Clint Hurdle

Clint Hurdle
Pittsburgh Pirates — No. 13
Outfielder / Manager
Born: July 30, 1957 (1957-07-30) (age 54) Big Rapids, Michigan
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
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.

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

Hurdle during his Cardinal days.

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 with the Rockies.

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

1. ^ 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. 
2. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/hurdlcl01.shtml
3. ^ 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. 
4. ^ "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. 
5. ^ "Francona y Hurdle son producto del Caribe". http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=611755&s=bei&type=column. 
6. ^ 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. 
7. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Clint_Hurdle
8. ^ The Ride Home with Dave and Lois, 850KOA radio, 5/29/09
9. ^ http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091105&content_id=7627214&vkey=news_tex&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex
10. ^ http://rangersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/11/clint-hurdle-will-interview-fo.html
11. ^ 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 manager	St. Lucie Mets Manager 1988-1989	Succeeded by Tim Blackwell
Preceded by Steve Swisher	Jackson Mets Manager 1990	Succeeded by last manager
Preceded by first manager	Williamsport Bills Manager 1991	Succeeded by last manager
Preceded by Steve Swisher	Tidewater Tides Manager 1992-1993	Succeeded by Bobby Valentine
Preceded by Ken Griffey Sr.	Colorado Rockies Hitting Coach 1997-2002	Succeeded by Alan Cockrell
Preceded by Buddy Bell	Colorado Rockies Manager April 26, 2002-May 29, 2009	Succeeded by Jim Tracy
Preceded by Rudy Jaramillo	Texas Rangers Hitting Coach 2010	Succeeded by Thad Bosley
Preceded by John Russell	Pittsburgh Pirates Manager 2011-present	Succeeded by incumbent

Persondata
Name	Hurdle, Clint
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 30, 1957
Place of birth	Big Rapids, Michigan
Date of death
Place of death