Clint Hurdle | |
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![]() Hurdle in 2012 | |
Outfielder / Manager | |
Born: Big Rapids, Michigan, U.S. | July 30, 1957|
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
MLB debut | |
September 18, 1977, for the Kansas City Royals | |
Last MLB appearance | |
June 26, 1987, for the New York Mets | |
MLB statistics | |
Batting average | .259 |
Home runs | 32 |
Runs batted in | 193 |
Managerial record | 1,269–1,345–1 |
Winning % | .485 |
Teams | |
As player
As manager As coach | |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Clinton Merrick Hurdle (born July 30,1957) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and manager. Hurdle played for the Kansas City Royals,Cincinnati Reds,New York Mets,and St. Louis Cardinals,and managed the Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Labeled a "phenom" by Sports Illustrated at age twenty, [1] Hurdle played 515 games at the major league level. After retiring from playing baseball,Hurdle became a manager. His eight seasons with the Rockies included leading the 2007 club to the franchise's first National League (NL) pennant. On November 14,2010,the Pirates hired him to be their manager. In 2013,Hurdle led them to their first winning season and playoff appearance since 1992. He was named the NL Manager of the Year that season.
Clint Hurdle is named for his father,Clinton,who played collegiate baseball for Ferris State University. When Hurdle was four years old,the family moved from Michigan to Florida so his father could take a job at the Kennedy Space Center. [2] As a child,Hurdle was a bat boy for the Cocoa Astros of the Florida State League. [3] Hurdle graduated from Merritt Island High School in Merritt Island,Florida. He received a scholarship from the University of Miami to play college baseball and college football as a quarterback, [4] and was accepted to Harvard University as well, [5] but declined both to play professional baseball instead.
The Kansas City Royals selected Hurdle in the first round,with the ninth overall selection,of the 1975 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Royals,receiving a $50,000 signing bonus. He made his major league debut with the Royals in 1977,and in 1978 was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated on March 20 with the headline:"This Year's Phenom." [1] [4]
Hurdle played for the Royals through 1981,but never achieved the level of play suggested by his high draft position. Hurdle had his best year in 1980 starting 109 regular season games in right field for the American League pennant winning Royals. Hurdle also started at right field in 4 games during the 1980 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. He was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in December 1981,and after spending 1982 with the Reds,went on waivers. In February 1983 he was signed by the Seattle Mariners before being released. In April 1983 he was signed by the New York Mets where he spent the majority of the season with their Triple-A affiliate Tidewater Tides. During the 1983 season,Hurdle set a franchise record for the Tides with 105 runs batted in. He also played in 13 games with the Mets. In 1984 he again played for the Tidewater Tides. In 1985 he played in 43 games for the Mets and in 1986 he played in 78 games for the St. Louis Cardinals. Hurdle ended his baseball career in 1987 at the age of 29 by playing in 97 games for the Tidewater Tides and 3 games for the Mets. In addition to right field,during his career he also played first base,third base,catcher,and designated hitter.
Hurdle also played three different seasons of winter ball for Tiburones de La Guaira of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. In his first season,1977–78,he led the league in home runs (18) while batting .305 with 52 RBIs. He played again in 1979-80 and 1983-84. He led the Venezuelan league in walks all three seasons he played there. [6]
After ending his playing career in 1987,Hurdle began his managerial career the next year when he was named Manager of the St. Lucie Mets of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League in 1988. He also served as Manager for the Jackson Mets of the Class AA Texas League (1990),Williamsport Bills of the Class AA Eastern League (1991),and the Tidewater/Norfolk Tides of the Class AAA International League (1992–1993).
In 1994 he joined the Colorado Rockies organization as the minor league hitting instructor,serving in that capacity until he was named the Rockies hitting coach in 1997. Hurdle was promoted to Manager in 2002 following the early-season firing of Buddy Bell. On April 2,2006,he was given a two-year contract extension. [7] In 2007,Hurdle managed Colorado to a record of 90-73,their best finish in the team's 15-year history;they won 13 of their last 14 games in order to force a tie-breaker game with the San Diego Padres to determine the winner of the National League Wild Card. Colorado defeated San Diego,reaching the playoffs for only the second time in Rockies history. Hurdle's Rockies then beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the Division Series,sweeping them in three games to force a match-up with their rival Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLCS. The Rockies continued their improbable streak by sweeping Arizona in four games to win the first pennant in team history and reach the 2007 World Series.
In the World Series,Colorado faced the Boston Red Sox. But the winning ways came to an end,and the Rockies were swept in four games. Injuries to several regulars caused the Rockies to fade in 2008,and after a poor start in 2009,Hurdle was fired on May 29. Although Hurdle was offered a "significant role" within the Rockies organization,he decided to join the MLB Network as a studio analyst for the remainder of 2009. [8] He finished with a 534–625 win–loss record. [9]
On November 4,2009,he was hired as the hitting coach for the Texas Rangers. [10] The Rangers hoped that Hurdle could connect with Josh Hamilton,who also suffered from substance abuse. [4] In 2010,Hurdle helped the Rangers to their first American League pennant in franchise history before losing to the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series.
After interviewing with both the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets for their vacant managerial positions, [11] Hurdle was hired by the Pirates on November 14,2010, [12] six weeks after John Russell had been fired, [13] though much of the delay was attributed to the rule that the Pirates could not interview him until after the Rangers' World Series run.
At the 2011 All-Star break,Hurdle had led the Pirates to a 47–43 record,one game out of first place in the NL Central. It was the first time the Pirates had been over .500 going into the All-Star break since winning the 1992 National League East. At the 2012 All-Star break,Hurdle had led the Pirates to a 48–37 record,leading the NL Central division by one game over the Cincinnati Reds. However,both seasons ended with collapses that led to the Pirates' 19th and 20th straight losing seasons.
During parts of the 2013 season,the Pirates led the National League Central,with the best record in the major leagues,again aiming to snap the franchise's long losing streak. On September 9,2013,with a 1–0 win over the Texas Rangers Clint Hurdle's Pittsburgh Pirates attained win number 82. On September 23,2013,with a 2–1 win over the Chicago Cubs and a win by the St. Louis Cardinals over the Washington Nationals,the Pittsburgh Pirates secured their first playoff berth since 1992 as well as their 90th win. Under Hurdle,the Pirates would finish the 2013 season with a record of 94 wins and 68 losses,three games behind the NL Central division winning Cardinals. In the playoffs,the Pirates won the 2013 National League Wild Card Game against the Reds but would lose the deciding game five against the Cardinals in the 2013 National League Division Series. Hurdle won the National League Sporting News Manager of the Year Award in 2013.
In 2014,the Pirates would again clinch a playoff berth with a record of 88 wins and 74 losses to make a second straight appearance in the Wild Card game. The Pirates lost the 2014 National League Wild Card Game to the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants.
In 2015 the Pirates again made the postseason as one of the National League wild card teams with a 98–64 record,the second best record of any team that season. The Pirates lost the 2015 National League Wild Card Game to the Chicago Cubs.
In 2016 the Pirates missed the postseason for the first time since 2012 with a 78–83 record while Hurdle reached win 1,000 as a manager on June 24 against the Los Angeles Dodgers [14]
In 2017 the Pirates missed the postseason for the second season in a row with a 75–87 record.
In 2018 the Pirates missed the postseason for the third season in a row but finished for the first time since 2015 with a winning record of 82–79. An odd quirk is that it was the first time in 30 years that the Pirates finished with a winning record without reaching the postseason.
On September 28,2019,Hurdle was fired as manager due to a second-half slump after missing the playoffs for four straight seasons. He subsequently retired from baseball on November 12,2019. [15]
On December 9,2021,Hurdle came out of retirement and joined the Colorado Rockies organization as a special assistant to the general manager. [16]
Team | From | To | Regular season record | Post–season record | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | L | Win % | G | W | L | Win % | |||
Colorado Rockies | 2002 | 2009 | 1159 | 534 | 625 | .461 | 11 | 7 | 4 | .636 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 2011 | 2019 | 1456 | 735 | 720 | .505 | 8 | 3 | 5 | .375 |
Total | 2615 | 1269 | 1345 | .485 | 19 | 10 | 9 | .526 | ||
Ref.: [9] |
Hurdle has been divorced twice. In addition to daughter Ashley (born 1985) from a previous marriage, Hurdle and his third wife Karla (married 1999) have two children together, daughter Madison (who was born in 2002 with Prader-Willi Syndrome) and son Christian (born 2004). [17] Hurdle is a recovering alcoholic [4] [18] and an advocate of Alcoholics Anonymous and other addiction treatment programs [19] as well as for the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association. [20]
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The 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the franchise's 125th season as a member of the National League and 130th season overall. This was their 11th season at PNC Park. The season was the first with manager Clint Hurdle, who was hired to replace the fired John Russell. After going a major league worst 57–105, they enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence, winning more than 70 games for the first time since 2004 and being covered significantly in the summer due to being involved in the pennant race, but they still locked up their 19th consecutive losing season.
The 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the franchise's 127th season as a member of the National League, 132nd season overall, and 13th season at PNC Park. The regular season began at home with a loss against the Chicago Cubs on April 1 and ended with a win at Great American Ball Park against the Cincinnati Reds on September 29. In their first winning season since 1992, the Pirates finished in second place in the National League Central with 94 wins and 68 losses.
The 2013 National League Wild Card Game was a play-in game during Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2013 postseason played between the National League's (NL) two wild card teams, the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was held at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 1, 2013. The Pirates won by a 6–2 score and advanced to play the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Division Series. The game was televised on TBS, and was also broadcast on ESPN Radio.
The 2014 National League Wild Card Game was a play-in game during Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2014 postseason played between the National League's (NL) two wild card teams, the San Francisco Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was held at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 1, 2014, starting at 8:07 p.m. EDT. After both teams finished the regular season with identical records of 88–74, the Pirates were awarded home field for the game, as they won the season series against the Giants, 4–2. Despite this advantage, the Giants won by a score of 8–0 and advanced to play the Washington Nationals in the NL Division Series. In addition to being the third NL Wild Card Game played, it is notable for the first postseason grand slam hit by a shortstop. The game was televised on ESPN, and was also broadcast on ESPN Radio.
The 2015 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the franchise's 134th season overall, the 129th season as a member of National League, and 15th season at PNC Park.
The 2016 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the franchise's 135th season overall, the 130th season as a member of the National League, and the 16th season at PNC Park. The regular season started with a win at home against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 3 and ended with a loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium on October 2. The Pirates finished the regular season third in the National League Central with 78 wins, 83 losses and one tie. For the first time since the 2012 season, the Pirates finished with a losing record and did not qualify for the postseason.
The 2019 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the franchise's 138th season overall, 133rd season as a member of the National League, and 19th season at PNC Park. The Pirates were eliminated from postseason contention after a 14–1 loss to the Cubs on September 14, 2019. Manager Clint Hurdle was fired an hour before the start of the final game of the 2019 season. Tom Prince, the Pirates' bench coach, managed the team for the season finale.
The 2020 Major League Baseball season began on July 23 and ended on September 27 with only 60 games amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The full 162-game regular season was planned to begin on March 26, but the pandemic caused Major League Baseball (MLB) to announce on March 12 that the remainder of spring training was canceled and that the start of the regular season would be delayed by at least two weeks. On March 16, MLB announced that the season would be postponed indefinitely, following recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to restrict events of more than 50 people. This was the first time that MLB games had been put on hold since the 2001 season, when the season was paused for over a week after the September 11 attacks.
Hurdle was well-read, a former honor student from Florida's Atlantic coast who received all A's in high school except for one B -- in driver's ed. He was accepted at Harvard but instead chose baseball, where he would come to find that a little wisdom can go a long way.
Hurdle volunteers that he is still involved with Alcoholics Anonymous, preaches the benefits of therapy and, yes, expresses how much he loves his wife. Such subjects usually go unbroached in baseball. Hurdle doesn't care.
Sporting positions | ||
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Preceded by first manager | St. Lucie Mets Manager 1988–1989 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Jackson Mets Manager 1990 | Succeeded by last manager |
Preceded by first manager | Williamsport Bills Manager 1991 | Succeeded by last manager |
Preceded by | Norfolk Tides Manager 1992–1993 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Colorado Rockies Hitting Coach 1997–2002 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Colorado Rockies Manager 2002–2009 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Texas Rangers Hitting Coach 2010 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Pittsburgh Pirates Manager 2011–2019 | Succeeded by TBA |