Astros fire Garner and Purpura... Cecil Cooper named Interim Manager

Yes, he was. But this was not the Cardinals. The Astros had a lead. It was the 8th inning. Dotel was rested and was in the midst of a stellar season as a setup man.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid call that absolutely cost the Astros the game.

 

THERE IS A GOD!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Haven't read the thread & don't plan to, just heard about this & read the Stark article:

Wow. Defensible firings or not, the reasons Drayton is giving for these moves are ludicrous & terrifying: listening to sports radio hosts? listening to fans at the stadium? Making decisions to appease fans, especially the Houston fanbase, is just about the single worst thing this franchise could do.

Un****ingbelievable.

As the Stark article points out, no respected baseball man in his right mind will take the GM job now. Not with Drayton, Pam Gardner & the PR/Marketing Dept calling many of the shots in the baseball side of things.

This is not a good omen for the future of the Houston Astros.

 

where is this coming from?

 

Check the other thread.

 

mountain, molehill, buck - he said he listens to and asks for input from several different resources, including, but by no means limited to the ones you mentioned. honestly, it sounded more like he was playing up to paillio and letting his "constituency" know that their opinion isn't going unheard, as if that's a terrible notion to promote for a corporation that's asking that same group to continue to dump money into an operation that has temporarily derailed...

when he has john lopez, bob from section 214 and one of the administrators over at astros connection on the dias for his next big announcement, then i'll worry. until then, it sounded like standard-issue PR rhetoric and nothing more. i mean, my god: the team has the worst record in the national league; it's not like he fired these guys this time two years ago. i can't imagine there too many people in ANY facet recommending contract extensions for garner and pupura.

 

you must still play in little league. professionals don't need constant reminders. if they don't know, they will ask, or just look at the scoreboard.

 

At times players are oblivious to what's going on. Jeff Kent had no idea why Billy Wagner was pitching in the 9th inning the day the Astros no-hit the Yankees. He did not realize they were pitching a no-hitter.

The other day, Sweeney could have certainly used some guidance on the base paths when he wandered off on the foul pop-up to Ausmus and then was doubled off to end the game.

Every so often you see players not knowing/realizing the game situation. Nothing wrong with reminding them.

 

per Tal Smith via Jim Molony, Randy Smith eliminated as GM candidate:

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/...t_id=2174926&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

*snip*
The fact is, however, that the Astros hadn't put together a list as of Monday afternoon, when they let Tim Purpura go.

But you can put a line through Randy Smith's name.

"I'm glad you asked that question," Astros president Tal Smith told MLB.com Monday, when asked if his son Randy would be interviewed for the Houston general manager vacancy.

The Astros dismissed Purpura and manager Phil Garner on Monday. While Cecil Cooper will take Garner's place on an interim basis, Smith will serve as interim GM until Purpura's successor is named. With son Randy a former baseball GM of the Padres (1993-95) and Tigers (1996-2001), it was logical to assume the younger Smith might at least get an interview.

"I want to be set the record straight and be completely clear on this, because there's been some erroneous reporting," Tal Smith said. "Randy is not a candidate. [Astros chairman] Drayton [McLane] and I talked about it and we agreed that it wouldn't be appropriate."

 

Not to mention just plain stupid.

 

Can't agree more.

 

What? Still in little league? Son, I don't play anymore. But, I can tell you one thing.... I've probably seen more baseball games than days you've been alive on this earth. You ever see Cheo in a rainbow uni? Nolan strikeout the side? Mike Schmidt foul one of the speaker in the dome? Smoke come out of the nostrils of the bull? Aw, nevermind. Next your gonna tell me the homeplate ump shouldn't worry about calling out the count before each pitch.

 

Was it ever discussed about the possibility of LaRussa?

I can't find it off hand, but I remember someone on the radio or here saying that they didn't think McLane would open up the pocketbook for LaRussa..

 

Be tough to stop hating him in the period of time allotted over the offseason. Like trying to put the brakes on a fully-loaded semi doing Mach 4.

 

Don Wilson or Larry Dierker throw a no-hitter? JR Richard scare the other team you-know-whatless with half a dozen wild pitches while striking out a dozen? JR Richard mowing down the Dodgers game after game like they were the bad news bears? Foamer homers (the real name for them escapes me)? Metzger and Morgan turning double plays?

 

LOL - you obviously have never seen Berkman run the bases !