Astros start cleaning house, fire manager Garner, GM Purpura

HOUSTON -- Less than two years ago, the Houston Astros were celebrating their first National League pennant. On Monday, they were starting over.

Manager Phil Garner and general manager Tim Purpura were fired by owner Drayton McLane, who said the franchise "needed a fresh start" after a plunge to the bottom of the NL Central.

Bench coach Cecil Cooper was appointed interim manager, and team president Tal Smith will serve as interim general manager.

"I felt for a number of reasons, we needed new direction, invigoration, to play with more enthusiasm and play more like a champion," McLane said.

The Astros slumped to 58-73 this year, nine games behind the division-leading Chicago Cubs. They've lost five of their last seven home games, to lowly Washington and Pittsburgh.

"We had really fallen into a pattern of so-so ball," Garner said during a telephone interview with the Associated Press. "We were never able to put together the run, like we made in the previous two seasons. I think there were a number of reasons for that."

Phil Garner led the Astros to the 2005 World Series and was 277-252 in Houston. (AP)

Houston became the fourth team to switch managers this season. Baltimore fired Sam Perlozzo on June 18 and Cincinnati fired Jerry Narron on July 1, the same day Mike Hargrove resigned as Seattle's manager.

The 57-year-old Cooper becomes a major league manager for the first time. The five-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner was the bench coach in Milwaukee in 2002 and managed Triple-A Indianapolis in 2003-04.

Cooper was taking his mother-in-law to a doctor's appointment on Monday when Smith and McLane called to offer him the job.

"It's been kind of a whirlwind tour this morning," he said. "Drayton asked me if I was OK and all of a sudden, in the pit of my stomach, I felt sick. It really was a shock to me. I kind of got a little emotional, but I'm also excited about the opportunity. I've been the World Series as a player and a coach. Now, I want to try it as a manager."

Cooper says he has a plan for turning around the Astros. He promoted first-base coach Jose Cruz to bench coach and moved bullpen coach Mark Bailey to the first-base position and planned to unveil some lineup changes on Tuesday.

"I know how to win," Cooper said. "I really do believe I know what it takes to get the Houston Astros over the hump and back to the World Series."

McLane said it wasn't one game or one personnel move by Purpura, but several factors that drove him to make changes.