Cooper Fired. Justice: Astros Waited Too Long.

Talk about strange timing. The Astros waited until a season had been lost to make a move they should have made months ago. The maddening thing is, the people in charge knew there was a problem.

They could see that Cecil Cooper didn't know how to run a game. They also knew he'd lost 75 percent of the players in his clubhouse.

I'm not saying this season could have been saved, but if Dave Clark had been given the job at the All-Star Break, it would have lifted a cloud from the clubhouse.

Players have been wearing t-shirts asking, ''Really?'' Really, as in, ''Did he really just do that?''

Lance Berkman might not have gone on a 40-game winning streak, but everything would have changed in terms of attitude and enthusiasm. In the end, it comes back to the players not doing their job, but in ways large and small, Cecil Cooper failed.

Dave Clark is held in enormous respect in the clubhouse. He paid his dues as a minor league manager, and players respect him across the board.

Will he be a good manager? There's no way to know. Managers can't really be evaluated until they have a chance to manage.

Justice weighs in...and I thought I should give a front page space to continue discussing this event.

4 months ago clack 3 comments 0 recs |

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Really?

You can’t evaluate a manager before he manages?

You couldn’t ask him what he would do in a certain situation with a certain pitcher on the mound or certain hitter? or when to put on a hit and run? or when to pull a pitcher? Wouldn’t as a manager in the Astros own system have evaluation reports on what a manager has done at the minor league level?

by timmy_ on Sep 23, 2009 7:19 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Justice’s article about the Fregosi possibility says that McLane asked him during an interview (back in 2004), “what would you do if I punched you in the face?” Oddly, he didn’t say what Fregosi’s answer was (why tell the story, if you don’t tell us that?). However, that question strikes me as funny, given the later incident with Shawn Chacon. (Maybe he should have asked Ed Wade the same question….or maybe he did.) Despite that, I think your questions are more relevant than McLane’s “punch in the face” question.

by clack on Sep 23, 2009 8:08 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was reminded of a scene in Little Big League when Justice said “you can’t evaluate a manager until he manages”.

In the scene the kid offers to manage, and the other guys in the room, start grilling him with baseball and situation related questions.

I guess it just comes down to management being as clueless as the managers they hire.

by timmy_ on Sep 23, 2009 12:48 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

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