Houston, TX -- (Sports Network) - The Houston Astros on Tuesday named Brad Mills their new manager.

Mills takes over for Dave Clark, who was named interim manager after Cecil Cooper was fired on September 21. Cooper had served for parts of three seasons (2007-09) behind the bench, going 171-170 that span. Clark finished off the 2009 season with a 4-9 mark as the Astros went 74-88 and took fifth place in the NL Central.

"Brad has a wealth of experience, a lot of that coming in the postseason," said Astros general manager Ed Wade after introducing the 18th manager in franchise history. "He brings all the elements that we were looking for, knowledge, personality and leadership."

The 52-year-old California native comes to Houston after serving as bench coach for the Boston Red Sox under Terry Francona for the past six seasons. Mills also worked as first-base coach for the Expos in 2003 and in that same capacity when Francona managed the Phillies (1997-2000).

A two-time World Series winner with the Red Sox, Mills also managed for 11 seasons in the minors with affiliates for the Chicago Cubs (1987-92), Colorado Rockies (1993-96) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2002).

Mills spent parts of four seasons as a player with the Montreal Expos (1980-83), hitting .256 over 106 games. During his final major-league season, he was Nolan Ryan's 3,509th strikeout victim, making Ryan the all-time strikeout leader.