By Baylor Boy
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on June 1, 2001.
With Felipe Alou getting canned by the Expos, it’s time for the Astros to make a move of their own. Houston can and should “reassign” Larry Dierker within the organization and go after Alou.
It seems to be a perfect fit. The Astros need something to get them going, and Dierker isn’t doing it. I’m all about rewarding organizational men, and Dierker is nothing if not that. A guy who has spent 37 of the last 38 years in the Houston program should not be cut loose just for the sake of it, but this is more than that. If anything, I would love to see (hear?) Dierker back in the broadcast booth.
For a former pitcher, the man in the Hawaiian shirts has shown few signs of getting his team’s pitching going again without former pitching coach Vern Ruhle around. Those around Dierker say that he’s lost a step since the seizure. In fact, according to Peter Gammons, “there are indications that the only reason Dierker is still there is that owner Drayton McLane hates to pay someone not to work.”
So if it’s time to make a change, who should the Astros go for? The top candidates that jump out at me are former Yanks and Dbacks manager Buck Showalter, New Orleans Zephyrs coach Tony Pena and Alou.
Showalter, while a good manager and an adequate studio analyst, would likely clash with the “we’re-in-charge” attitude of some of the veterans in the Astros clubhouse. Sometimes you need that sort of electricity in the clubhouse to jumpstart a team, but I can’t believe that an unhappy Biggio and Bagwell could be positive for the club.
Pena has had extraordinary success in his short time in the minors. But it is just that – a short time. I would love to see him take a couple more years of experience at New Orleans, then maybe come up as a coach under the new Astros manager — who should be Felipe Alou.
Why Alou, you ask?
1) He has the experience (as player, coach and manager) to gain the respect of the Astros’ veteran core. With that respect, Alou should be able to implement his ideas without alienating the team leaders.
2) We’ve all seen what Alou can do with young players, and with the steady stream the Astros’ minor leagues seem to keep providing, that is an important factor.
3) Alou would likely relate well with the Hispanic population of the city (and the team).
4) There’s a good chance that having Felipe Alou at the helm would provide incentive for Moises Alou to remain an Astro after his contract expires this fall. Not only would Moises be more likely to want to play for his father (again), but Felipe might be able to persuade Houston management to make a bigger push to keep our best hitter in the red and black and sand and white (or whatever colors the Astros are wearing this week).
Now, would Felipe want to come to Houston? I say yes. Why? Opportunity. The opportunity to reunite with his son Moises. The opportunity to manage again. And the opportunity to win.
Houston would be a nice fit for Alou. The Astros are an organization that, while not one of the bank-busters, is not afraid to spring for a player that will get the team over the hump. They’ve got a good minor league system, meaning that the future looks bright. We’ve got a pretty new ballpark in town. And Houston is a city that appreciates its winners.
Gammons reports that Alou said recently, “I now look at myself and think I am a failure.” Let’s give him a chance to prove himself wrong.