I had just picked up the twins from school when my phone rang – it was my mother, and she was so happy she could barely get the words out – THEY’RE BOTH GONE BOTH OF THEM!!! Now this could mean a whole lot of different things, so I carefully said – who’s gone Mama?
Drayton fired BOTH Phil and Timmy this afternoon, just got it from Susanna, can you believe it? There is hope Baby Grrrl, there is now HOPE.
Meaning, of course, that unlike other owners, Drayton is NOT going to be happy watching this baseball club turn into perennial bottom feeders. It has been more than obvious that Phil is not a good manager and had LONG since outlived his effectiveness and it has been more than obvious that Purpura, while he may have other talents, is most definitely NOT a good GM – he can’t make decent trades, can’t work with some agents, can’t identify good waiver wire pickups, can’t even get enough draft picks to fill the farm without picking up lots of minor league FA lifers. Not sure exactly what convinced Drayton that things have GOT to change, but I’m just grateful that he has taken the first step.
I have to add that I hope Drayton has also realized that he himself should not continue as de-facto GM, and that you can NOT win without good baseball men running things.
I had often told my friends that I couldn’t see me continuing to support a team whose owner didn’t care if the team won or not. I have a LOT of respect for Pirates/Royals fans – and I would never agree to actually go to a ballgame just because the stadium was lots of “fun” like an amusement park. I think that more than a few people must have told Drayton that there sure are a lot of fans just like me, who would support a young, rebuilding team, but not a team consisting of a bunch of utility/platoon guys who were cheap.
Cecil Cooper has been appointed interim manager and Tal Smith interim GM. I am praying that he doesn’t decide to hire Randy Smith or (please Lord) Steve Phillips as the next GM, but instead turns to someone with an excellent track record like Dan Evans, or someone with an outstanding reputation as a farm and development man like Mike Rizzo. And I hope Cecil does a good job – we’ve won every single game he’s managed so far.
Tags: Houston Astros, MLB
Some more relief:
“Tal Smith said his son Randy will not be in the mix to replace Purpura.”
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/5086447.html
I’m shocked! I’d hunkered down for a long winter. Years and years of it. Congratulations, Lisa. It’s the first promising sign for the organization’s future in a long time. I hope Cecil gets a good, honest look.
I am so happy – Remember this day August 27th 2007 – The day the Astros finally got rid of Mr. Gut Intinct Phil Garner. That lazy mustache cost us more games than you will ever realize the last 2 years. With all is favortism to certain players and the burying of others for no reason was just insane. He refusal to stick to the R-L line-up situations despite what the numbers said… Playing Lane more than any sane coach would ever do. Pulling pitchers after only 70+ pitches in the 6th inning so Palmeiro could PH – It just goes on and on the assinine moves the Stashe made… Remeber this day – August 27th 2007 as a GRAND DAY
Ya know the words “Free at last… free at last…” kept ringing in my head when I got the text alert both of them were fired…
Coincidence that it happened right after Baggie’s number retirement? I think he kept them around for that ceremony, as it would have been a little awkward having a celebration(at least a public one) right after dismissing your GM and manager.
You mentioned in your last post that an era in Houston is ending. With Baggie gone and Biggio leaving the resounding slam of the “Killer B” era door closing has never been more evident. I guess D-Mc heard it too and decided that a couple of veterens leaving would change nothing if the right people were not in place to make the most of it.
It will be interesting to see how Cooper managers. He’s been around Garner a long time. Let’s see if he mirrors Garner’s style, or he has been waiting for a chance to change. If it’s the latter, here’s his chance. Let’s see.
i mean i was driving with my kidz in the car and i actually had to pull the car over i couldn’t even concentrate to drive i was so happy.
free at last is exactly right!!!
i also figger that drayton listening to people boo phil and especially timmah at the Box just might could have had something to do with it.
and to think that not even 24 hours ago i was considering divorcing the astros for non-support and emotional cruelty
Thank God this day has come. In the NL Central, which has now replaced the AL Central as the Comedy Central, there is no excuse for this team, with their payroll, to be out of it. Tim has made nothing out of his years. He gave up 4 prospects and got two utility IF and an injured pitcher.
Phil, on the other hand, actually had a winning record in his tenure. He just used his gut to much. In ’04 and ’05 it was gold, in the past two it has been falling flat. Cecil should do a good job, but we need a new/youthful/moneyball-ish GM to turn this team around.
Will is having a good cry right about now.
i am surprised how many people think that phil got a raw deal
no he didn’t
i keep reminding everyone that when phil took over this team in july 04, NOTHING CHANGED. we’d win a few, lose a few. absolutely not one thing was different until the day that roy and michael barrett got into it and roy literally fired up this team – they suddenly gelled and took off. except for carlos beltran who didn’t do spit in sept and caught fire during the playoffs
and phil’s managing during the WS was simply AWFUL
I am not opposed to the decision to fire Garner, Lisa. I am just saying that Tim Purpura, and the influence McLane had over him, was more responsible for the giant fall of the Astros, than was Garner. Garner was terrible all year, playing musical positions and musical batting order all year, but still, even Jimmy Leyland wouldn’t have done great with this roster.
I can’t imagine my happyness when Angelos (Baltimore owner) fires himself if you guys are this happy about th houson GM and manager leaving. I’ll have to write a song about it or something. Maybe a hiku
interesting i just heard on BBTN – steve phillips talked about how everyone knows that drayton mclane is too interfering
going to be interesting who he could get to work for him
he’s gonna have to either hire another yesman or he is going to have to give up some control
I’m going to hope and pray for Paul DePosesta, but Lord almighty this is some great news…there really is hope now.
i seriously doubt depo will ever get another job as a GM – he has a very bad rep as a guy who has NO people skillz
he obviously is a very good asst GM
personally i am hoping for dan evans. i don’t think drayton would go for a josh byrnes kind of guy
“He just used his gut to much. In
Here’s a good article by Jayson Stark
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2993768
The Astros are the worst team in the worst division (Division total: 38 games under .500). If the Astros were in a better division, their record would be even worse.
Been saying all year long that as much as I am a fan of Garner, I’ll give up if we don’t make a run after the All Star break. Glad Drayton saw things the same.I’m not gonna jump on the Phil Hatin bandwagon because regardless of who we want to give credit to, I actually got to see my lifelong devotion (frustration?) pay off with a visit (albeit short) to the World Series. That’s something no previous manager ever did with the likes of Mike Scott, Nolan Ryan, Jimmy Wynn, Jose Cruz, Cesar Cedeno, et al.
I am blaming Garner. Garner was a fool these past two years when he kept on switching positions and making Lorreta, Lmab, Scott and Burke play multiple decisions. I just feel that Tim is more to blame. Also, Garner was a good manager in ’04 and ’05. He could not rely on Pettite in ’04 cause he was hurt, and it obviously was not that easy to rely on the big three, cause Jimy Williams was terrible that year.
As I said I am very happy to see Garner and Purpura go, but I feel that Purpura is more to blame for the last two years.
Interesting thing I came across: Baseball Prospectus’s Joe Sheehan ripped Drayton McLane in this morning’s column, which you can read here (subscribers only): http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6639
One excerpt:
“Instead, he
Lisa,
Loved your article at THT:
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/printarticle/the-state-of-the-dis-astros/
Tom