierker made.

 

BGM beat me to the punch... I am continually amazed that a proven winner like Cito Gaston hasn't gotten a gig in lo these many years... is it his breath?
So much talk here of re-treads, I was expecting Jack McKeown's name to surface (assuming he's still breathing)
He might be a guy to teach the two B's the meaning of standing on top of the plate when Glavine's pitching, or to stay away from sliders in the dirt, or to generally play without a significant 'pucker factor' when the games really count. I'm not so worried about how he handles pitching, but I would take ANY improvement from the 'team leaders' in getting on base in clutch situations as a significant success.
I would not eliminate the possibility of playing young hungry guys at 1B and 2B as a way to send a message to the 'team leaders' that their postseason tightness is all on them... not the manager.
I don't know if they could have won it all with Dierker as it was... but he's not the one on the field. The B's are. It's their failure to inspire their teammates to go beyond what it takes to win in the postseason that has been the common thread over the contemporary playoff failures.

It will be a long offseason... hopefully not a longer season next year.