Clint Hurdle
Clint Hurdle
Clinton Merrick Hurdleis an American former professional baseball outfielder and current manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Hurdle played in MLB for the Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, and St. Louis Cardinals, and has also managed for the Colorado Rockies...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth30 July 1957
CityBig Rapids, MI
looking pitch ready replace somebody until
Until we have somebody ready to replace him, we'll be patient. We're not looking for a replacement, we're looking for him to pitch better.
fastball utilize
We want to see his command, we want him to utilize his pitches, ... We also want to see him use his two-seam fastball and sinkerball.
benefit coach collins work
We've all put a lot of work in this project. The organization has put a lot of work in. He's put a lot of work in. Coach (Davey) Collins has put a lot of work in. When you put that much work in you want to benefit from it when it clicks.
behind change direction front land layout marks starting
We're starting to make some marks in the right direction on the road. The layout of the land behind us is what it is. We can't change that. We can change what's in front of us.
continue gone hold months onto
Things have gone his way, but the thing I will continue to hold onto is where was it for the two months it wasn't there?
ballgame couple early gone innings kept passion saw south
I think you saw the passion he has for competition. The way he kept after it and kept us in the ballgame - a couple early innings could have gone south on him. He didn't let it happen.
admire asset attention brought energy fed focal gone guys handled help hot kept learned lessons months others paying players point seeing standpoint team time tough transition tremendous trying valuable waste younger
He's had to have two very very big months to get him where he is right now, but he can get hot like nobody's business. He's probably learned some very valuable lessons through this year. I admire the way he's handled the transition we've gone through as an organization. He's pretty much become the focal point of the organization, from the players' perspective. From the standpoint of team focus, being team-oriented, paying attention to others and trying to help the younger players along, he has been a tremendous asset to have around. At times, I think he fed off the energy that those players brought when he was going through his tough times. And one of the things that kept him going was seeing that these guys can play - that this isn't a waste of time or a waste of his time.
initially
Initially we just wanted him to be able to get healthy. And now for him to come back and be able to pitch, that's a plus.
further physically seems stretch
I don't know that we want to stretch him out further than that. . . . He doesn't have an old body. He seems to be pretty physically fit.
alarming number
His strikeouts are a little alarming for his number of at-bats,
group todd win
I think it was as important for the group to win without Todd in the lineup as it was for Todd to see the group win without him,
aware gate gotten happy roll slow
He is well aware he has come out of the gate slow and then gotten on a roll by the end of May. He is not happy with it, and we think there is better there. We know there is better there. It is up to him.
answering ball challenged hit seen talk
You talk about being challenged and answering the challenge. He has hit the ball (recently) as well as I have ever seen him hit the ball.
avoiding expect factors finishing games home last motivating record winning
Having a winning record at home or avoiding finishing last weren't motivating factors for us. When you are 27 games under .500, can we really expect to be better at home?