Larry Dierker arrived at Wrigley Field in midafternoon Tuesday and immediately began heaping praise on the Cubs.
“I knew they’d be improved,” the Houston manager said. “You could see that last winter when they made some big moves. They want to be part of it. And they are.”
Dierker’s Astros, who have won 10 of their last 11 games, are in first place in the National League Central, 2 1/2 games ahead of the pack. It’s a strong beginning considering they lost Darryl Kile, a 19-game winner who jumped to the Colorado Rockies. Two of last year’s other starters, Chris Holt and Ramon Garcia, are on the DL and have yet to pitch this season.
“You can’t get there without good pitching,” Dierker observed, referring to the postseason. “We just want to be close enough in September so we have a chance.”
This is Dierker’s second season and he was asked what he had learned from his maiden managerial voyage. Before descending into the dugout, which was a surprise, he had put in 13 years as a rotation starter and 17 more in the Astros’ broadcast booth.
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“I’m smarter,” Dierker offered.
In what way?
Dierker smiled.
“I’m smart enough to know I’m not so smart,” he said.
It was the perfect answer. Like all insiders, Dierker knows it’s the ballplayers who win the games, not the manager.
“The players are 95 percent responsible for what we do,” Dierker said. “I’ve been asked, `How many games did you win?’
“When I think about it maybe I helped, at the most, win four or five games. We won 84 games, so that’s not an awful lot. Even the best managers, Casey Stengel and Jim Leyland, weren’t able to win when they didn’t have good teams.”
Like most good managers, Dierker manages without bringing attention to himself. The Astros have no trick plays.
“The more tricks you try to pull, the worse off you are,” Dierker said. “Some clubs have three or four pickoff plays and a lot of offensive gimmicks. But they are used so infrequently that when you want them someone misses a sign or forgets what the sign was. If you manipulate too much, you can outsmart yourself.”
According to Dierker, there is an additional risk.
“It can have a bad effect on your relationship with your players if you try to portray yourself as a genius who knows everything,” he said. “And everyone else knows nothing. I’m not an orchestra leader waving a baton. The players and I are partners.”
Above all, Dierker listens to the troops. Last season, for example, outfielder Derek Bell told Dierker he was uncomfortable hitting in the cleanup spot behind slugger Jeff Bagwell. Bell thought he would get better pitches to hit if he batted second, ahead of Bagwell.
In his first time at bat as the Astros’ second-place hitter, on the first pitch, Bell homered. He went on a weeklong tear but then was idled by an injury. When he came back he was returned to the cleanup slot. When that didn’t work, Dierker restored him to the No. 2 spot.
“I was just adjusting to what a player wanted,” Dierker said. “And he knew better than I did.”
Bell, previously a .282 career hitter, was leading the NL with a .416 average before Tuesday night. Because he isn’t hitting fourth, there is no pressure on him to deliver the long ball. Instead, he no longer tries to pull every pitch and is using the whole field.
In truth, Dierker is among baseball’s few Renaissance men. While he was broadcasting, he also wrote a weekly column for the Houston Chronicle. Mainly because of his writing ability, he began keeping a diary on Opening Day last season with the idea of having it published.
He has decided otherwise.
“I had a lot of stuff in there that was too sensitive,” he said. “Some of the players wouldn’t have liked it. So I just put it away. My career as a writer is on hold.”
Dierker was told he is following the advice of the ancient poet Horace, who repeatedly said writers should keep their manuscripts in a drawer for eight years. Then, if they decide their work is of consequence, they should go ahead and publish.
“I’m glad to hear that,” Dierker said. “I’m in no hurry.”