If they continue to play he might just go ahead an get some major consideration for the position. But of course it will all depend on the direction the astros also take with free agents and stuff.
Having an emotional manager is just what the doctor ordered I think. Jimy and Dierker were just too passive about the game, although I think Dierker handled his pitchers much better than Jimy "Once a starter hits 90 pitches I'm benching his ass the moment he gives up a walk or a single, and not showing confidence in my pitching staff" Williams. Lets face it Bagwell, and Biggio tend to take a more passive approach to the game. You hardly ever see emotion from them. Having an emotional manager like Garner I think has brought out the fun in baseball for the whole team and in turn have played better because of it. It also helped that being thrown at by the Cubs helped light a fire under the Astros asses and that we've run into some subpar baseball teams. He also knew to get some guys in the bullpen that had good fastballs in Springer, and Wheeler over puss throwers in recent history like Ricky Stone. Yes we still have Bullinger but he pretty much only comes in when the game is already over and we just need someone to eat up an inning or two. My head is telling me we're still not going to win the wild card, although I'm rooting for the Astros to the very end. In reality we have 14 games on the road, 6 against the toughest team in baseball in the cards, and our final series against the Giants who will probably still be contending for a wildcard berth. Basically I think we'll need sweep the Pirates this coming series, win atleast 4 from the Cards, sweep the Rockies, and atleast get one win against the Giants who have pretty much been Astro killers these past few years. A very tall task for a team that I think is burning a ton of energy just to become a wild card contender. I fear Bagwell's shoulder will start feeling like **** again once that Cortizone shot wears off, and that inevitably our offense will fall back to reality. We'll need solid pitching from 3 starters from here on out, and a timely hitting that we sorely lacked in the 1st half of the season. I like what this team is doing, but in reality all it's done has given a shot. It hasn't let us pull away from anybody yet. But in the final month of the regular season, that's all you can ask from your team. We could have been a team that fell in a list of dissapointments like the Phillies, and called it quits throwing out our September call ups to see if any of them show potential for next season, but our guys didn't fold. I only hope the youth of Beltran, and Berkman can keep the energy up for our aging veterans like Bagwell and Biggio, because we'll need every single one of our hitters to step up down the stretch. My heart roots for this team but atleast looking at the schedule it doesn't favor us too well. We've gone against the odds to fall back into contention though, so I don't see why we can't hold strong for one more month, and land ourselves a playoff berth.
i went to high school with Phil Garner's kids, so i have always been a big fan of P.G. his home in Kingwood burnt down a few years back and the community rallied around him to help his family, he is a good man and a better manager than anyone weve had lately, he is gutsy and makes moves
What makes you think he wouldn't want to come back? I like Phil's style, but even more than that, I like what Gary Gaetti has done with our hitters. I think it has more to do with our streak than anything Phil has done. Not that Phil hasn't done anything, but it's no coincidence that all of our hitters were slumping under that loser Harry Spillman, then a month after Phil and Gary take over, all of our hitters are on fire. Someone needs to give Gaetti a pay raise.
because when he was hired he said over and over that he had other opportunities he was looking at, outside of baseball, for next year. he came in very much embracing the interim label.
If he wants it, it should be his. The club does have to go through the process (interviewing minority candidates) after the season. I fully expect that he will be back next season.
really?? they do?? they can't just retain the guy who's already managing the team without going through an interview process?
Maybe he was just 'saving face' in case the season ended badly (a high probability when he took over) and he was let go. He wanted to quit before getting fired. Just a thought.
entirely possible. i just don't think it's a given that he'd accept. but i'll say it's more likely now that he will.
I'm not sure of what exactly the rule says, but I am about 99% sure that they will have to go through the process before removing the interim tag.
Well, I kinda disagree. The kinda's because I think the having to interview a minority thing is pretty much a joke. However, if you're going to have that in place, you have to make all teams go through this, whether they hired an interim manager mid-season or not. What would stop teams from using that loophole from actually having to go through the process?
i have no problem with saying that once you start an interview process, you have to interview a minority. if that's a safeguard, i'm fine with that. frankly, that's not even my issue. the issue, to me anyway, is that they guy they're seeking to hire to fillt the spot is already in the role! no need to interview anyone...we already have the guy we want and he's already in the role. i don't know why you'd have to interview anyone, minority or not, when the guy you're hiring is already filling the job.
Like I said, I am not sure of what the rule says. There very well might be a loophole for an interim manager. I just remember the Astros brass being very careful about Garner's title when he was hired. There were also some reports that Don Baylor would be interviewed after the season regardless of Garner's status.
