Maybe we identified the problem:
“As far as I know it’s good, and that’s the way I’m going to ride with it. Nobody’s said anything to me so that’s the way I’m going to ride with it. When you struggle, all sorts of things happen, and I’m sensing that that’s probably what’s happening. But I don’t think that there’s any bad relationship, no. If there is, I don’t think it’s really on me. I think my door’s open. And I express that all the time. Here I am. I’m open. I move around among my players every day. And if there are issues, they should be addressed. And I don’t feel that there are any.”
Jerome Solomon's column gives us a glimpse into what's happening with the Astros: sniping, not mutiny...
A couple of players agreed with Cooper that their teammates who are wont to point fingers should first look inward. Managers and players have dealt with far worse than a few chatterers in the clubhouse, and went on to have wonderful seasons. Still, Cooper needs to fix this before he finds himself high and Bligh. Veteran ballplayers can ruin a manager, wreck his reputation and cost him his job. Rarely will they do it publicly. But they’ll underground railroad a guy out of town. Baseball players are like that.
But then we get this from Cooper:
Then I say they probably got a problem. They need to come and talk to me. That’s what I say to that. They should talk to me. Because if I had an issue with someone, I would talk to that individual. And I would hope that they had enough confidence and feel good enough to come and talk to me.”
It seems to me that, as the Manager, Coop should probably go talk to the Veteran Ballplayers and talk to them, instead of letting this drag out and ruin his job, maybe his managerial career.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
