Williams Fired by Sinking Astros

The Houston Astros fired Manager Jimy Williams and replaced him with Phil Garner on Wednesday, a last-ditch effort to rescue a season that started with World Series expectations.

“We needed to make a move quickly,” General Manager Gerry Hunsicker said at a news conference. “We needed to jump-start this club right now. We didn’t have time to fool around here.”

Garner, a former Astro player, is taking over on an interim basis. The team will conduct another search at the end of the season.

“I’m excited. I’m a Houston boy, and I’m looking forward to it,” Garner, a former manager with Detroit and Milwaukee, said. “We got some boys on the team that I think can do something really special. This is an opportunity that I’ve been waiting for.”

Williams’ job security had been the subject of speculation for about a month, right about the time Houston’s surprising slide in the NL Central standings began.

He was fired early Wednesday morning during a clubhouse meeting with Hunsicker, owner Drayton McLane and other team officials.

Houston was 44-44 heading into the All-Star break, a remarkable disappointment for a team that was tops in the NL Central for the first month and a half of the season.

The season began with expectations of the club’s first World Series appearance in its 42-year history after the off-season acquisition of former New York Yankee teammates Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens.

Along with Williams, pitching coach Burt Hooton and hitting coach Harry Spilman were also fired. They were replaced with Jim Hickey and Gary Gaetti, respectively, from triple-A New Orleans.

The Astros went into the All-Star break in fifth place in the NL Central, 10 1/2 games behind division leader St. Louis -- the first time they’ve faced a double-digit deficit in the standings at the break in 11 seasons.

Garner was hired as Milwaukee’s manager in 1992, leading the Brewers to a 92-70 record that season. That proved to be his best season as a manager, and Garner was ultimately fired by Milwaukee after 112 games in 1999.

The Tigers hired Garner in 2000, going 145-179 before firing him after they lost the first six games of the 2002 season.

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Television ratings for the All-Star game, hurt by the American League’s six-run first inning, were the lowest in history.

The American League’s 9-4 win Tuesday night drew an 8.8 rating and a 15 share on Fox, down 7% from the 9.5/17 of the last two years -- the lowest previous numbers.

Still, about 32.8 million people watched the game, a 7% improvement from last year’s audience of 30.7 million.

It was the largest audience since 1999.

The first half-hour of Tuesday’s broadcast was up 16%. Viewer interest diminished after the AL jumped out to the commanding early lead.

For the second year in a row, the fact that the winning league in the All-Star game has been awarded home-field advantage in the World Series didn’t translated into higher ratings.

The rating is the percentage of all homes with TVs, whether or not they are in use. The share is the percentage of homes with TVs in use. Each rating point represents about 1.08 million households.

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District of Columbia Mayor Anthony A. Williams expressed optimism that the national pastime will soon return to Washington.

“Baseball belongs in the nation’s capital, and that’s right here in the district,” Williams said after meeting with baseball executives at the All-Star game.

Although no formal talks on the future of the Montreal Expos were conducted, Williams said owners and executives were aware of his group’s presence, and he said he believes it made a favorable impression.

Baseball officials have said they do not expect to operate the troubled Expos franchise by running partial schedules in Montreal and Puerto Rico next season.

Williams told reporters that although he has heard a decision on the franchise’s future could be made by Aug. 18, he also said an announcement could be delayed until after the World Series.