Number 12 Art Howe. Lanier had a very good year, but then 2 below average years. The closest Howe got the team to first place was 6 games behind and third place.We did not have much success with him. In 1980 we played a one game playoff and Howe was a player, had 4 rbi's in that game with a homer. Second player to manage the Astros. His record was below .500. Number 13 is Terry Collins. I always like him. He finished second for 3 straight year, after 5 years of mediocre play. He managed in Japan, and also managed the Chinese National team Sorry Beard, i know you don't like me talking about other nationalities, sorry. percentage of winning record, .532 Number 14 I really liked Collins, and if it was not because Dierker did so good, it would had looked as a bad move by the Astros. Dierker came, and conquered. Third former player that managed the astros and finished first for 3 straight years. Won 102 games (first) and has best winning percentage of Astros manager by far with a .553 record. Was manager of the year, second to do it in our history. He became the 8th manager to led his team to a division as a rookie We all know is first astros pitcher to win 20 games, and what i remember of him as a manager is that he left the starter to pitch long. We all remember he missed some games in 1999 because of seizure. I really liked him, his style, a very smart and witty person. So far, Virdon, Collins and Dierker are our best managers, and of course, Durocher who is a Hall of Fame manager.
Number 15 was a very good manager, and controversial, Jimmy Williams. Much was expected from him and could never win a division with us, but came close in 2003, only 1 game. How good he is as a manager? All teams he has managed has gone to the World Series within 4 years of his firing.
