Dierker cost himself his job, and he deserved the ax for that playoff blunder of his. You always, always use the guys who got you there when you get to the second season. That year, Octavio Dotel was flat out unhittable, as he is now. In the 8th inning with the Astros protecting a lead, it is Dotel time no matter any other relievers career numbers against player X. But no, dierker had to be the fool, and go with Mike Jackson. We promptly blew the lead and the momentum of the series was in Atlanta's court. Then he started Dangerous Dave Mlicki in game two. Granted he pitched admirably, but ugh. Still to this day I maintain, had dierker used Dotel like he should have instead of MJax, the stros win game one, and win that series.
Mlicki was the only option in the 2nd playoff game and gave up 1 run in 5 innings. Exactly what did Dierker do again to prevent Biggio and Bagwell (and others) from hitting the ball? Granted, Dotel should have been in the game, but as it has been in the vast majority of their playoff games in the past 6 years, the lack of hitting was the cause of the losses.
Bobrek, If we protect game 1 which I'm pretty sure dotel/wags could have done, then the entire complexion of the series changes. For one, you arent forcing a career journeyman in Mlicki to be your savior, as we were. Especially with the Astros emotionally frazzled and the Braves confidence sky high. Playoff hitting is overrated btw, as most games in October are pitcher dominated and its no secret Atlanta had the Astros number, so expecting a lot of runs was wishful thinking. But if the astros save game 1, instead of throwing a retread pitcher out in a must win game 2, you would send him out there with at worst the possibility of a game 4 and I believe, but I could be wrong, that Roy could have pitched game 4. And still the bottom line remains you get beat with your best, not your second best options. That is inexcusable and the only way he deserved a reprieve was if Houston won the series.
So, 'stros should fire Dierk? Keep Jimy? This is 2003 and this is a stagnant team and organization. This team needs the Buccos, shame they cannot become the Astros' Washington Generals...
That year, Octavio Dotel was flat out unhittable, as he is now. In the 8th inning with the Astros protecting a lead, it is Dotel time no matter any other relievers career numbers against player X. Dotel was unhittable through mid to late August, at which point he developed elbow tendinitis. His ERA after that point (not sure if he got DLed or not) was something over 5.00. Dotel was not, by any stretch, a sure thing. I believe Jackson had done extremely well against 2 of the 3 guys he was supposed to face that inning, which was the justification for using him. Beyond that, assuming that Wagner would have saved the game is sketchy. I could be wrong, but I believe he's been miserably bad in the postseason. In fact, he came into that game and promptly gave up a 3 run HR. Playoff hitting is overrated btw, as most games in October are pitcher dominated and its no secret Atlanta had the Astros number, so expecting a lot of runs was wishful thinking. Except the Astros are the only team that struggles like that. No other team has trouble scoring 2 or 3 runs in the playoffs every single game, facing Atlanta or anyone else.
Can anyone explain why Oswalt was pulled despite having thrown only 83 pitches? They had a slim lead, but you would think Jimy would want to rest the relievers. Ricky Stone's arm is gonna fall off!
Major, You make valid points, but the astros arent the only team to be humbled by Atlanta's pitching, just the most noteworthy because of the timing. And yes Billy has had his share of postseason troubles(see Leyritz homer) but it is an incredibly small sample size and even the best closers get beat every now and then. And yes Billy struggles vs Atlanta I believe. So it certainly wasn't a sure thing. However, on the Dotel/Jackson point. It doesn't matter what Octavio's era towards the end of the year was, he was still our dominant setup man, and Jackson was a competent middle reliever, who was a former closer coming off serious surgery. You use who brought you there. If It's game 7 of the WS and Roy O is healthy don't pitch Redding because he has better career numbers. If the rockets are in the NBA finals and facing elimination, don't bench Steve Francis for a lesser player. Those are some extreme examples, but you get the point. I could have accepted losing had Dierk used Dotel, but I felt the manager didnt give the Astros the best chance to win. And that is his job. The only way he deserved to be back is if we came back miraculously and won the series. But in predictable fashion, especially with Mlicki starting game 2 and our history with Atlanta we got swept.
Why do you keep bringing up Mlicki? He gave up ONE UNEARNED RUN in 5 innings in a game they lost 1-0. Playoff hitting may be overrated, but if you don't score, you will never win. Mlicki was their only option for game two unless you want to trot out Oswalt who had not pitched in a long time and was marginally healthy. Astacio was hurt, Hernandez was hurt. Miller and Reynolds were pitching games 1 and 3. For the Braves having 'sky-high' confidence, they certainly didn't display it offensively against Mlicki.
The manager's job in Major league baseball is about the most overrated in all USA's 5 or 6 major sports. Tony Pena's accomplishments in Kansas so far is commendable. But one can argue that he is a beneficiary of being at the right place at the right time. Same goes to the Lizards (we all know the Cubs will end up coming back to earth like they always do). Lou's Tampa Bay team will just be what it is. The most important job in Major league Baseball is the Gerenal Manager and Scouts jobs. These are the guys whose impact are felt in Win-Loss ten time more than the skipper. Granted a great manager can win or lose 5-10 games a year by saavy substition and play calling paterns or lack there of (like The Pirates coach who removed an unhittable D'armico in the 8th) but a top notch scouting and general manager team is the key to putting the right puzzle together in order to creat a winning/competing team. Owners play another huge part in the money department - signing free agents blue chips and as well as resigning his/her key players. Jimmy is a descent coach and good enough to take us to the playoffs, and possibly our first series win. My point is that if Joe Torre or Tonga Pena or Alou was managing this team I don't see how different our Win-Loss record could be different all other things being equal.
Why do I bring up Mlicki, bobrek? Let's see we win game 1, by holding our lead. We don't ask him to pitch in a must win game with the odds stacked heavily against him. He pitched surprisingly fine, but geez, you really want a career journeyman being the only thing saving you from a 2-0 hole to a team that had your number and stole homefield advantage from you. On a personal note, I hate Mlicki. I can't explain his success in houston, but I just don't like him at all. However, this isn't about him, it's about the context of the situation. Do you really want Dave Mlicki pitching arguably the most important game of the year for the Astros? If we had held game one, I would've minded, but it really wouldn't have been a big deal. However, after Dierker shot that game, it put a journeyman pitcher with the chips stacked high against him trying to save our season. That is all I am getting at.
Mlicki was going to pitch regardless of the game one outcome. Their rotation was announced before the series started. Miller - game 1, Mlicki - game 2, Reynolds - game 3, TBD (they were hoping Oswalt) - game 4. I imagine that folks would have preferred just about anyone other than Mlicki to start game 2 but the fact is the necessity to pitch Mlicki did not hurt the team. Who knows what would have happened had Dotel pitched instead of Jackson. He may have given up 4 runs. He may have completely shut them down. We'll never know. Don't get me wrong. I, along with the vast majority of folks, would have preferred to see Dotel in there, but it didn't happened. The KNOWN facts are - Biggio - .167, Berkman - .167, Alou - .167, Hidalgo - .125, Vizcaino - .167, Lugo - .000. When Dotel pitched in game 3 after the Astros cut a 4-0 lead to 4-2, he gave up 2 runs himself.
