11/05/24
April 08, 2002
After the Tigers got off to an 0-for-6 start, manager Phil Garner and GM Randy Smith have been fired. Has there ever been an earlier April firing?
Never mind faster, has there ever been a smarter firing? I dunno about Scrap Iron, but Randy Smith made as many good trades in the past 5 years as I did, and I'm not a GM.
posted by yerfatma at 07:19 PM on April 08, 2002
Oh, Scrappy. Phil Garner was great when he was in Milwaukee. Anything was better than Trebelhorn, records be damned. I just liked him a lot as far as team morale went and think he's a decent coach. Oh well.
posted by evixir at 10:31 PM on April 08, 2002
rcade: Cal Ripken (Sr.) was fired after the same number of games in Baltimore. i think the year was 88? randy smith had over 5 years to make a bad farm system better, but detroit hasn't really brought up the caliber of players smith should have developed. bad trades are one thing, but detroit never had a great and large group of young players. it seems to me their most recent success story was jose lima; before him, travis fryman; before him -- john smoltz. (am i missing anyone?) the thing which makes me laugh is that garner was hired in the same year as don baylor. when garner signed with the tigers, i remember him saying to the press that he chose the tigers over the cubs -- for he had interviewed with both teams -- because he felt the tigers had better talent in their farm system and a brighter future.
posted by moz at 10:42 PM on April 08, 2002
The dismissal of Garner tied the quickest firing of a manager who started the season since 1900, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Baltimore fired Cal Ripken Sr. in 1988 after the Orioles lost six games en route to an 0-21 start. (Quoted from ESPN story on Garner's firing here.)
posted by thatweirdguy2 at 10:42 PM on April 08, 2002
Smith's firing was long overdue... but I'd challenge any manager to do better with the team that Smith has given them... Whoever takes over there permanently had better get used to losing...
posted by Bernreuther at 11:31 PM on April 08, 2002
I'm sure Steinbrenner fired someone that quickly...
posted by andrewraff at 10:03 AM on April 09, 2002
I had forgotten about the Orioles' 0-21 start -- wow, what a debacle! Someone ought to write a book about that month.
posted by rcade at 11:35 AM on April 09, 2002
It's about time. Is there any person in baseball more overdue for a firing than Randy Smith? Phil Garner should be sent to a Johnny Oates reeducation camp and I think he might come out a decent manager. Terrible taste in organizations, though.