Dierker Might Be Done With Astros

Larry Dierker has the best winning percentage of any manager in Houston history. The Astros have won the division title in four of his five seasons, and he has another year left on his contract.

Yet Dierker might have managed his last game for the Astros, a possibility he suggested repeatedly after Friday’s loss eliminated Houston from the playoffs.

“I really want to come back and give this another shot,” he said. “But, if it doesn’t work out, then I think I can have some peace of mind about my stewardship and the way things went.”

Things did not go well in the playoffs--under Dierker, the Astros are 2-12 in division series play--but that record is the least of his concerns after a bizarre series against the Braves. After his strategy backfired in the first game, he was so terse and combative in a postgame news conference that the Astro owner and general manager each publicly reprimanded Dierker for his behavior.

After Friday’s game, Dierker ripped his starting pitcher, Shane Reynolds, for giving up the home run that put the Braves ahead for good in the second inning. Atlanta catcher Paul Bako hit it, with two out, first base open and pitcher John Burkett on deck.

“I’m just dumbfounded that he made a pitch the guy could hit out of the park in that situation, particularly with two strikes in the count,” Dierker said.

The Astros, left mumbling about Dierker’s strategy in the first game, took notice of how Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox played Dierker like a fiddle Friday. In the eighth inning, after pinch-hitter Daryle Ward’s homer cut the Atlanta lead to 4-2, Cox had Steve Reed ready to face Craig Biggio. Biggio, two for 22 lifetime against Reed, grounded out.

Then Cox summoned left-hander Mike Remlinger to face Jose Vizcaino, a much better hitter against right-handers. Dierker could not use a pinch-hitter because he already had used his other shortstop, Julio Lugo, as a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning.

Biggio didn’t have much to say about Dierker’s future--”that’s not my decision to make,” he said--but did offer unsolicited praise for Cox.

“Bobby did a nice job,” Biggio said. “He made all the right moves and put all the guys in the right situations.”

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Biggio, who hit .083, .182 and .105 in the Astros’ three previous division series losses, hit .167 this time. The seven-time all-star now is hitting .130 with no home runs in postseason play. Jeff Bagwell, who hit .083, .143 and .154 in previous series, hit .429 with five walks.

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Cox rejoined his team after spending Thursday’s off day with his sister, Joy Rogers, who suffered a cerebral hemorrhage Wednesday and remains in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Birmingham, Ala. Rogers underwent brain surgery Wednesday, and Cox said doctors listed her as stable.

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The Turner Field concourse includes reproductions of several scouting reports, including a 1987 one in which Atlanta scout John Hagemann urged the Braves to pursue a Class-A pitcher in the farm system of the Detroit Tigers. The 20-year-old threw a fastball no faster than 91 mph and a changeup in need of improvement, but Hagemann wrote that the kid pitcher had “easily the best arm I ever saw.”

Later that summer, when the Tigers wanted to acquire veteran pitcher Doyle Alexander, the Braves asked for the kid in return. The Tigers did not object; the kid was 4-10 with a 5.68 earned-run average that year. So Alexander went to the Tigers and went 9-0 in August and September, helping Detroit win a division championship.

The kid has won 157 games for the Braves. He now closes games--he finished all three games of the division series--and his name is John Smoltz.