The Houston Astros have fired Cecil Cooper as their manager with 13 games remaining in the 2009 season. Third base coach Dave Clark has been named interim manager.
The Astros were 70-79 this season under Cooper and are 16½ games back of the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central. The had lost seven straight games and eight of the last ten before today's announcement. Cooper replaced Phil Garner as Astros skipper late in the 2007 season and went 171-170 over parts of three seasons.
I didn't think Cooper did that bad of a job. Their offense is respectable with the likes of Michael Bourn at the top of the order, Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee, Hunter Pence and a resurgent Miguel Tejada. But when you only have one starting pitcher (Wandy Rodriguez) in double digits in wins you are not likely to contend. It doesn't help that Roy Oswalt had an off year battling back pain. It is the first time in a major league career that began in 2001 in which he has failed to win at least 10 games in a season. That really isn't Coop's fault. But since when is life fair?
Monday, September 21, 2009
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