The Cecil Cooper Reign of Error is over. Cecil Cooper has been fired.
Ed Wade:
"Cecil Cooper has given his all to the Houston Astros. Decisions like this are never easy, but we believe that a change in a direction on the field is in order. By making the move today, we will have the ability to evaluate other facets of our operation as we move into the offseason."
In his place, third base coach Dave Clark will take over as interim manager, and minor-league field coordinator Al Pedrique will serve as the bench coach.
In three-ish seasons at the helm of the Astros, Cooper sported a 171-170 record. In two full-ish seasons, Coop was 156-154 with a team that, Pythagorean W-L-wise, "should have" gone 142-168.
The man replacing Cooper for at least the final 13 games was the Corpus Christi manager from 2005-2007, and Round Rock chief in 2008.
Joseph Duarte:
Wade said the team will conduct a search during the offseason and Clark is considered a candidate for the job.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
