Finally some good news for the Astros! They fired Purpura and Garner! I was happy that Purpura got fired but I also thought that Garner was a decent manager, he did take a team with good pitching and crappy hitting to the world series. Anyway, Cecil Cooper will do good. Thanks Uncle Drayton! You made my day! So how do you feel about the firings?
2007-08-28 12:57:32 · 6 answers · asked by Harry C 3 in Sports ➔ Baseball
Don't praise McLane, who hired them both to begin with. Dumping Purp and Garner is only half the effort; now he needs to hire better replacements (and move aside and let them do their jobs).
Where's Joe Girardi? Davey Johnson? And please, please, not Randy "Nepotism" Smith!
2007-08-28 13:37:35 · answer #1 · answered by Chipmaker Authentic 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
First off I'm not an Astros fan. I think the Astros were a day late and a dollar short on the firings. Been pretty clear for a couple of months that they weren't going anywhere. Why fire Scrap Iron and Purpura with only 30 some odd games left in the season? To me firing them this late in the season accomplishes nothing. If Drayton wanted to try light a spark and get the team going then the firing should've been done a couple of months ago. I don't think it's all Garner's fault. Pitching wins ball games and Stros lack quality pitching. I wouldn't consider Woody Williams, Jason Jennings and Wendy Rodriguez quality pitching. Wendy isn't bad but he is horrible on the road, I think his era is almost 3 runs higher on the road. Bullpen needed help also especially at closer Chad Quall/Brad Lidge
2007-08-29 03:56:12 · answer #2 · answered by deadhead (Who Dat Nation) 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
2/3 of the problem is taken care of, now they need to fire the owner. Seriously though, If McLane would stop trying to be the NL's version of Steinbrenner we never would have lost Gerry Hunsicker and we may be playing for our third title in a row this season. Anyway the new GM won't be Randy Smith as they've already precluded him as a candidate, which is a good sign. I'd like to see someone who can restore our farm system to the consistently excellent level it used to always be at as GM, and I'd love to see Cecil Cooper stick as manager as long as Garner's wacky in-game voodoo logic didn't rub off on him...
p.s. Davey Johnson was a member of the '86 Mets and as such should never EVER be given consideration for any job in the Astros organization. I still have nightmares about that series...
2007-08-28 21:46:43 · answer #3 · answered by perchorin 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am a Cardinal fan that lives in NL Central country (plenty of Cubs, Brewers and Cardinals fans) so I have always followed the league closely.
I think some of you Astros fans are being a bit harsh. Management spent money to get Carlos Lee and he has been solid. They also resigned Oswalt for a bit of a home town discount and didn't overspend on Clemens this year. They also got Woody Williams for cheap and he has been solid (though not tonight).
They had some issues with Bagwell and maybe with keeping Biggio, but those were ownership decisions and not management.
The Astros couldn't predict that Ensberg would never recover from his concussion and that Brad Lidge would fall apart. You had Hunter Pence in the minors so Taveras for Jennings wasn't a bad trade.
So what did Purpura and Garner do that was so horrible. Hell, they battled a superior Cardinals team to the wire in 2004 and beat them in 2005.
I do agree that Cecil Cooper will be fine, but I think you are expecting a bit much. Hell, you could be the Pirates.
2007-08-28 21:36:52 · answer #4 · answered by Matt G 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Firing BOTH at the same time is like not being able to dedcide who to blame. Garner was a decent manager Why not fire one scape goat, instead of two??
2007-08-29 01:22:58 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I thought Garner was a good manager, I new nothing about the GM.
I'm a Red Sox fan.
Go Red Sox ! Yankees Suck !
2007-08-28 20:07:26 · answer #6 · answered by PigPen 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋