- Clint Hurdle
-
Clint Hurdle Pittsburgh Pirates — No. 13 Outfielder / Manager Born: July 30, 1957
Big Rapids, MichiganBatted: Left Threw: Right MLB debut September 18, 1977 for the Kansas City Royals Last MLB appearance June 26, 1987 for the New York Mets Career statistics Batting average .259 Home runs 32 Runs batted in 193 Teams As player
- Kansas City Royals (1977–1981)
- Cincinnati Reds (1982)
- New York Mets (1983, 1985)
- St. Louis Cardinals (1986)
- New York Mets (1987)
As manager
- Colorado Rockies (2002–2009)
- Pittsburgh Pirates (2011-Present)
Clinton Merrick Hurdle (born July 30, 1957, in Big Rapids, Michigan) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder whose 10-year career was spent with the Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, and St. Louis Cardinals. After retiring from playing baseball, Hurdle became a manager. His eight seasons with the Colorado Rockies included leading his 2007 club to the franchise's first National League pennant. On November 14, 2010, Hurdle was hired as the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Contents
Personal life
Clint Hurdle is named for his father, Clinton, who played collegiate baseball for Ferris State University. When Hurdle was 4 years old, the family moved from Michigan to Florida so his father could take a job at the Kennedy Space Center.[1] Hurdle is a 1975 graduate of Merritt Island High School in Merritt Island, Florida.[2]
Hurdle is married to third wife Karla and has three children; daughter Madison (who was born in 2002 and has Prader-Willi Syndrome), son Christian (who was born in 2004), and daughter Ashley (who was born in 1985 and is from a previous marriage).[3]
Playing career
After being selected by the Kansas City Royals with the 9th pick of the first round in the 1975 amateur draft, Hurdle played for the Royals from 1977 to 1981, but never achieved the level of play suggested by his high draft position. Playing regularly only in 1978 and 1980, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in December 1981, and after spending 1982 with the Reds, went on waivers to join the New York Mets (1983, 1985) and St. Louis Cardinals (1986) before ending his career with the Mets in 1987. Hurdle had been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1978 as that year's "phenom." Throughout his career, he also played first base, third base, catcher and designated hitter.
Hurdle also played in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League during three different seasons. 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 and 1983. In all three times he led the league in walks while playing for the local team Tiburones de La Guaira[4][5]
Managerial career
Hurdle began his managerial career the next year, when he was named Manager of the St. Lucie Mets, a Class "A" team, in 1988. He also served as Manager for the AA Jackson Mets (1990–1991), and the AAA Tidewater/Norfolk Tides (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.[6] In 2007, Hurdle managed Colorado to their second best finish in the team's 15-year history (only topped by the 2009 season) by winning the last 14 out of 15 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.[7]
In the World Series, Colorado faced the Boston Red Sox, but the winning ways would come to an end and the Rockies would be 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]
On November 4, 2009, he was hired as the hitting coach for the Texas Rangers.[9] 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, Hurdle was hired by the Pirates on November 14, 2010.[10] Hurdle then agreed to a 3 year contract, keeping him with the team through the 2013 season.[11]
At the 2011 All-Star Break, Hurdle lead 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.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball managers in 2006
- List of Major League Baseball managers in 2007
- List of Major League Baseball managers in 2008
References
- ^ Arangue, Jorge (2007-10-23). "From rocky past to Rockies success". http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2007/news/story?id=3075136. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
- ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/hurdlcl01.shtml
- ^ Michaelis, Vicki (2007-09-12). "Clint Hurdle balances family concerns with baseball". USA Today. http://usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/rockies/2005-09-12-hurdle-family-cover_x.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
- ^ "SI Flashback: This Year's Phenom". CNN. October 23, 2007. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/magazine/10/23/hurdle.phenom/index.html. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
- ^ "Francona y Hurdle son producto del Caribe". http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=611755&s=bei&type=column.
- ^ Harding, Thomas (2007-04-07). "O'Dowd, Hurdle extended for two years". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/rockies/2006-05-30-rockies-cover_x.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
- ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Clint_Hurdle
- ^ The Ride Home with Dave and Lois, 850KOA radio, 5/29/09
- ^ http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091105&content_id=7627214&vkey=news_tex&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex
- ^ http://rangersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/11/clint-hurdle-will-interview-fo.html
- ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101114&content_id=16098136&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
External links
- Colorado Rockies.com Bio
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- Clint Hurdle managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
Sporting positions Preceded by
first managerSt. Lucie Mets Manager
1988-1989Succeeded by
Tim BlackwellPreceded by
Steve SwisherJackson Mets Manager
1990Succeeded by
last managerPreceded by
first managerWilliamsport Bills Manager
1991Succeeded by
last managerPreceded by
Steve SwisherTidewater Tides Manager
1992-1993Succeeded by
Bobby ValentinePreceded by
Ken Griffey Sr.Colorado Rockies Hitting Coach
1997-2002Succeeded by
Alan CockrellPreceded by
Buddy BellColorado Rockies Manager
April 26, 2002-May 29, 2009Succeeded by
Jim TracyPreceded by
Rudy JaramilloTexas Rangers Hitting Coach
2010Succeeded by
Thad BosleyPreceded by
John RussellPittsburgh Pirates Manager
2011-presentSucceeded by
incumbentColorado Rockies managers MLB Network Studio hosts Greg Amsinger (2009–present) · Bob Costas (2009–present) · Ahmed Fareed (2011–present) · Brian Kenny (2011–present) · Victor Rojas (2009–2010) · Chris Rose (2010–present) · Paul Severino (2011–present) · Matt Vasgersian (2009–present) · Matt Yallof (2009–present)Studio analysts Larry Bowa (2011–present) · Eric Byrnes (2011–present) · Sean Casey (2009–present) · Tony Clark (2009) · Ron Gant (2011–present) · John Hart (2009–present) · Clint Hurdle (2009) · Barry Larkin (2009–2011) · Al Leiter (2009–present) · Joe Magrane (2009–present) · Kevin Millar (2010–present) · Dan Plesac (2009–present) · Harold Reynolds (2009–present) · Billy Ripken (2009–present) · John Smoltz (2010–present) · Dave Valle (2009–present) · Mitch Williams (2009–present)Reporters Trenni Kusnierek (2009–2011) · Lisa Kerney (2011–present) · Hazel Mae (2009–2011) · Sam Ryan (2011–present) · Jeanne Zelasko (2009–present)Baseball insiders Peter Gammons (2010–present) · Jon Heyman (2009–present) · Ken Rosenthal (2009–present) · Tom Verducci (2009–present)Programming Baseball's Seasons · The Club · Hot Stove · Intentional Talk · MLB Tonight · Quick Pitch · Thursday Night BaseballRadio MLB Network RadioPittsburgh Pirates managers Pittsburgh Alleghenys (1882–1889) Pittsburgh Pirates (1890–present) Hecker • McGunnigle • Hanlon • Burns • Buckenberger • Mack • Donovan • Watkins • Donovan • Clarke • Callahan • Wagner • Bezdek • Gibson • McKechnie • Bush • Ens • Gibson • Traynor • Frisch • Davis • Herman • Burwell • Meyer • Haney • Bragan • Murtaugh • Walker • Murtaugh • Shepard • Grammas • Murtaugh • Virdon • Murtaugh • Tanner • Leyland • Lamont • McClendon • Mackanin • Tracy • Russell • HurdlePittsburgh Pirates current roster Active roster 3 Pedro Ciriaco | 12 Chase d'Arnaud | 18 Neil Walker | 22 Andrew McCutchen | 24 Pedro Alvarez | 27 Jeff Karstens | 30 Chris Resop | 31 José Tábata | 32 Brad Lincoln | 34 Daniel McCutchen | 35 Jason Jaramillo | 36 Ryan Ludwick | 38 Xavier Paul | 39 Jason Grilli | 43 José Veras | 44 Alex Presley | 46 Garrett Jones | 47 Evan Meek | 48 Matt Pagnozzi | 49 Ross Ohlendorf | 50 Charlie Morton | 52 Joel Hanrahan | 53 James McDonald | 55 Michael McKenry | 57 Daniel Moskos | 60 Aaron Thompson | 61 Jeff Locke | 62 Josh Harrison | 63 Chris Leroux | 64 Bryan Morris | 65 Tony Watson | 66 Gorkys Hernández | 67 Kyle McPherson | 69 Eric Fryer | 70 Jared Hughes | -- Rod Barajas
Disabled list 29 Kevin Correia | 51 Steve Pearce | -- Kevin Hart
Coaching Staff Manager 13 Clint Hurdle | Bench Coach 17 Jeff Banister | 1st Base Coach 15 Luis Silverio | 3rd Base Coach 16 Nick Leyva | Hitting Coach 58 Gregg Ritchie | Pitching Coach 54 Ray Searage | Bullpen Coach 56 Euclides Rojas | Bullpen Catcher 86 Heberto Andrade | Coach 59 Mark Strittmatter
Categories:- 1957 births
- Living people
- Colorado Rockies (baseball) coaches
- Colorado Rockies managers
- Texas Rangers coaches
- Pittsburgh Pirates managers
- Kansas City Royals players
- Major League Baseball hitting coaches
- Major League Baseball managers
- Baseball players from Michigan
- Major League Baseball right fielders
- Minor league baseball managers
- New York Mets players
- People from Big Rapids, Michigan
- St. Louis Cardinals players
- MLB Network personalities
- Gulf Coast Royals players
- Waterloo Royals players
- Omaha Royals players
- Indianapolis Indians players
- Tidewater Tides players
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