Astros Can Cecil Cooper

The Houston Astros apparently couldn't wait any longer (until after the 2009 season for example) to fire manager Cecil Cooper.

After the team made the move on Monday, they promoted third base coach Dave Clark as interim manager... which didn't make a damn bit of difference, as the Astros lost 7-3 (their eighth straight defeat) during Clark's big league-managing debut.

Enjoy the next two weeks of suckiness, Dave.

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Fastest Skipper Gets Fined for Being Slow

Ron Gardenhire, manager of the Minnesota Twins -- the fastest team in baseball -- was fined an unknown amount Tuesday, along with Houston Astros skipper Cecil Cooper: both a bit edgy when it comes to umpires and bad calls.

But the two were not fined for ump-bumping. They were disciplined for "failing to comply with pace of game regulations last weekend."

Bud Selig is a crotchety old bastard has shown recent concern with the speed of games these days. *cough* so old *cough* So, he asked teams and officials to enforce the game-pace rules, including the 12-second pitching rule.

Here's where things start to get ridiculous. An average nine-inning game played this season lasts 2:51:42. That's a 29-second increase from last season and a 5.5-minute spike from five years ago. According to Elias, the length of a ballgame in 1981 was typically 2:33. If you're like me and you're awesome at math, you'll know that we get 18 more minutes of baseball now!

If there's such a concern, why don't they stop driving Dodge trucks out onto the field every three innings to waste time during Cialis commercials? Just a thought.

I can't really imagine ever thinking a baseball game is too long. Except this one time a few years ago when the Twins went 18 innings (and lost) against the Red Sox. They stopped serving beer in the 7th... pretty sure I was drunk, hung-over and sober without ever leaving the Metrodome.

Speaking of the Dome, check out We've Got Heart's latest article on women and baseball: an interview with Andrea Larson, Corporate Communicatons Manager with the Twins.

[MLB]